AIBU to ask how you'd extend this ground floor..?

[EmbarrassingMama]

Advice welcome and encouraged from all the rightmove and property show addicts!

This is my downstairs floorplan. It's a good size, but my kitchen layout doesn't feel very spacious due to the peninsula cutting the room up. We have the opportunity to extend but I need help. How would you do it? We have a 1m side return we could use and can also go out the back. Our garden is only 11 metres long so the max we'd want to build out is 3m. I'm actually thinking 2.5 m might be better, to preserve more of the garden.

Not that interested in getting a sofa in there (we have a nice sitting room for TV), so it'd really be a kitchen and dining space.

Extra points for: pantry; downstairs loo.

YABU: Bugger off and find an architect
YANBU: Where are my pencils? I live for this stuff.

TIA!

At work at the moment but more than happy to give it some thought. We extended the ground floor a few years ago and the only plans ever drawn were drawn by me! These plans went to council, building regs, builder (who referred to them!).

What is the orientation of your garden?

I had a very similar ground floor OP and we went out the side by 1m and also back by 3m. I wish we could have gone further!! Do the maximum you can, you won't regret it.

Where is your bathroom upstairs?

From your plan I am assuming you are semi detached. How much space do you have on the open side please?

Thanks MNers!

@GnomeDePlume the garden is North East facing, so not tons of sun, but the sun we do get is at the end of the garden till sunset.

@WaterBottle123 did you have a bigger garden to start with? Ours is quite wide but not the longest to I'm nervous about taking up too much of it and upsetting the balance. That's great to hear though.

First floor plan attached to show bathroom facilities.

@GnomeDePlume semi-detached, yes. Side passage is 90cm deep.

@EmbarrassingMama

My garden is longer than yours but also narrow and tapers. Garden space not a priority for us, as long as we can BBQ/sit out. DC happy with parks etc for exercise

Ultimately, most Brits use their garden much, much, much less than their house, hence choosing living space.

Where are you in the country, and how much do you want to spend? Can you mark on your floorplan outside the location of toilet waste pipe and any other drains, man hole covers etc? Would you rather lose garden space or side access?

Your kitchen diner is a pretty good size already, so the best answer may well be a small utility room and WC, and reconfiguring your kitchen layout. Putting in steels to push out a mere 2.5m feels a massive waste of money.

@WaterBottle123 very true. We are also a 2 minute walk from a massive park and playground.

How far you go into the garden also depends partly on what's at the back of it. Is there a clear space, an unimpeded view? Is there a house or other building or parking or anything behind?

My back garden is about 35' long. Partly it has an open view down a road but partly there's a house sideways on to the back of my garden. The owner decided to build a two-storey extension, bringing the whole side of their house much closer and looming larger over my property and particularly part of my garden, affecting sunlight. It affects my neighbour's even more than mine.

This means that if I wanted to extend out into my back garden, say by 8' or 9' (not worth doing for less than that) it would bring me even closer to the house behind and have an enclosing and boxing-in effect both in the sense of space between the properties but even more so on the garden. That's why I'd say to have a look not just at the garden but at its situation in relation to neighbours and other possible changes.

If contemplating a major overhaul downstairs and giving up garden or side return space I would make sure to put in a utility, downstairs loo and shower room. This is invaluable. A larder is also a great facility to have, installed against an outside wall.

We have the same layout and are contemplating a side extension the full length of the house. Front section will be garage space and a utility area. Then behind that a downstairs loo, then an office at the back. It means we don't have to use up garden space or put a new kitchen in but moving the washing machine will make more storage. Our pantry area is under the stairs, with access from the kitchen.

I'd forgo the door in the kitchen added a frosted window if a nasty view., you have patio doors to outside.
Stick a loo under your staircase and extend your kitchen. Use sliding pocket doors.

We have the exact same layout. We have young children, so put an extension all across the back to make open plan living/dining/kitchen area.

Next door did the same, but turned one half (behind where your kitchen is) into a utility room and downstairs loo, and then had a long thin dining room with a few comfy chairs at the far end.

Just out of interest, what is the circle labelled CH in your living room?

I'd put a 3m extension on the back and I'd do it as an A frame with velux windows on each side and massive doors in the middle.

I'd then put a wall in-between the living room and kitchen and put in a utility room.

I'd move the kitchen along the back wall adjacent to the new utility room and put in an island that has a hob in it that overlooks the garden.

Definitely lose some garden to make the house the best you can

Like this one. I think they've gone out quite far and obviously the glazing is quite a statement but I think it looks great

@ChocOrange1

Just out of interest, what is the circle labelled CH in your living room?

I'm guessing ceiling height

I'd also see about getting this moved to Property/DIY for more responses.

Doozergirl usually has some great suggestions

If you only go out by 2.5 metres to preserve the garden, do you mean that as the outside or internal measurement of the extension?

Would extending sideways cause problems in accessing the rear of your property by, say, window cleaners or tree surgeons?

11 metres is a pretty small garden anyway. Reducing this further could make it undesirable when it is sold in future. Have you considered re-configuring the kitchen/dining room instead?

Also a lot depends on your budget. But with such a small garden I do agree with PP that lots of prospective buyers are now looking at gardens as a selling point so you may be limiting your opinions there. Also agree with @MyAnacondaMight that you will be doing a lot of building work for little gain.

If budget is an issue I would add a 2.5m extension straight across the back, but keep the existing external walls where they are. This way you do not need steels or to move your existing kitchen and you can divide the space between downstairs shower/toilet/utility/pantry, whichever works best for your needs. The house appears as original so an extension this small will not require planning but a Certificate of Lawfulness is advisable.

I wouldn't lose the side access for the sake of gaining 0.9m.

As an aside, building work quotes seem very high at the moment so you may also need to consider this.

Thanks everyone this is all so helpful.

We were actually in the process of buying and selling (basically to buy the same house with a bigger garden to justify the extension!), but found out that we have unexpectedly got No.2 on the way and couldn’t deal with 12 months of major works. So making the most of this house (a house we love) suddenly feels much more sensible.

I was pushing for a 2.5m external extension (so 2.3m added), but DH would sooner go for 3. I love being in the garden more than he does, so that’s probably why!

For those suggesting getting a utility / larder / shower room in, where would you put all that?!

Kitchen would measure 7m x 6m if we extended out only - which I think is big but not necessarily big enough to accommodate all that. Am I being daft? It’s very hard to see past the massive kitchen peninsula atm so maybe that’s my problem!

Apologies for going quiet earlier, I got caught up with work/bedtime...

If we extended to the side we would lose all access that way, but l don’t mind letting window cleaners and whatnot through the house.

Re garden, the house that backs on to ours is another 1930s semi with an 11m garden (roughly). So we’d be edging closer but there are a few trees that make us feel semi separate.

If you were planning on moving anyway, is it really worth the hassle and expense of a major extension now? Would it not be better to make the most of the space you have and look at moving in 2-3 years? I am going to add to the chorus of posters saying don't limit your garden space unless it's really really worth it!

Your kitchen diner isn't a bad size really. I would block off the door to the side return and switch around the patio doors and the window in the back wall. Then you could have a lovely U- or L-shaped kitchen to the right, and a dining area to the left looking out at the garden through the patio doors. Losing the peninsula would automatically make the space feel bigger, and you would be able to see straight through from the front door into the garden, which always makes houses feel airier and more spacious, at least in my experience!

Is there room under the stairs to install a small downstairs loo?

This is really rough and knocked up in 5 mins but with internal measurements of 2500mm x 6000mm (so a compromise between you both) you could have something like this.

Keep the original rear wall, block up the existing double rear door to a single internal door, larder with floor to ceiling shelving to the right, utility space to the left, as you can see there is space for 4 x 600mm square units on each side so plenty of room for washing machine and tumble dryer, units above and worktop space. Instead of units on the both sides you could have space for drying clothes, wellies, storing hoover etc. Further on theres a small shower room, downstairs toilet and sink. I've forgotten the back door but it would be opposite the new internal door.

I think I've got overinvested. Can I pop round for a measure up? Post Covid of course...