Help! Knocking concrete side shed adjoining neighbour’s shed

emeraldpearl

Hi everyone, we have a side shed that is adjoining our neighbours. I think it used to house oil as our neighbour is currently using for that purpose. We plan to knock it out and put fencing around our wall for privacy. The sheds are separated by dividing wall but the roof part of both sheds are connected as one big slab.

Is it possible to knock it without affecting our neighbour’s shed? Also, since it’s an old one, could there be asbestos in it? Anyone who have the same shed connected to neighbour succesfully break their part of shed without affecting the other and do they contain asbestos by any chance?

Would appreciate any reply. Thanks

Vestiapx

emeraldpearl wrote: »

Hi everyone, we have a side shed that is adjoining our neighbours. I think it used to house oil as our neighbour is currently using for that purpose. We plan to knock it out and put fencing around our wall for privacy. The sheds are separated by dividing wall but the roof part of both sheds are connected as one big slab.

Is it possible to knock it without affecting our neighbour’s shed? Also, since it’s an old one, could there be asbestos in it? Anyone who have the same shed connected to neighbour succesfully break their part of shed without affecting the other?

Would appreciate any reply. Thanks

Pic of the shed would help, if it's not asbestos it will be relatively easy.

emeraldpearl

Please don’t mind the messy area. We plan to cut the wood for burning in our stove 😊

A friend of a friend of a friend (you get the idea) had similar done. It was a council estate and all the sheds were built the same way.

His was knocked and he got a builder to do it. As far as I am aware there is rebar the whole way through the roof. The builder just went through it with a consaw, but I remember something being said about a 'special blade' that was needed to get through the rebar as apparently a normal blade for just everyday concrete will kick back when it hits the steel.

He did get it knocked in the end, though, and I don't recall their being any specific damage to the neighbours shed (but his neighbour was lovely, and didn't give him any grief - naturally you'd want to make sure the neighbour knows what you're getting up to before you start).

emeraldpearl

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A friend of a friend of a friend (you get the idea) had similar done. It was a council estate and all the sheds were built the same way.

His was knocked and he got a builder to do it. As far as I am aware there is rebar the whole way through the roof. The builder just went through it with a consaw, but I remember something being said about a 'special blade' that was needed to get through the rebar as apparently a normal blade for just everyday concrete will kick back when it hits the steel.

He did get it knocked in the end, though, and I don't recall their being any specific damage to the neighbours shed (but his neighbour was lovely, and didn't give him any grief - naturally you'd want to make sure the neighbour knows what you're getting up to before you start).

That’s great to hear. Thanks a mil. We’ll get a builder to do it then( worried if we do it we might break neighbours shed). We run through our neighbour about the plan about 2 years ago and she’s ok with it as long as no damage to her side. Do you know if there’s asbestos in those type of sheds?

rje66

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A friend of a friend of a friend (you get the idea) had similar done. It was a council estate and all the sheds were built the same way.

His was knocked and he got a builder to do it. As far as I am aware there is rebar the whole way through the roof. The builder just went through it with a consaw, but I remember something being said about a 'special blade' that was needed to get through the rebar as apparently a normal blade for just everyday concrete will kick back when it hits the steel.

He did get it knocked in the end, though, and I don't recall their being any specific damage to the neighbours shed (but his neighbour was lovely, and didn't give him any grief - naturally you'd want to make sure the neighbour knows what you're getting up to before you start).

Pretty much this. Consaw blades will cut metal that is in concrete. It wont kick. It just shortens the life of the blade. If you are doing this yourself be very careful with the slab on the roof when demolishing shed. It will be very heavy.

standardg60

emeraldpearl wrote: »

That’s great to hear. Thanks a mil. We’ll get a builder to do it then( worried if we do it we might break neighbours shed). We run through our neighbour about the plan about 2 years ago and she’s ok with it as long as no damage to her side. Do you know if there’s asbestos in those type of sheds?

No it's just a poured concrete roof, very common in council estates.
Have you no use for it? They are akin to bomb shelters, be a pity to demolish it if you plan on getting a 'Barna' shed in the future.

emeraldpearl

standardg60 wrote: »

No it's just a poured concrete roof, very common in council estates.
Have you no use for it? They are akin to bomb shelters, be a pity to demolish it if you plan on getting a 'Barna' shed in the future.

Thanks again. We would’ve keep it except we don’t have privacy. Our neighbours can overlook our kitchen and backgarden as their patio/decking is higher that ours and the sons are hanging out sitting in the shed roof.

adrian92

Just a thought. If privacy , which is important, is the issue is ir possible to erect a screen or lattice with climbing plants.

It may not be possible

standardg60

emeraldpearl wrote: »

Thanks again. We would’ve keep it except we don’t have privacy. Our neighbours can overlook our kitchen and backgarden as their patio/decking is higher that ours and the sons are hanging out sitting in the shed roof.

Never move a mountain to create a molehill. It would be far easier to erect something on the roof itself.
However i think you may be overthinking this. Have you talked to your neighbours re your angst? They may have no idea that their sons sitting on the roof is an issue. 'Boys will be boys'.
For most people being overlooked is a fact of life, you are lucky if that is your only concern.

emeraldpearl

emeraldpearl wrote: »

Do you know if there’s asbestos in those type of sheds?

No asbestos, the roof of the shed is solid concrete the whole way through. It's like a pre-poured slab that has been lifted onto the top of the shed. Her builder spent hours breaking it down to get it into a skip, if I recall correctly.

emeraldpearl

emeraldpearl wrote: »

Thanks again. We would’ve keep it except we don’t have privacy. Our neighbours can overlook our kitchen and backgarden as their patio/decking is higher that ours and the sons are hanging out sitting in the shed roof.

Just to point out, frustrating as it may be to hear, but their shed will still be there. If you want to block their visibility, you'd have to erect something that goes about 3ft higher than their shed.

You might need a proper think about this as you might well end up going through a lot of hassle and not actually get anywhere as they'll still be able to see in anyway.

It's always awkward - but having a chat with the neighbour might be the best (and cheapest) way forward. If you build a wall, for example, that's 3-4ft higher, they will likely just sit on that and you're back to square one.

Might be worth suggesting to the neighbour that you wanted to get into doing some gardening so were gonna erect some climber plants and a trellis along the wall top. Tell them you always wanted to do it, etc. trellis is fairly fragile, so the kids won't be able to swing out of it, and it'll keep your neighbourly relations in good order.

Stick a new plant pot or two out the front where they can see it, to make it more convincing if you like, that you're mad into gardening all of a sudden.

Work out a lot cheaper, too, I'd say.

emeraldpearl

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Just to point out, frustrating as it may be to hear, but their shed will still be there. If you want to block their visibility, you'd have to erect something that goes about 3ft higher than their shed.

You might need a proper think about this as you might well end up going through a lot of hassle and not actually get anywhere as they'll still be able to see in anyway.

It's always awkward - but having a chat with the neighbour might be the best (and cheapest) way forward. If you build a wall, for example, that's 3-4ft higher, they will likely just sit on that and you're back to square one.

Might be worth suggesting to the neighbour that you wanted to get into doing some gardening so were gonna erect some climber plants and a trellis along the wall top. Tell them you always wanted to do it, etc. trellis is fairly fragile, so the kids won't be able to swing out of it, and it'll keep your neighbourly relations in good order.

Stick a new plant pot or two out the front where they can see it, to make it more convincing if you like, that you're mad into gardening all of a sudden.

Work out a lot cheaper, too, I'd say.

Yes, we will erect a 1.8 meter fence once the shed is broken because we plan to do a facelift in our backgarden. The shed area once knocked out will be our bbq area.
I don’t think we will both have a visibility on each other’s garden once the fence is put up and as well as their hedge are very tall.


I think the fence will be a welcome for our neighbour as she’s a private person as well so I think she’ll be happy to see fence in our side. I think her kids will get the idea that once we erect the fence we want privacy.

Thanks for the plant suggestion. We have thought about it before but since we plan to have makeover on our garden, we just decided to knock the side shed and put fence.

TheBoyConor

You need to make sure that you don't cut the roof slab off flush with the face of the internal wall. You'll need to leave an overhang equivalent to what is on all the other sides. Then on the underside of the overhang you'll need to saw cut a drip - that stops water running in under the overhang and down the wall.

Then when it comes to the wall, you'll need to render the wall to prevent rainwater penetrating into it.

A problem with cutting the slab is that you'll be leaving exposed cut ends of the rebar. They will eventually start to rust and start slowly breaking up the remaining concrete roof after a few years. Sealing with a waterproof render or a bitumen coating of some kind might delay things somewhat but it'll always be a weak spot.

If I were the neighbour I'd want the slab broken back some distance and a new overhang cast with new rebar dowelled in.

You are obliged to consult with the neighbour on this. They are also entitled to seek reasonable compensation for any inconvenience and costs for any advice they may have to get on the work affecting the boundary wall.

This could end up costing more than it is really worth.
There is no easy way around this.

If you're gonna use it as a BBQ area or outdoor space, might it be worth looking into just knocking one of the walls out (the long wall on the left) and having it as effectively a 'bus shelter' styled outdoor space. You'd then be able to use it as you wish and can install your fence panels and such on top of the roof (obviously cut to size to match the rest of the walls, but being able to screw them down into the roof concrete will make sure they're secure, too).

Might accomplish the same general thing for you but on a much smaller budget, and protect you from sudden rain and such if need be.

standardg60

I really don't understand how a 1.8 metre fence is going to provide more privacy than a clearly higher shed.