House bought pre lockdown not suitable for new work life...WWYD

[FoxyBingoedOut]

In November 2018, I bought a new house. I was working 2 weeks out of every 4 abroad. The other weeks I would be in London in an apartment. I bought the house as a place to relax on the weekends I would be in the UK and as an investment (as I don't own a home anywhere else) and with the intent that I would either retire there or sell it at that time and move somewhere else. I had never worked from home.

The garden and plot this house is on is simply stunning. I love gardening and this is what appealed to me. It has loads of off street parking and a double garage which was important to dp. The house itself is like an old rural cottage (built around 1700).

Then Covid happened. My job completely changed overnight. I have been working from home since April last year and the house has just become a nightmare for me. There is not one room you can be in without hearing lots of noise from within the house. There is no room for a study anyway other than setting up space in the garage (which I have done) but it's freezing even with heaters. The house is grade 2 listed and it's in a v strict conservation area so we can't make amendments easily and are not allowed to make a room that is 'liveable' in in the garden.

I got a builder round to talk about the sound proofing and there are little things that can be done but it will never be sound proof enough inside the house.

Given my job is likely to be more WFH and I can't see my travel returning as it was before, I think I should sell the house and buy somewhere more appropriate for my needs. Dp thinks I'm insane - he loves the house and is devastated I feel this way and thinks that compromises can be made. It's like a great holiday home but I really think I need a house with doors that fit and close as a minimum if I'm going to be at home and working a lot more.

Yes thinking about it, if I put power in the garage and just made it a bit nicer inside (carpet etc), I can't see how that would cause an issue as no one would know from the outside? I think getting plumbing wouldn't be allowed but all the other stuff would be fine I am guessing?

Have all the rooms got carpets and lots of soft furnishings and furniture?

If it's wood floors and sparsely furnished that amplifies the sounds!!

It does seem odd you can’t convert the garage. It’s hardly going to be original!

Have you rung the planning department to discuss it. They can be more help over the phone than their websites suggest.

I would suggest looking at textiles - carpets, curtains, fabrics will absorb noise and be less echoey.

As an interim measure you need to look at your equipment. If your boss can hear background noise you need to buy a much better quality microphone, or pc. (Or use Zoom as that defaults to not picking up any background noise.)

There must be a solution other than office shed or garage. Bedroom, with thick carpets and heavy curtains would be soundproof enough I'd have thought.

If you really can’t convert a room or garage and can’t put in a summerhouse/office shed, I would look to hire an office and desk space somewhere nearby. Possibly even look into renting a studio flat or similar if anything is available locally and chalk it up to the equivalent of travel costs that you are now saving on.

Who wants to sit in a caravan when they have a house?!

Also those office room dividers etc they would help

It's a small house and all the doors are wonky as the house is a bit wonky :)

@LittleBearPad i was surprised too but we actually had someone over (in the first lockdown!) from planning enforcement as we got accused of chopping down a tree that had a protection order over it (we hadn't!) so I had a chat with them then in person. But I think if I did things internally, it would be none of their concern!

We erected a small summer house inside our garage for DH. It's warm and soundproofed and a perfect home office.

If he ever goes back to his actual office we will put it in the garden.

Buy an airstream and park it on the drive !!!!! Ubercool 😎 if the parish council complain , tell them to fk off !!!!! They are nobody’s. Villages in England are like that ,full of snobs too bothered about what other people are doing 🖕🏼

OP I own a grade 2 pre-tudor cottage, I feel your pain of needing permission to do anything!

DH and I carpeted the smallest bedroom in the house, and put down a thick rug, we also used thin batons attached to the beams (carefully, we know what we're doing) and used a soundproofing type of mdf/plasterboard. We also have draught excluders for every door and mats and runners on the floorboards in the rest of the house.

If this isn't possible for you, I've seen people make little bus shelter looking things around their desks using a simple wooden structure (like a moveable stud wall) and soundproofing foam.

Whatever you do internally make sure the builder who does it has worked on listed buildings/period properties before. Too many people buy old cottages for the aesthetic and do damage that can never be repaired.

Most people commenting don’t understand the difference between planning permission and living in a conservation area. You can’t do anything without permission in a conversation area! (I didn’t buy in one precisely because of that). Sheds, tv aerials, the colour of your front door... all need permission (which is unlikely to be granted).

Apart from work, OP, is the house still everything you want it to be? If so, I think you’d be best off trying some of these ideas to get a quieter work area, and give it some time to see what happens with your work. The last thing you want to happen is that you sell it and the next week work announce you have to be in the office every week.

You can get little free-standing office pods you could put in the garage so you wouldn’t need to heat and insulate the whole garage. And as it’s free-standing inside planning can’t object.

I have to say I thought grade II listed means you can't do anything including covering over original features etc etc

Put a shepherds hut inside the garage!? Something like this:

www.tuin.co.uk/Shepherd-Hut-Deluxe.html?channable=409fdc69640034302e303137394e424eb7&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqfz22aiw7gIVRuztCh2yvAFKEAQYBCABEgLK0PD_BwE

They’re moveable (there really isn’t much legally they could do if you wanted it in your garden to be honest, but if it was hidden as a room inside your garage then literally nobody could complain..

@Justcallmecaptainobvious

Most people commenting don’t understand the difference between planning permission and living in a conservation area. You can’t do anything without permission in a conversation area! (I didn’t buy in one precisely because of that). Sheds, tv aerials, the colour of your front door... all need permission (which is unlikely to be granted).

Apart from work, OP, is the house still everything you want it to be? If so, I think you’d be best off trying some of these ideas to get a quieter work area, and give it some time to see what happens with your work. The last thing you want to happen is that you sell it and the next week work announce you have to be in the office every week.

I live in a conservation area. We are allowed sheds. We updated our windows last year - yes we had to apply for permission, but it was granted with no fuss.

I know OP can’t just go ahead regardless, but plenty of conservation areas will let you put sheds, summer houses etc in your garden. They guys whose house backs onto ours have a hot tub, and most people have sheds. If it’s in the back garden out of sight of the road they don’t really care.

If OP has asked and been turned down that is one thing, but if she hadn’t applied it is worth a try. I can’t believe that nobody in her conservation area has a shed or greenhouse in their garden.

Is it really that noisy?
Can you come to some kind of routine with your dh?

I live rurally.
A number of the farms in the area have converted redundant farm buildings into rentable office space. I have no idea of the costs but there may be a solution closer than you think.

Oh, and they are high-spec with all modern inside old stone. Lovely. Warm and quiet!

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the comments

It is really noisy - I promise I am no princess!

I have spoken to the planners and I can't put anything in the garden that is visible.

@Lucieintheskye yes I feel your pain. Our doors are part of the listing because they are apparently original so we have to be careful what we do internally (and they are thin and don't fit which is one of the reasons the sound is carrying). Apparently we could get something called door curtains (?) but hard to hang them as we aren't meant to interfere with the beams either.

I think this pod in the garage is a great idea. If they can't see it, they can't object and I'll have a perfect spot tucked away!

I would look at renting space too as you said your internet isn't great it will also mean you segregate your work and home life more distinctly! You may also be able to claim tax relief or ask your company to pay?

@Changechangychange

This type of thing doesn’t need planning permission:

www.thegardenoffice.co.uk/product-prices/tgo1/

And it would be fully sound-proofed (no Affiliation that company, just the first thing that came up in google).

It does in many places, conservation areas, national parks, onto footpaths etc etc

We have a 1790 cottage. Do you have carpets? In struggling to understand how it can be that noisy but noticed when we removed the carpets the noise increased. Fitted carpet and good underlay on top of wooden board/stone floors should muffle sound. Perhaps some interlined curtains. You can hang some on poles over the doors in addition to at the windows.

This won’t be for ever and given where we are I would wait a bit longer!

Changechangychange I know they vary - the house we viewed had a shed, but had not been allowed a second (the garden was almost an acre, so two sheds would not have been excessive!).

Garage pod sounds like a great idea! Would it be heated, and would you get mobile signal (or stretch a landline)?