House help needed please

[Househelpneeded]

Hi, would anyone mind having a look at this floorplan of a property of a house we are considering? It would be our first home (rented previously) so are novices when it comes to house design etc.
My questions are; on the top left of the kitchen, it shows a detail- cannot figure our what this represents.
In the 2 spaces in the kitchen (old coal cupboards apparently) the L shaped one- would you think it would be possible to put a toilet and sink in there?
The kitchen when viewed looks quite long and narrow as it only has units down one side. I would prefer to make units down both sides and perhaps put patio doors where the sink is? Does this seem feasible? Each of the bedrooms has a fire in which seemed quite strange to me! There is no central heating but if we bought it, we would have it fitted. Would you leave the fires as a feature or board up?
It has a lot of space round the house so extention would be possible in the future (when we win the lottery!).
I know some questions are probably hard to answer without seeing the house but any help would be gratefully received!

I didn't measure til I'd put an offer in & had it accepted; but every situation is different! I would also spend some time at second viewing knocking on walls (to see if they're stud partition or solid/load-bearing), checking how many sockets per room (never enough!), looking for damp, oddities, expensive fixes, and save measuring for later.

I think the pp's question was whether you could access the kitchen from the hall without going through the sitting room, which I don't think you can? In looking for those stud walls, I'd be hoping you could do something like this layout (a pocket door on the coal hole might make a downstairs loo just about viable):

burritofan ooh that is interesting! I wish I could see the layouts of the other houses on the street (they mostly aren't listed on zoopla)

That was the alcove I was wondering about as well, burrito has done the same as I was thinking .
Then you even get a window in the new toilet...

Have a look on the planning portal and see if there are any planning applications for similar houses as these will have existing and proposed plans and will give you ideas for what extensions have been successful getting planning permission.

If the kitchen is at the back you could extend it out to make a bigger deeper kitchen with patio doors later on .

I second burritofan's plan at Sun 03-Mar-19 21:07:04. It's pretty much what I was going to suggest.

However, the original plan looks weird to me. The walls on the upper floor do not seem to line up with the walls on the ground floor. You will look into load-bearing walls and all that before doing anything drastic, won't you, OP?

burritofan layout woudl make that a MUCH better house

I have just got back from the second viewing... feel a bit deflated. I think the walls have been freshly painted; hiding cracks etc? The 2 cupboards in the kitchen are really old brick inside, they would need plastering etc, my partner thinks the bricks in the cupboard look really old and crumbly (which they do, I have attached a photo) but is this normal,it isn't a wall that is on show.
The fuse box looks old, he thinks we will need all new electrics (we will find out more about this but again, have attached a photo)
The windows are all a bit stiff to open, is there a way to make them easier to open, rust removal stuff or something- they are fine otherwise.
There is no plumbing for a washing machine so that would need to be sorted.

Fusebox

A house with no central heating is unlikely to have had much done to it for decades- I would expect the wiring to be very elderly, to be honest.
When was it built? And do you like it, despite the potential problems? You can get an electrician to look over the electrics when you are doing surveys.

Is it on rightmove so we can have a look at the pictures of the rooms? Might help understand the layout a bit more

Electrics aren't that old 20/25 years I would say , depends how long you are staying for . If you are doing huge amounts of work then I'd say get a re wire.

Not unusual for a house on the market to have had a lick of paint, not necessarily sinister/hiding anything. Walls in my hallway cupboard (where fuse box, gas meter, etc are) are unfinished, as is floor. Only problem there is the draughts.

No house will be perfect & shiny, there'll always be work to do... BUT you have to love the place enough that the work seems worthwhile, IYSWIM? For me the layout problems would be a dealbreaker unless I knew for certain they could be fixed & that I had the budget to do it.

I am putting a log burner in my house half the bricks are sooted and black the other half are not how do I make them all the same TIA

How much more is a fully done house - you need to add in electrics, replumb and redecorate ~ £15k for that house plus hassle and mess and having to move out to get the work done.

Tealfrog I have a family member who who can put in the central heating for £2500, a friend who has quoted £3300 if it needs a full rewire. We would aim to have that done before moving. It does need other stuff so probably £10,000.
We rent at the moment so would aim to have an extra month in rented while sorting the house.
Obviously, that won't be time for any building works. Anything else- extending it etc would be in the future anyway.

I feel so stressed working all sums out, layout, researching everything! It is all I have thought of since viewing it.

We have an appointment to see how much we can borrow, and get a mortgage in principle today. Fingers crossed!

@Redsox1966 you will get more replies if you start your own thread.

OP if you actually like it, it sounds like it could be a good house for you then? DEFINITELY get the plumbing and electrics (and associated replastering!) done before you move in!!! Very exciting!!

In kitchen on one side instead of cabinets you can put in staggered shelves. Look in " Style at Home" to see what I mean.

If you are having a rewire and the walls need channelling, factor in the costs of replastering, especially if like ours the old plaster just crumbles.

Also, I notice there is a fireplace in the upstairs bedroom but no corresponding fireplace below in the kitchen, has the chimney breast been removed in the kitchen? If so is it supported above?

You could maybe fit a toilet on its own? Without a sink? I don't think building regulations allow this but I could be wrong.

You can get space saving cloakroom loos where the sink is built onto the top of the cistern.

J

I'm not sure we will bother with the toilet anyway, it is quite a funny space- probably better to put a little pantry in it.
One day we could put a porch at the front and a conservatory/extension on the back.