10K budget - should I even consider re-working/extending?

[Missnearlyvintage]

Our fridge freezer, washing machine, and tumble dryer, along with tiny bathroom containing only a toilet (with no room for a sink), all live in a garage attached to our 1970s detached house (in the Midlands). There's no space for the white goods in the kitchen.

The original plan was to save for around 7 - 10 more years, extend out the back of this garage and create a really nice second living room/ spare room, shower room, and proper utility room. In my head this is epic.

Saying this though the garage gets really cold in winter, and our downstairs loo gets so cold in the colder months of the year (October to March) that we all try to avoid using it if at all possible.

Am I silly for considering having the smallest extension possible, (probably 3 to 5sqm), converting the back of the garage properly so it is insulated/heated/damp proofed, and putting in a basic shower room and utility in it?

I'm rocking between 'what a stupid idea, if you have to work to a really tight budget you'll hate it', and 'but at least if you did it you wouldn't have to put your coat on to go and sort the laundry on a cold day, or have kids trying to wash their hands in the sink after going to the downstairs loo while I'm trying to peel potatoes etc.)

Honest opinions please! DH has given up with me as I'm so indecisive about it. We've saved hard to get to where we are, and the money could go towards a new kitchen or a new upstairs bathroom instead, but shoddy and tatty as they are, I don't know if I can put them before the utility room and downstairs loo...

Thanks everyone!

10k should cover a part garage conversion. I would go to an architect and get plans drawn up for the entire layout you want. Tell her you want to do the work in stages as budget allows, and ask her to advise what works should be done together and maybe an order too.

10k wouldn't get you an extension, and I'd avoid replacing the kitchen until you have 100% decided your final layout.

I think starting with the utility room in the garage is a great idea

No point trying to extend with 10k. However, you could easily add insulation for not too much or actually very little if you’re keen to do some of it yourself.

I’m also having difficulty believing that a kitchen in a actual house is too small for a fridge freezer. I’d find it a nightmare to fetch stuff from the garage all the time so I’d rework the kitchen. 8-10 years is a very long time to wait for an extension while living somewhere that’s irritating on a daily basis.

Thanks for your replies. I think we'll end up going to an architect as suggested and working out what we can do and when.

The garage conversion would be too small without extending, and it's more work than we could do I think - the concrete floor needs work, a soil pipe from the toilet would need digging up and moving, and we would need various walls knocking down and rebuilt internally.

Our kitchen will be able to fit an under the counter fridge if we streamline more of our bits and pieces... and get a new kitchen... but not a fridge freezer, so we will still need at least a freezer somewhere. We have an internal window in our kitchen looking into our hall, as it is a modest L shaped kitchen on internal walls and not near a proper window, so it means there is a real limit to what units we can get in.

Lot of thinking and probably not much action will be the outcome for this I think!

Have you got any floor plans to scale? People could have some ideas. But obv an architect would be money well spent to make sure you make the most of the space.

Op, we are building a room on the side of our house 5m x 2m. This will cost nearly £15.
Nothing fancy and doesn’t include the bathroom fittings that will be put in half of it.
We are also have our long garage converted. This is another £15k
None of this includes flooring.
I hate to say it but 10k gets you very little these day.

Thanks again for your replies.

JoJo - no scale drawings as yet, just rough sketches I've done. I need to get the graph paper out and get them drawn out properly. When I get around to it I might upload them, good idea, thank you.

ihatethecold - I think we're realising that now! It seems a lot of money to us after saving it up, (we've already done partial double glazing, guttering, and some electrical work which needed doing), and from the base costings you find online like £1500 per sq. m. for a basic extension it seems to be doable... Then we remember that it's all the behind the scenes work to get the garage converted that's going to push us over I think, before we even start looking into the shower room.

I contacted a few architects locally but they weren't interested in the job given it's relatively small size and seemingly 'straight forward' nature which will be within permitted development. So I'll have to find someone that doesn't mind doing a smaller job. This is the time when I wish some of my family had a trades background or that I had become an architect like I wanted to be when I was 14!

Thanks again

Architects are not cheap though. You will end up spending a chunk of you savings if you use one.
Have you thought about getting a few builders round to help you with ideas and to quote.

Is the garage next to the kitchen? Could you knock through, insulate and put in new units and windows/ patio doors?