House Layout Change
Discussion
TLDR: Who is best to make recommendations on house layout change?
I bought my house two years ago. It's a self build bungalow from the 1980's. I want to redesign it as I feel the layout just doesn't work. I don't think the space is well utilised at all. However I don't know who would be best to contact for what I want.
I don't want fully sketched architectural plans (and the associated cost). I also don't want to get a builder out and waste their time when I don't even know what I want. What I want is rough sketchings of different potential layouts for the house. I need to keep the 4 bedrooms but think I could create an extra room or two with some imagination which I lack. I wrestled with ChatGPT for an hour and lost miserably.
Any thoughts? Would an architect do this kind of thing? Or interior designer? Anyone done similar with a timber kit house who wants to weigh in? I have, helpfully, included an image of the original drawings in case anyone has any immediate thoughts.
I bought my house two years ago. It's a self build bungalow from the 1980's. I want to redesign it as I feel the layout just doesn't work. I don't think the space is well utilised at all. However I don't know who would be best to contact for what I want.
I don't want fully sketched architectural plans (and the associated cost). I also don't want to get a builder out and waste their time when I don't even know what I want. What I want is rough sketchings of different potential layouts for the house. I need to keep the 4 bedrooms but think I could create an extra room or two with some imagination which I lack. I wrestled with ChatGPT for an hour and lost miserably.
Any thoughts? Would an architect do this kind of thing? Or interior designer? Anyone done similar with a timber kit house who wants to weigh in? I have, helpfully, included an image of the original drawings in case anyone has any immediate thoughts.
Trendsetter said:
However I don't know who would be best to contact for what I want.
I don't want fully sketched architectural plans (and the associated cost). I also don't want to get a builder out and waste their time when I don't even know what I want.
No one here can give the answers, you need at minimum a structural engineer and builder on site. An architect however is who you really need to come up with a vision and plan.I don't want fully sketched architectural plans (and the associated cost). I also don't want to get a builder out and waste their time when I don't even know what I want.
I would suggest if you are serious about remodeling the house you need to first over come the mental barrier of cost. If you do want to get work done it will cost you ££££, lots of £££££. In drawing fees, structural surveys, building, making good, decorating etc etc. it's also not just the ££££, it the decision making, arranging trades to come quote and do work, than the time it takes.
We were in a similar position a few years after moving into our bungalow. We didn't want to extend out but did want to make the doomer bedrooms more usable. We had no idea where to start or what it would involve. In the end by the time the structural survey was done I had some idea what works might be needed, but I wasn't prepared for what reality looked like. The 'shaded' bit in the drawings ended up needing demolition, it was where the old kitchen and living room was - both perfectly good rooms.
Personally I really enjoyed the process and plan to do it all again at some point, but you need to accept any building works wouldn't be cheap, quick, or easy.
Edited by gangzoom on Monday 23 February 07:16
I appreciate that this work won’t come cheap unfortunately! By cost, I really mean that at this time, I don’t need fully detailed plans. I essentially want someone to give some different floor plan suggestions to see if we can make better use of the space. Never having done any significant building work, I’m just not sure if this something an architect would do.
The whole place needs a lot of redecorating and remedial works anyway. I figure if I’m going to change the house, I may as well do that before laying lots of new floors.
The whole place needs a lot of redecorating and remedial works anyway. I figure if I’m going to change the house, I may as well do that before laying lots of new floors.
Architect will show you a vision, potentially something really exciting you wouldn’t have thought about, but they don’t really care too much about cost as they aren’t paying.
A surveyor will produce structural drawings based on what you/architect wants. They might have to do some trial hole digging to explore current foundations etc. Their job is to make sure the building can pass building regs if build to plan.
A builder will build/quote off plans produced by the surveyor, some might just ‘wing it’ if you point to a wall and ask them to move it. You than have electrics, plumbing, plastering, decorating.
All of the above takes time and money to sort out. None of it is hard but it’s a lot harder than buying a new build or a renovated house which is why most people don’t bother.
From my limited experience of doing renovations on our home, if you are going to go to all that effort you might as well do something that really works for you/family, so getting the initial design right is key.
A surveyor will produce structural drawings based on what you/architect wants. They might have to do some trial hole digging to explore current foundations etc. Their job is to make sure the building can pass building regs if build to plan.
A builder will build/quote off plans produced by the surveyor, some might just ‘wing it’ if you point to a wall and ask them to move it. You than have electrics, plumbing, plastering, decorating.
All of the above takes time and money to sort out. None of it is hard but it’s a lot harder than buying a new build or a renovated house which is why most people don’t bother.
From my limited experience of doing renovations on our home, if you are going to go to all that effort you might as well do something that really works for you/family, so getting the initial design right is key.
Don't go down the route of getting an interior designer in until you've had some advice on the structural aspect of making changes. One client got quite frustrated when a structural engineer said they needed a steel post right where the kitchen designer said the full height larder cupboard needed to go. Oddly the client was also more worried that it would ruin the flow of the kitchen more than whether their house would fall down.
An architect will be able to give you advice and basic plans on revising the layout without having to go too deep into things at this stage.
An architect will be able to give you advice and basic plans on revising the layout without having to go too deep into things at this stage.
Get family and friends round and see if they come up with any different ideas to what you have ? Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can see something that’s glaringly obvious to them but not to you.
It’s difficult for anyone on here to give ideas as nobody knows how you want to use the space.
Once you have an idea of how you want it then get a few builders round to see if it’s possible and how much work/ rough cost it would be before you commit to spending any money and plans / fees that are not possible or way out of your budget.
It’s difficult for anyone on here to give ideas as nobody knows how you want to use the space.
Once you have an idea of how you want it then get a few builders round to see if it’s possible and how much work/ rough cost it would be before you commit to spending any money and plans / fees that are not possible or way out of your budget.
As others have already said, you cannot do any layout planning until you get a structural engineer to assess what can and cannot be changed with regards to the layout and internal walls etc.
Personally I would do this via an architect, then ask the architect to use the structural report to come up with some ideas for the space, that will be compliant with building regs etc.
You are wasting your time trying to think of new layouts yourself or asking others what they think, without biting the bullet, spending a couple of grand, and getting an architect/surveyor involved.
If you do go down the remodelling route, you will be into this project for tens of thousands, so might as well start it off properly.
Personally I would do this via an architect, then ask the architect to use the structural report to come up with some ideas for the space, that will be compliant with building regs etc.
You are wasting your time trying to think of new layouts yourself or asking others what they think, without biting the bullet, spending a couple of grand, and getting an architect/surveyor involved.
If you do go down the remodelling route, you will be into this project for tens of thousands, so might as well start it off properly.
'Architects' is probably how you got where you are.
I would say a good starting point is to look at some different houses.
Start by discussing floorplans of houses on Rightmove.
Go and annoy some estate agents and new home salesgirls.
Get some clear ideas about what kind of layouts you like.
Try to understand why different things are better and worse than yours.
Then work out what walls in your place are stud wall partitions and what's holding the roof up.
The other approach is to look at what space you have and consider how you could use it better.
Change the function of rooms?
Change your furniture?
Change your habits?
I've seen a few houses for sale where people have 'modernised' them, but it's all a bit mickey mouse, due to things they couldn't change or stopped short of paying to change.
The layout of our house is IMHO. quite poor, but changing it to what I'd choose would be more expensive than its worth.
I would say a good starting point is to look at some different houses.
Start by discussing floorplans of houses on Rightmove.
Go and annoy some estate agents and new home salesgirls.
Get some clear ideas about what kind of layouts you like.
Try to understand why different things are better and worse than yours.
Then work out what walls in your place are stud wall partitions and what's holding the roof up.
The other approach is to look at what space you have and consider how you could use it better.
Change the function of rooms?
Change your furniture?
Change your habits?
I've seen a few houses for sale where people have 'modernised' them, but it's all a bit mickey mouse, due to things they couldn't change or stopped short of paying to change.
The layout of our house is IMHO. quite poor, but changing it to what I'd choose would be more expensive than its worth.
OutInTheShed said:
The layout of our house is IMHO. quite poor, but changing it to what I'd choose would be more expensive than its worth.
Before we did our building works I always wondered why people would often demolish a perfectly good looking home on a nice plot to just than build something different. The reality is if you want to make extensive layout changes on an older house it's often quicker (and possibly cheaper) to just demolish and restart again.I suspect we would have spend almost the same amount if we had gone down the demolish route, it would have 100% been quicker for the builder. As it stands the two remaining walls of the old house are the ones I'm most worried about interms of damp/insulation......
Watcher of the skies said:
I think you need to list out what it is you are trying to achieve. To me the layout looks logical, if you are planning on keeping the same number of bedrooms then what do you want to change?
I think, for what it is, the layout looks perfect.It's got kitchen / diner at the back, opening on to the back garden (often kitchen is at the front) with living room and bedroom 1 at front. I don't like houses where living room and bed1 are at the back so you've no idea what's happening at the front (although I appreciate some people would prefer that).
We used an architect to redesign the layout of 2 of our homes. We paid a flat fee for the consultation, which was around 4 hours spent at the house. Half of the time was spent being interrogated by the architect about what we wanted, how we lived our lives, what was important to us, etc, with the remaining half them sketching proposed plans.
We ended up with several different proposals, all sketched out roughly based on what the architect felt was viable. The winning proposals for both houses were something we'd not come up with ourselves, despite spending 12 months in both houses trying to find solutions and asking every visitor to our houses to give their thoughts. Bottom line - the architect was worthy every penny.
We then moved forward with the proposals ourselves as we have a fantastic builder who was able to sort everything else out.
Might be worth contacting a few local architects and see if this is a service they offer.
We ended up with several different proposals, all sketched out roughly based on what the architect felt was viable. The winning proposals for both houses were something we'd not come up with ourselves, despite spending 12 months in both houses trying to find solutions and asking every visitor to our houses to give their thoughts. Bottom line - the architect was worthy every penny.
We then moved forward with the proposals ourselves as we have a fantastic builder who was able to sort everything else out.
Might be worth contacting a few local architects and see if this is a service they offer.
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