We are in limbo unable to make decisions about our victorian terrace house in north-west london which really needs a bit of an upgrade. Of course I desperately want a proper side return infill complete with new kitchen, improved utility area and so on, but realistically that will be 100k plus because of various knock-on effects. (Does that sound a lot to you? People round here pay at least that, more like 150k!)
The problems are :
Barely any utility space, or storage space for garden equipment, tents and camping stuff, paint pots, DIY tools, cat litter etc etc... yes we have a lot of it. I also need overflow kitchen space, really.
the back reception is underused as we eat in the kitchen, but can only fit 6 in there so with parties of more we use the larger table in back reception, but that feels wierd. It's pretty dark in there too- opens up to front reception which is nice.
So I began to campaign to the Other Half for a fancy shed-cum-garden house at the bottom of the 15m long garden. The back of the garden needs attention anyway, since a rotten pergola is falling down and so is the back wall.
BUT I can't find what I want off the peg, (one third shed and two thirds garden room, 3mDepth x 5 m width) and bespoke is over 25k.
Not completely convinced it's the right solution either. So the DP suggested a lean to shed in the side return. Given that this area is getting posher by the minute and people don't want sheds, they want snazzy open spaces, I am not sold on that at all.
HOWEVER I did think up another solution - which I am PRESUMING would be cheaper because you wouldn't have to knock down the kitchen wall or move out for 5 months - which is to build a posh insulated glass conservatory-like roof over the side return (north-facing) and tile it with beautiful tiles, ideally move the washing machine into it, and build lovely organised shelving for all the shed contents - accessed through an already existing door from the kitchen, plus another door onto the garden...
Obviously we should speak to an architect (another thing I have to fight through with the Other Half) for ideas etc but
a) do you know anyone who's done this
b) any idea if it will be significantly cheaper than a proper side return infill-snazzy-kitchen malarkey (which, I add, still doesnt solve the shed-stuff storage problem!)
Thanks if you are reading this far!!!
any advice?
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Property/DIY
posh lean-to instead of side return extension??
11 replies
Plonker16 · 07/10/2016 21:29
OP posts:
SeemsPointless ·
23/06/2023 03:50
Embarra55ed · 23/06/2023 00:33
Zombie thread. That £100k is looking like a bargain now…
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