Small extension- worth the cost?

[PurpleFlowersInMyHair]

We’re about to offer on a house and the kitchen area in the open plan kitchen diner is quite small. Rather than take space from the lovely dining area- we were thinking of building a small extension. An extra 1.5 to 2m will just give the extra room needed for a decent sized kitchen. We would have it running across the back of the house.

We have £25k in total for build and new kitchen. The rest of the room is in great condition. We just don’t like the kitchen (layout and cabinets) it’s actually fairly modern looking. We could probably reuse appliances.

Is this a silly idea building an extension for such a small amount of extra floor space (8-12 sqm)? Should we look at orangery style or basic build with breeze blocks & rendering, pitch roof and wide French doors (White UPVC). We are going for practical and lots of light, rather than high end (so no bi-folds). Maybe a sky light too.

Thoughts please?

We thought about a small extension but building costs here are £2000 per m square and by the time we added in architect and planning costs, new boiler etc it was coming in too expensive for us. You could get drawings done rather than using an architect to keep cost down.

We only need the kitchen and dining room to be slightly larger too. Felt it wasn't worth all the upheaval.

Yep we wouldn’t be getting an architect- like I say we want functional and budget- it’s about giving more workable space and light. We actually like the very cheap UPVC French doors (would probably get ones with extra windows attached. We don’t need/want anything fancy or bi-folds.

Who does drawings? It is literally going to be a rectangle box. We probably do want to avoid a flat roof.

Oh and we’ll be replacing kitchen anyway so would rather do it at same time if we’re going to do it

Possibly an architectural technician? You might need a new fuseboard too. It's the little things that you don't think about that add up. I think it might be £25k plus kitchen on top. You could ask some builders either for a rough estimate.

Would a good kitchen designer be able to squeeze a bit more space in terms of organisation?

Are you a builder? If you go into a building project with no working drawings (these are not the same as outline architectural drawings, but show details such as cavity insulation, damp proof course, footings, brick gauge etc etc) you're setting yourself up to get sting to high heaven by any builder who sniffs you don't know what you're doing.

Do you know the plasticity of the soil in your garden? If not, you'll get stung on groundwork.

I could give you countless more examples of why these things are never as simple as "putting a box on the back of our house".

£25k sound about right to me but you can double that if you go in blind and assume a builder won't take advantage of your inexperience.

Get an architect you trust who can create some working drawings and get someone with a bit of experience to meet with the builders.

Just my 2p.

We priced it up and found it came to more than that, so we are remodelling our existing footprint instead.

It is still pretty expensive as we're moving a lot of electrics and a door, and splashing out on whizzy larder cupboards etc, but it's not in the same league.

Also I think with a tiny extension you need to weigh up the disruption. We just didn't have the appetite for all that and the expense for such a modest gain. Whereas moving a door is 2 days of disruption - plus the whole kitchen refit of course! -and is completely changing the way we can use the space (hopefully!)

We are just coming to the end of a slightly bigger project but did it without drawings.
We basically wanted to replace conservatory with a single storey extension, knocked through from kitchen, refitted whole kitchen, utility, new floors through ground floor of house, decorating including orange pine bannisters being painted. And new furniture for new room and sitting room.
We have come in at 39k
That includes everything and new extension is 18sq metres.
It has been much more work and stress than I imagined but worth it.
We went for budget options to keep costs down.
I'd do it, but push your extension to get max space, could you make it a big bigger and have a snug /family room area?
We had a DIY kitchen.. Much loved on mn.. We went for their basic range and laminate marble look tops, I sourced tiles and flooring on Internet in sales etc.
If you are clear what you want and happy to make decisions such as were plumbing is going and were sockets are needed etc then go for it.
But we do have a lovely reliable trustworthy builder who has saved us money by reusing patio doors etc.. He suggested things when he saw they would safe us money.

That's what we're doing drwashout. Also we've a child with a dust allergy/allergic asthma so we'd have to move out for the duration. We weren't getting an extra room just a tiny bit of extra space and in the end the costs were just increasing. But I'm glad we explored it and I hope it works out for the OP.

Oh and our budget kitchen looks fantastic.

Yes absolutely Festive. It was the right thing to price it up rather than always wondering what if.

Just thought I’d share a link that someone else previously posted - aliceinscandiland.com/2017/03/12/how-to-extend-your-home-with-style-for-less-than-you-might-think/

Yes it’s a conservatory which done people hate but a cheaper alternative

Thank you everyone- it’s really interesting to hear about all your thoughts and experiences. I also fear coming across as lacking in knowledge (because I do) so worry about being a sitting duck for rip off builders.

I was wondering too about whether the hassle and cost factor was worth it for so little floorspace. I think we’re going to try and plan for utilising the existing floor space with a clever kitchen design (going to go for an independent kitchen designer) and then consider a small orangery/ modern conservatory, much like the one wardrobedolr linked to (I had seen that ages ago but forgot about it). I’m not under any illusion it would add value to the house though. It would be for us to live in and enjoy. We plan to spend the school years in this house and they DD hasn’t even started primary yet (we haven’t actually bought it yet- fingers crossed all goes to plan!). Obviously you never know what will happen with future plans though, so definitely don’t want to spend a lot of money we won’t get back.

Apologies for lack of paragraphs- not working for some reason

I think that’s a sensible idea. We were thinking about a slightly bigger extension but I just couldn’t justify the cost and hassle. Best of luck

I spotted that modern conservatory that wardrobedolr kindly linked to. It looked fab and the woman who writes the blog has no problems with it being cold in the winter.

Part of our reasons for wanting an extension is to replace our north facing 17 year old conservatory. We live in northern Scotland and it is absolutely freezing in the conservatory in winter.

We think now that we will just knock it when the glass goes and install French doors to the garden and revamp the kitchen. We did have two architects out and they did give us some ideas for space saving in the kitchen.

However we did look at smaller glazing ideas to give more light to the kitchen without going full conservatory.

Best of luck and many years of happiness in the house OP

We had a 10 square metre extension done, 5mx2m and it's made a huge difference. We needed a new kitchen too. Cost was around £35k by time we'd paid for everything including drawings/planning permission etc. Definitely worth it though. I am really pleased with how spacious it feels.

redjellybean I remember you from the extension threads when I was doing research. Glad to hear that you are near the end of the journey!

We are in a fortunate position as my OH is a builder so we have £0.00 to pay in labour. We paid the architect for the drawings and paid for the planning application. Then he sources the materials. He’s a very skilled man and our house continues to grow in size as his job is also his hobby ha

Depends where you are based. We are in London and has an extension along the side of the house 88m x 3m

A small extension if planned with care and thought can make a massive difference to a house, I see so many extensions which are large but useless because people have not planned the space properly, when I did an extension on a previous house we literally made a model of it and even did scale templates for the furniture we wanted to put in it to make sure it was fit for the purpose we wanted to use it for, it was a small extension but a massive success and completely changed how we used the house.

Should say 8m x 3m!!!! Anyway, it involved knocking a small galley kitchen into the new kitchen breakfast room extension (so steel RSJ). I did the plans and project managed it. First commission was the shell. Then I got a plumber and electrician to do first fix. Then I got a plasterer. Then I painted it and laid the floor. Then the plumber and electrician did 2nd fix. Then I built Ikea kitchen and had a kitchen fitter install it along with appliances. Then I decorated.
.....managed to bring the project in on £37k
Previous quotes for a builder to do the lot were £80k

BUT it was bloody hard work and I (sort of) knew what I was doing.
So...£25k isn't realistic in London/South East unless can do a lot of the work yourself.

Festive forester... Thank you.. Never ever again... But nearly there

This is all food for thought for future- no longer a good time for an extension due to discovery of baby’s health condition yesterday. Not really going to be feasible to do works for the first year. Fingers crossed we get the house- first offer in and being considered by the vendors.