Ground floor layout of Victorian end-terrace

[six wheels]

Hi PH,

Mrs Six Wheels and I have a little Victorian end-terrace - the old two up two down with a single-storey kitchen and bathroom tacked onto the back.

It's too small for us now with a kid but we're not in a position to move yet - primarily because the whole of the downstairs needs sorting but also because I think we can add value by extending rather than just leaving.

Assuming I'm right about adding value rather than going now, I'm hoping for input on how we might layout the downstairs. This is how things are now. Bathroom's small eh?:


Requirements are to fit in:
Kitchen,
Bathroom (cannot fit upstairs or extend up),
Light. Lots of natural light.

Our garden is West facing so South to the bottom of the picture.

Any ideas?

Cheers, Steve.

[B17NNS]

Issue is light in the dining room I guess.

[six wheels]

B17NNS said:

Issue is light in the dining room I guess.

Yep, really quite dark in the dining room.

Bathroom straight off the kitchen - in both layouts - is a bugbear too.

[B17NNS]

[six wheels]

Hadn't thought of that! If the bathroom is narrow that might work. Thanks!

[B17NNS]

six wheels said:

Hadn't thought of that! If the bathroom is narrow that might work. Thanks!

No worries. You could always rotate the bathroom 90 degrees if it's tight. You only need 1700 internal but then you lose kitchen.

[six wheels]

B17NNS said:

No worries. You could always rotate the bathroom 90 degrees if it's tight. You only need 1700 internal but then you lose kitchen.

I'd rather lose a bit of kitchen, or more likely go into the dining room a little more, if it means we could get wider doors looking out into the garden.

Big roof lights should drag more light into that dark dining room too I guess.

[PositronicRay]

I don't know if this gives you any ideas?

A pal of mine has this for sale, quite clever use of space.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

[Lesgrandepotato]

You be better off trying to get the bathroom into the centre of the house where it can be dark. Then you have the entire rear that can be opened up.
I'd question how much effort vs value gained there maybe living there with a young family.

[six wheels]

PositronicRay said:

I don't know if this gives you any ideas?

A pal of mine has this for sale, quite clever use of space.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

Thanks for that. The link to the kitchen has given us food for thought.

Nice place too.

[six wheels]

Lesgrandepotato said:

You be better off trying to get the bathroom into the centre of the house where it can be dark. Then you have the entire rear that can be opened up.
I'd question how much effort vs value gained there maybe living there with a young family.

That's an idea we'd started toying with. Our concerns - perhaps unfounded but we lack experience - are no natural light/ventilation and getting to the drainage along the side of the house.

Having the whole back open would be great though.

As to value, I suppose once we get to a couple of solid ideas we then need to get costs and timescales. Living elsewhere - for free - temporarily is possible.

[Risotto]

You seem fairly unsure about the whole thing so perhaps look at options that minimise structural changes, don't involve too much outlay and maintain the existing outdoor space?

Structurally, something like you can see below would involve a new stud wall, a couple of new windows, the relocation of the understair access and a steel to support the first floor rear wall. Apologies for the lack of a door into the bathroom on the 3D views! To maximise light you'd also have the option to put a roof lantern in (the red rectangle) but may be able to get away with maximising the height of the kitchen/diner window and having a fully glazed external door.







You could go further and open up the front of the chimney breast too I suppose and put a range-style oven in there.


One thing to investigate might be whether there's any issue with having the bathroom directly off the kitchen. Perhaps the fact it's already configured that way may help but I'd a vague idea there used to be a requirement to have two doors between a bathroom and kitchen. Whether that's still the case I couldn't say.

Edited by Risotto on Tuesday 26th September 16:16

[B17NNS]

Risotto said:

You seem fairly unsure about the whole thing so perhaps look at options that minimise structural changes, don't involve too much outlay and maintain the existing outdoor space?

Makes far more sense.

[PositronicRay]

B17NNS said:

Risotto said:

You seem fairly unsure about the whole thing so perhaps look at options that minimise structural changes, don't involve too much outlay and maintain the existing outdoor space?

Makes far more sense.

Liking that idea.

[six wheels]

Risotto said:

You seem fairly unsure about the whole thing <snip>

Edited by Risotto on Tuesday 26th September 16:16

You're not wrong there! Great recommendation too, thank you. Those plans have given us some ideas to start picking at.


Cheers, Steve.