Extension plans opinions please!!

[Whattodowithaminute]

Hi all

Just received proposed plans for extension and wanted to canvas opinion on a couple of things-would be grateful for feedback!

I know many things are possible but don't want to take on loads of non value added expense.

Is side access via the utility really useful? Have 3 young children. Think it might be in terms of keeping the front hall clear of clutter and will probably have storage for coats and shoes in utility.

If boiler moves to cupboard under stairs as proposed do I need to consider noise from it? Currently this cupboard houses the gas and electricity meters-is that a problem in any way? We need a new boiler anyway.

Would you extend the utility as per attached pic to get a bigger utility, utilise dead space in hall and get a sight line from front door through to garden or is this not a great idea? Will it be worth taking this space from the kitchen?

Will it make the entrance to the kitchen feel like a long dark corridor?

Do you think there will be adequate light in the room with the rear doors and roof lights if we had to lose the windows on the side wall of the kitchen?

Any other general critique welcome

Many thanks

I live in a big American house, with a laundry room that we enter through. It's great, and I just wish that it was twice as big. There's storage in there, and a seat to take off shoes, hooks for coats, and the washer and dryer. We get a lot of snow here in winter, and being able to stop and take off snow shoes, coats etc is great. Also means that the washing machine doesn't intrude the noise. So my vote would be to have a side entrance via the utility, and take space out of the kitchen. If you have good storage in the utility, it could even save some space in the kitchen - cleaning products etc.

New boilers are quiet so you won't hear it under the stairs.

Children aren't small for long and we generally have temperate weather so I don't see the point of an additional entrance and that frees up space for storage.

Roof lights let in a lot more light than windows so you'll be fine light wise. But how about ventilation if you have no windows? Will you have powered roof lights? Or will you have to open the back door?

I do like a line of sight from the front to the garden but it wouldn't be top of my list when planning a new kitchen. 😄

Thanks this is helpful... I wasn't convinced of the need to move the boiler but it's come back on the plans so thinking I should give it more thought.
The front door sight line will take about 2m2 out of the kitchen space but give me a longer wall for units which might be useful; it will also give another 4m2 in the utility as we will gain the other bit from the current hallway which isn't used for anything currently...

Oh these decisions are slowly causing my head to explode...

Ventilation in kitchen very good point thank you, hadn't really considered it!!

Yes to the line of sight from front to back. You don't need to extend the utility though. You could keep the corridor and have a cupboard for coats/ shoes/ stuff where you have extended the green line , accessed where the current door to the dining room is.

Generous circulation space ( i.e. Hallways) and long sight lines make a house seem much larger.

Thanks joinourclub would you retain the access to the utility where it is now then? Will the dining room feel busy with an extra door?

Big utility room with entrance is good if it is actually big. We do them in NZ but we have shoe racks and umbrella stands etc. (The other entrance is usually via integrated garage). Front door is always tidy because of this. However I have not seen a British house this big!

headdreamer I think you're right I've seen so many amazing utility/mud rooms on Pinterest etc I'm struggling not to get swept away by the idea. The reality is that it's a semi detached house (whilst of a good size by local standards) certainly isn't the local Manor House! I think if we did have the side access I'm not sure I'd have enough room to get the pram down the side of the house to use it anyway!!

What about your green bin? Can you get that down the side of the house?

We don't need to get a bin down the side of the house but probably could, it's the turn and step on the pram (with my oversized rear end!) which I think might be the challenge

It's nice to get a bit down the side of the house! I can't so our bins are ruining our 'kerb appeal'. On the other hand, my neighbour has them hidden nicely at the back.

That's also why i made the comment about an entrance to the utility. If it's as narrow as mine, where you can't get a bin down easily, you aren't going to walk along the side of the house to enter the house.

Right have decided that boiler going back where it was, no side access to house; maximise utility space and keep windows for ventilation. Plan attached has gone back to the designer for review-any comments?!
(That's a WC in the utility where it currently lives!)

Will your washing machine be in the utility? Won't you want to take your washing to the garden directly from there?

Washer and dryer in utility and I very rarely hang out washing... if we did the side access is a not very nice side pathway, I think I'd go straight through the doors in the kitchen to the garden to hang out washing.

Looks like the he new plan will involve a lot more structural work and you may find it prohibitively expensive. You're basically taking out all the load bearing walls at the back of the house and replacing with steels. I'd worry about that amount of structural work tbh.

You're right there is potentially a lot (possibly too much?!) of structural work. Until we have quotes none of the is definite due to cost implications but think we need to know we whether we can afford our ideal setup first and then compromise later?

I like the larger utility. It gives you a chance to hang your clothes to dry indoors, if needed, without clogging up a room. And it gives you more unit space in the kitchen. Without that extra bit of wall you'd have a serious shortage of storage in the kitchen IMO. Without storage, no tidiness. And in an open-plan layout like that you want it to be tidy!

Yes to the through sight line, we did that unconsciously and it is great, and frequently positively commented on. Did you consider making the door from hallway to dining area a sliding door? Then if it is open most of the time, it doesn't take space away from the dining area.

Regarding the light, which direction are you facing? Our rear extension faces north. We insisted on having a 'pitched' (three ways) roof rather than just a slanting one, so that we could have roof lights in the eastern and western sides, rather than just north. And we put in the basically biggest roof lights we could find. At first, everybody (architect, builders, friends, ...) made fun of us, but now, everybody adores how light and friendly it is ;) It is lovely and light from morning till late but never too hot from direct sunshine.
If you're facing south however I'd avoid too much glass.

Folding sliding doors are lovely but massively expensive. And because of the many hinges/folds, there is actually less glass than in regular doors. So when they are closed (and let's face it, in this climate you will rarely have them all the way open) they let in less light/provide less of a 'view' experience than regular glass doors.
Also many folding sliding doors can only be opened from one direction. We opted for two sets of large double doors, opening outwards. We can (and do) choose to use both, only the left hand ones, or only the right hand ones. It gives us lots of flexibility regarding how to use that space. We are very happy with that and it was significantly cheaper too :)

Thanks brilliotic I hadn't thought about sliding doors into the dining room but will definitely do that as it's a fab idea. We are not planning of having bifolds-we were planning on 3 panel sliding doors depending on budget constraints.

The sun rising at front of house and will set in the bottom left hand corner of the kitchen. I think we might be limited with roof options as the current roof is pitched-I've asked for more info on the size and spec of the roof windows.

You're right about the kitchen space though I'd been really struggling to get the storage to work well for our needs but think it will be easier with this layout. Of course the quotes could come back super high and then we will be back to square one...

Personally I'd want a side door, even if it isn't a brilliant path to go down. I know that would lose a bit of space from your utility but I think it would be worth it.

We will have a side gate which is situated where the rear doors to the garden are-would that work or so still think you'd want a side door? What would you use it for? Genuinely interested as this isn't something we have at the moment so it's easy (but potentially ignorant of me!) for me to say we don't need it

I think it's just handy, say for coming in with moody boots on, taking stuff out to the bin, hanging clothes out etc. You might not do all of those things but when you're looking at selling it might be something buyers think about. It might seem odd though for your situation, or you're happy that it's not something you would use and you want to stay there long term so don't really need to think about people buying it. It's not a drastic thing either, hardly a deal breaker for someone buying, it's just what I would prefer and would think it a bit odd to have a decent sized utility without direct outdoor access.

I appreciate other perspectives though, it's easy to get fixed on one way and there are many, so thank you 😊

I like the thought of moody boots!

I'd be tempted to try and have french doors from your hallway into your dining room - could be slightly under the stairs if the chimney breast in the dining area isnt in the way too much - they don't need to be full width they could be narrower but wider than a normal door iyswim. And glass.

Brillotic,
Not a freudian slip, of course not...