Advice for Ground Floor Extension on semi-detached 1930s
Hi all,
Looking for some advice for our newly acquired house. I posted about 4 months ago, but it looked like the sale was falling through - thankfully, we are now in the house!
The plan is to extend the ground floor by up to 5 metres, and the full width of the house being roughly 6.1m. North facing garden, with a large garden bank with TPO on the west aspect of house - no scope to extend to the side really. Garden is very long so don't mind going 2m past the current conservatory. It has a stunning garden space so would want decent side and rear windows and doors for extended views.
We want to get a utility room, WC (currently tight under the stairs), kitchen island, sink and hob ideally looking out into the room or garden (ie, not wall facing and we have a 1yo baby to look out for). A space for dining table and 1 or 2 small sofas where we can look out too, and a fireplace. Sounds like a lot, but hopefully doable. If there is space, a boot room on the side or rear would be good too - at the moment I have a small one being 1.2m x 1.6m - is that even an achievable size to be a bootroom?? A walk in pantry was a nice to have too, but we're probably OK with a pantry and hidden breakfast bar type storage (we've got P1 and P2 for 2m of pantry in our plan).
As it's north facing, we want to get the most light to the sitting areas, and put the utility and WC in the darkest parts which will be where the dining room is currently. We are willing to put in a skylight or 2 as well, and we don't plan to extend on to the first floor.
We've come up with about 10-15 different designs and we change it almost daily. But this last one I've attached is our leading contender for sure.
We'd love to get some input from anyone out there to see if you have any designs that might work, or even pick flaws in our current designs to offer any advise. I've attached our current floor plan, and our best proposed floor plan.
Finally, I'm keen to understand the process more too. We spoke to an architect earlier this week, and his initial suggestions for floorplan were pretty bog standard and uninspiring. What if we were to nail our own design, which professional would be best to help us through the major stages of the project? Or would we get the architect to go through the process using our layout plans?? Also, some of the deisgns on here are great - is there a go to design tool that people use? I have used a couple, but not so user friendly - then again I'm not using any professional software either!
Thanks all!
Comments (26)
Andrew Jackett
3 months agoRelated Discussions
Advice on layout for 1930s kitchen/diner/snug extension.
Comments (5)Hi, If i may I would like to ask about the extension first: Why are you not building over the boundary with your neighbour. This would allow you to build the extension in line with the existing party wall. As you are building within 3M of the neighbours property you still need a party wall agreement. Judging by the single roof light can I assume the roof is pitched from existing rear wall to new rear extension wall. If the side wall moved over then it would help to make the shape of the room more uniformed. The return nib could also be removed with the inclusion of a post of approx size 90mm x 90mm. Will the extension roof be vaulted or will the existing ceiling run through into the extension? Will the new support beams be inserted into the ceiling void or will they sit down under the ceiling? It looks to me as though the brushes steel cooker hood does not suit either of the kitchen styles. The separation of the hood also breaks up the flow of the wall units which I find a bit distracting. The island seating seems to be facing the wrong direction especially as you have removed the posts now. If I was designing the kitchen I would want the space to work for me. Currently there seems to be a lot of circulation space which could be better managed with a smarter kitchen layout. I would look at the island and write down what I want it to bring to the kitchen. Is is a focal point, where will my guests be looking from the stools, will I be cooking or prepping food on the island, how does the kitchen triangle rule work with this layout. It may be worth considering removing all of the kitchen units on the wall adjacent to the lounge and moving the island up by 600mm. Then I would looking at the position of the kitchen units on the other wall and consider only having only wall and floor units to stylise the design. The american fridge would need to be found a space. Not much help but something to chew on....See More1930s semi-detached single storey extension layout advice please
Comments (14)Hello and thanks for your prompt reply. The drawings provided show that the support beams are 203mm depth and therefore they will be too big to sit inside the ceiling void. As the weight per linear m is 23Kg as detailed on the drawings it may be worth asking the engineer to reduce the depth and and increase the weight so the beam can be inserted into the ceiling void. I note that there is also a couple of posts in the stud wall and these could be upgraded if necessary. I do not make these suggestions lightly. The main benefit of inserting the beam inside the ceiling is the removal of the shadow cast on the ceiling. The return nibs on either end could be cut back and if needed posts could be fixed direct to the brickwork to provide vertical support. There may need to be a spreader plate welded to the bottom of the post in order to mitigate the point load on the foundation. Obviously this is more of a structural design issue. Is there a good reason for not centring the bifold doors to the external wall? You have so much height on the flat roof why not put a warm deck roof on instead of a cold deck with in cross ventilation? Can I also suggest a warm pitched roof too. You may find Web Dynamics TLX Goldto be a very useful form of insulation as you will only need about 75mm of PIR insulation in between the rafters. I've never been fortunate enough to meet a building control officer willing to accept a heavy duty Catnic lintel over a 4M bifold door. I thought the under stairs might be the position of the meters. I would consider relocating these to an outside wall. Then turn the WC through 90 degrees and design it under the stairs. If I was planning a kitchen diner extension with a beautiful bi-fold door looking out into the rear garden would try and create a direct flow from front of house to the back. I would move the utility room into the middle of the house to provide a direct line of sight from the front door to the rear garden. GD3 would provide access into the utility room. I'd consider moving the door along the living room wall so it could open into the hallway. This would allow a 950mm wide fully glazed door to be placed between the hallway and the kitchen diner. With regard to the position of the new extension wall which is adjacent to your adjoining neighbour I suggest that you look up the party wall act 1996 booklet online here - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523010/Party_Wall_etc__Act_1996_-_Explanatory_Booklet.pdf The part that is of interest is "Line of junction - building astride the boundary". If you build across the boundary you should gain at least 150mm of additional internal floor space along the length of the outside wall. Also if in the future your neighbour decides to build an extension they can utilise your wall for if they pay half of the cost of its construction. I'm sure you know that you are responsible for paying all of the costs from all sides relating to the party wall agreement. If the neighbour on the other side is within 3/6m then you will need an agreement with them as well. The architects drawing indicates that the drain is not adopted or shared and therefore you will not require a build over agreement with the water authority. Best wishes Andrew...See Moreextension/floor plan advice for 1930’s semi
Comments (3)I think kitchen / diner to the garden always works best. Nice social use of space… might just nick your idea for our house 😝...See Moresemi detached extension dilemma
Comments (7)Hi Jen We have decided to do something similar ! we are going to raise the doorway and leave it open much of the time . Only thing is that I can’t have a pocket door as the space isn’t wide enough . We are thinking of options here whether to leave as an open space and have the utility behind cupboard doors . We also can’t have a tall window as the pitch on the roof is so low . So we have opted for a lower full length window which comes up to eye length . We already have a velux in the roof . I would have liked a bigger pice of glass like a flat large glass in the roof but have been told it involves a lot of work to change the roof . Thank you for all your advice ....See More
Isla Cherry
3 months ago
CWD
3 months agoAndrew Jackett
3 months ago
PROStudio Smith
3 months ago
rinked
3 months agoIf you're not good with digital, try graph paper and cut out your cabinets and furniture. I think your scetch scale is off. Keep traffic lines open around the kitchen, 100-120cm are optimal. Here's a bit of an idea:
rinked
3 months ago
Anna G
3 months agolast modified: 3 months agoAndrew Jackett
3 months agoAnna G
3 months agoAndrew Jackett
3 months agoAndrew Jackett
3 months agoJonathan
3 months agoAndrew Jackett
3 months agoJonathan
3 months agolast modified: 3 months agoAndrew Jackett
3 months agoJonathan
3 months agolast modified: 3 months agoAssuming your stated budget builds an extension that is 6.6m wide externally x 5.5m I would do this so that you end up with a living room and kitchen that are nearly twice the size of the ones in the original house. You also gain an additional small reception at the front and a utility
Andrew Jackett
2 months agoI've gone back and forth with many other ideas and have come up with this design... moved the utility room to the left hand side (west) to be opening outside. Put in a WIP behind the bank of fridge, freezer and oven. Hob will be on the kitchen bench wall, sink in the island. Small sofa area at the end of the island, with dining table to the left. Aiming to have large opening of sliding doors at rear, and windows on the west side. Put together quickly at the pub on the app, but proper sketches at home with detailed measurements I can post later. Would be good to get peoples thoughts on this.
rinked
2 months agoThree layouts resembling your scetch:
(the rectangular table is 3m long, ridiculous i know, but wanted to show what would fit in)
Andrew Jackett thanked rinkedAndrew Jackett
2 months agoAndrew Jackett
2 months agoAndrew Jackett
2 months agolast modified: 2 months agoJonathan
2 months agorinked
2 months ago
Jonathan