Is it worth building an extension 1.5M wide?

[Mamaofdos]

We live in a new build and feel like we have no space. We have a downstairs utility and toilet. If we removed them we could have a decent sized and open plan kitchen/dining/living room.

I would still want a utility and toilet. Would a side extension at 1.5m be worth the money and hassle? We have 8m in length at the side of the house. Would you use the whole space?

Mama
I knocked through every room to make the whole house 1m wider
so some of it is an office
some is a bigger downstairs loo
some of it is the utility room
some of it is the kitchen
some of it is the shower room
some of it is the bathroom
some of it is a bedroom
9 months of hell but utterly worth it
(I did rear extension and loft conversion at the same time !)

If you were to sacrifice the office, would a possible alternative be (as that picture suggests) to move your front door and give yourselves a hall? Front door at the front of the new extension, coats for cupboards at the side (don't need to be especially deep), WC at the end of the hall, door to livingroom to the side?

I do get the appeal of an office too, we're just on the market just now and it's totally on the list

I think you'd struggle to get your money back, especially if you've already paid new build premium for the house. Would that bother you?

We just had an extension across the back of our house, I think it's about 1.5m internally, gives us a utility and a downstairs toilet and was the best decision ever. It cost about £15k plus a bit more for tiling the floor and fitting some storage. (In Wales.)

@KEH1982 did you get your plans drawn first or speak to the builder first? Was hoping it would be less than 2k/m2.

We are hoping to stay in our house. Not forever but it is totally catered to our needs with toddlers, babies, dogs and cost.

@ListeningQuietly glad to hear it was all worth it.

@StatisticallyChallenged the thought did go through my mind. However I do like the symmetry of the door at the front.

I just would like my house to be practical and allow us to live comfortably in it.

PS I would definitely do the whole 8m and have the study too. Ours is about 5.5m I think, which is fine for a utility and a loo. The utility has washing machine, drier, two ceiling height cupboards, one low cupboard and one drawers.

This type of extension is very common in London - it’s called a side return. Totally worth it for us. We’ve now got a huge and bright kitchen.

@Darkestseasonofall we bought out house 8 years ago, put a 10% deposit down and converted garage with savings. By the time phase 3 hit our estate our house cost £30,000 more than our phase1. So I would say we would make money from those things. I do agree though we wouldn’t get everything we spent back on house but I would imagine we would still make money on it.

I think I would use some of the playroom. Door from the kitchen into the back half of the playroom, but it would be a utility/wc.

Then the front of the playroom would eventually become an office.

Wouldn’t immediately give you everything you need but would in time.

That would be far cheaper too

My kitchen is only 1. 7wide

We extended 1.3m across the back, it was 9m long. It's made a huge difference and was worth every penny.

We created a utility and downstairs toilet at the back of our garage leading off the kitchen. The utility area is 2.3m long and 1.4m wide with an extra 75cm width for the toilet. Small but perfectly practical and I love it. No idea of cost though as it was part of a bigger project.

@LindowMan what did you use your extension for? Do you know how much it worked out at m2 and the time frame for completion?

@choirmumoftwo looks fab xx

It's extra kitchen and utility and was about £2k/m2, that's in northern England.

We are in scotland.
Ours was £1800 per square metre.

As you are in Scotland, check the building regs as you need IIRC 1m (might be 1.5m) from the front of the loo to the door for disability access. There may well be a minimum width too.

I'm always amazed watching home makeover shows based in England (eg: Your Home Made Perfect) where they slot a WC into a tiny space as it's not permisable in Scotland.

Half right. It's 1.1m x 80cm.

"Accessible sanitary accommodation should have:

a manoeuvring space that will allow a person to enter and close the door behind them. This should be at least 1.1m long by 800mm wide, oriented in the direction of entry, and clear of any door swing or other obstruction

except where reduced by projection of a wash hand basin... "

OP, I'd like to do something similar but actually have an old lean-to in place already. It's 1.75m wide. I'd actually like to do 2 storey to re-jig upstairs layout. It would change a 3 bed semi with downstairs bathroom to potentially a 4 bed semi with bathroom upstairs. Plus a utility and dining space in kitchen.

But. I think it would cost £50-60k (based on £2k/m2 plus 20% contingency). I also think I'd only break even on selling (although no plans to do that). I also don't think I can raise the money 😂. But it is my dream!

Does it have to be a brick extension? There maybe cheaper options - you know those flat pack types? Just a thought!

I dream of doing this to our dinning room - just push the walls out a bit!

@GreenTulips not sure of any alternatives. Because we want a toilet I would imagine bricks. Just can’t believe the price. Google had made me optimistic the price per m2 would be £1500.

@user1471530109 a double extension would be amazing. Would be a perfect walk in wardrobe for our room and the smaller room in the house. One can dream. I would be happy with the one storey extension.

Another question is how to finance this? Personal loan or remortgage? We are due to remortgage next month hence this is on the table.

Mortgage rates are lower

I'd remortgage too. Except despite having a good salary and secure job, the fact I'm single means I'm often capped a lot.lower than the mortgage calculators suggest (bitter experience).

The plan was to get a cheap 2 yr deal this time and over pay and reduce all outgoings. So in 2 years I may have a better shot. But with covid I'm not sure a 2 yr deal is a good idea?

Can still dream

@Mamaofdos Sorry for delay.

We went straight to architect first as we knew we going to have issues with one neighbour and the boundary so wanted to sure all of that up. We then sent complete plans to builders to quote. The cost estimated by our architect was more than 10k out from what we are actually ending up paying.

Since choosing our builder he has given us a different view and questioned some of the decisions we made with the architect.

My advice would be to choose your builder first based on a rough estimate and viewing their work elsewhere. Work with the builder to see what could be achieved and then pay for plans once you are at this point. That's now what I wish we had done.

@user1471530109 we are just coming out a 7 year deal 🤦‍♀️ The silver lining is we have knew each month for 7 years what our mortgage would be. Really don’t know what’s best. Our mortgage is through the bank however tempted to go via a mortgage advisor.

Thanks @KEH1982 My husband has two friends who are builders. So we know they are trustworthy and would do a good job. His other friend can draw the plans for us too.

Hopefully we can get them out and give us a price. Then we can deal with our mortgage.

Bear in mind you can't go right up to the fence as you will need to consider the gutter and you cannot put your gutter over the top of the fence as it would encroach your neighbour's air space.

But why don't you carve some off the back of the playroom? If it is a garage conversion there will be enough space. We converted our double garage into a playroom but we retained the back 1.8m depth for storage of all garden stuff, tools, a massive freezer etc. This would be far cheaper for you to do than an extension.

My kitchen extension was £1600 pmsq and that was 7 years ago. Why does your Dh not ask his builder mates for an idea of price.

Also you might not be permitted to extend to the side unless others have done it. On the estate I live on the semi-detached houses have to leave a pedestrian path down the side for access.