London House Renovation: Part 1

I realize I titled the last post "Buying a House in the UK" when really, we've moved past that and are solidly on the renovation portion. So, this really isn't part 1, but let's just go with it.

We got the BEST news yesterday! The conservation committee is going to let us use the Timberlook UPVC windows we applied for. We thought it was a long shot, but we were wrong. They didn't even ask our architect any questions; albeit, we did have to send them all the specifications, pictures, details, etc of the windows beforehand. From what I have read, some of these conservation officers can be sticklers for details and will go back and forth for months before giving an answer. I am really grateful we have breezed through this. Granted, our deadline for a council planning decision has been pushed back by almost a month now (we are currently sitting at 3 months since we applied). It will save us enough money in the long run that a month wait was worth it.

We met with our structural engineer this week, and no major issues there. He said the house is solid, and the changes we want to make shouldn't be an issue. I'm still slightly perplexed by the "who does what?" question - who do we ask about making internal changes - you or the architect; who do we ask about finding out the slope of the extension roof - you or the architect. No one seems to have a clear answer, so I guess I will keep pestering everyone.

The only slightly annoying hiccup was when he looked under the subfloor in the dining room, we found a very very large cavity between the floor and the ground (there's a name for this that is escaping my mind at the moment). It's only a minor 'bummer' in that we more than likely will not be able to pour concrete since it would require an extensive amount. This means the house will be a mish-mash of suspended floor and concrete.

That's all on the house front for this week. Next week we will have a 'take a deep breath' week before the landscaper clears the garden, the structural engineer completes his drawings, and we can move forward with party wall agreements the first week of June.