Extension plans
Discussion
0-100-0 said:
Well you’ve got a nice plot and plenty of space all around. No major roads to avoid and I doubt the principal elevation issue is going to be significant tbh. I imagine that was quite a specific set of circumstances.
Like a lot of houses, it looks like your house has been extended at least a couple of times with the hall, WC and conservatory. No doubt there are some flat roof areas. Having the entrance at the end of a long house is always going to leave you going through one room to get to another which is not ideal, but to solve it you’ll need a much bigger budget than it looks like your surveyor was trying to work with. It looks like he was also trying to work with as much of the existing layout as possible and presumably has a plan for the roof which a lot of people posting on might well not have thought about.
Personally, I think the surveyor’s plan works ok with a few tweaks and would be much cheaper to build. I would move the WC to the wall facing the drive and turn it through 90 degrees with access off the hall. Close up the door to the dining area off the hall. The shape of the dining area is now better and you can have a big window or doors to the garden rather than looking at the drive. It also a better relationship to the kitchen. I would also close the door from the living room to the second hall and move the door to bed 1 to the left end of the wall it’s on. Then you can move the kitchen cupboard through 90 degrees to area where that second hall was. So the original cupboard is now part of a much better shaped squarer second hall with all doors off it and saving you walking past one bed 1 to get to all the other bedrooms. It does create a bit of a corridor through the kitchen but with a good layout and the right furniture you can get away from that feel.
If you PM me I'll email you a plan of what I mean.
Of course if you've got a bigger budget you could move the driveway, build a new garage and get the hall in the middle and extend to the right etc etc.
That sounds very interesting and sounds good. I've PMd you. Like a lot of houses, it looks like your house has been extended at least a couple of times with the hall, WC and conservatory. No doubt there are some flat roof areas. Having the entrance at the end of a long house is always going to leave you going through one room to get to another which is not ideal, but to solve it you’ll need a much bigger budget than it looks like your surveyor was trying to work with. It looks like he was also trying to work with as much of the existing layout as possible and presumably has a plan for the roof which a lot of people posting on might well not have thought about.
Personally, I think the surveyor’s plan works ok with a few tweaks and would be much cheaper to build. I would move the WC to the wall facing the drive and turn it through 90 degrees with access off the hall. Close up the door to the dining area off the hall. The shape of the dining area is now better and you can have a big window or doors to the garden rather than looking at the drive. It also a better relationship to the kitchen. I would also close the door from the living room to the second hall and move the door to bed 1 to the left end of the wall it’s on. Then you can move the kitchen cupboard through 90 degrees to area where that second hall was. So the original cupboard is now part of a much better shaped squarer second hall with all doors off it and saving you walking past one bed 1 to get to all the other bedrooms. It does create a bit of a corridor through the kitchen but with a good layout and the right furniture you can get away from that feel.
If you PM me I'll email you a plan of what I mean.
Of course if you've got a bigger budget you could move the driveway, build a new garage and get the hall in the middle and extend to the right etc etc.
Triumph Man said:
OP, what was your original brief to the designer? Not that I'm laying any blame at you of course but sometimes these things can be client lead.
Also, with regards to knocking it down and starting again, a new build house is zero rated for VAT.
To whoever said you require two doors separating a WC and the Kitchen, this is not the case.
I do accept it was probably my fault. Another poster mentioned earlier that I didnt seem to know what I want and he was right. I had hoped to tell the architect what I wanted in a vague sense and they would work their magic. I pretty much said exactly this to them. Also, with regards to knocking it down and starting again, a new build house is zero rated for VAT.
To whoever said you require two doors separating a WC and the Kitchen, this is not the case.
me] said:
We need an extra bedroom, the kitchen and bathroom are too small and theres no ensuite which we would like. In adding those things, we would also like to improve the flow of the house, we dont like walking through the living room to get to the rest of the house for example.
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