Devon Timber building suppliers John Shields Woodwork, North Tawton give some advice on the stages of planning, designing etc when wishing to erect a timber building.
Click on the boxes below to read the relevant sections of the process:
Base requirements for your building
All buildings will require a base of some kind. If the site is not level this may require some excavating. If this is the case, always make the site larger than the building to provide airflow around the sides of the building.
Buildings with timber floor
These buildings will require a level site. This may be of earth, stone, concrete or tarmac. Generally, only purpose built concrete pads will be perfectly level. If the site has a small slope of less than 40mm per metre, we will supply heavy timber bearers to form a level platform. These will be set level with the use of packing where necessary.
Sites that slope more steeply should be levelled first.
Larger buildings should have a stone or block base. The stone should be of 40mm scalpings. Blocks should be 100mm thick laid on the flat side.
A purpose made concrete pad could also be considered.
Buildings without timber floor
Garages and stores, which do not have a timber floor, will be bolted down using sleeve anchor fixings. These buildings will require a level concrete pad which is 10mm less, in size, than the footprint of the building. In this way the shiplap cladding will pass down over the side of the base, while the sole plate (bottom rail) of the wall is bolted to the concrete.
The pad should be at least 100mm deep and a damp proof membrane should be installed under the concrete.
The base must be at least 75mm above the surrounding ground to ensure that water is kept out and the timber remains dry.
Any ramp for vehicles should be kept 40mm below the floor level of the base. This will allow the doors to pass down below the floor level by 20mm to keep out the rain.
Stables
Stables are best bolted to dwarf walls of one course of 100mm blocks. The blocks should be laid on edge and built on a footing, before the floors are laid. In this way the concrete floors will help to tie in the blocks. Alternatively lay a concrete pad and then build a dwarf wall, consisting of one course of engineering bricks Please ask for a plan before you start.
Planning permission
When does a timber building need planning?
Many buildings will not need permission.
However you should consider the following points:
Do you live in an environmentally sensitive
area, such as a National Park?
The building should be over 5 metres from
your house and 1m from your neighbours’ boundary.
The building should be less than 4m high.
All our buildings are.
The government website: http://www.planning.odpm.gov.uk/ has a
useful booklet on planning.
Councils vary greatly in their approach to
planning and it is advisable to discuss your proposal with the
planning officer at an early stage.
Building regulations
If a building is to be used for
accommodation, business or access by the general public,
building regulations approval may well be required. This will
have a substantial effect on cost and we must be advised at
the outset.
If the building is over 30 square metres in
floor area it will always need Building Regulations
approval.
Drawings for planning
If you decide to submit a planning
application for your building we will provide scale drawings.
These will show all the elevations of the
building, scale 1:100
The fee for these drawings is approximately
£50 plus VAT, depending on the complexity.
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Base requirements for your
building
All buildings will require a base of some
kind. If the site is not level this may require some
excavating. If this is the case, always make the site larger
than the building to provide airflow around the sides of the
building
Buildings with timber floor
These buildings will require a level site.
This may be of earth, stone, concrete or tarmac. Generally,
only purpose built concrete pads will be perfectly level. If
the site has a small slope of less than 40mm per metre, we
will supply heavy timber bearers to form a level platform.
These will be set level with the use of packing where
necessary.
Sites that slope more steeply should be
levelled first.
Larger buildings should have a stone or
block base. The stone should be of 40mm scalpings. Blocks
should be 100mm thick laid on the flat side.
A purpose made concrete pad could also be
considered.
Buildings without timber floor
Garages and stores, which do not have a
timber floor, will be bolted down using sleeve anchor fixings.
These buildings will require a level concrete pad which is
10mm less, in size, than the footprint of the building. In
this way the shiplap cladding will pass down over the side of
the base, while the sole plate (bottom rail) of the wall is
bolted to the concrete.
The pad should be at least 100mm deep and a
damp proof membrane should be installed under the concrete.
The base must be at least 75mm above the
surrounding ground to ensure that water is kept out and the
timber remains dry.
Any ramp for vehicles should be kept 40mm
below the floor level of the base. This will allow the doors
to pass down below the floor level by 20mm to keep out the
rain.
Stables
Stables are best bolted to dwarf walls of
one course of 100mm blocks. The blocks should be laid on edge
and built on a footing, before the floors are laid. In this
way the concrete floors will help to tie in the blocks. Laying
a concrete pad and then building the walls on top will not do.
Please ask for a plan before you start.
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Building layout
Your building will be made to order for
you. In this way we can produce the exact size and layout you
require. Please click on options for more details.
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Site access
We will need to know how far your site is
from the point where we will park our vehicle.
This distance can be measured in paces. We
also need to know how many steps there are and any tight
corners.
Buildings are delivered in panels up to
2.2m high. We will need headroom of 2m for most buildings. Any
path or gateway should be at least 750mm wide.
Parking will be required for a Ford Transit
size vehicle, with trailer for larger buildings.
Very large orders will require access for
an 8 metre flatbed lorry.
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