Would you borrow extra money in my situation?

[ShowOfHands]

I live in a 3 bed 1930s semi and have two big jobs that need doing:

1. 20yr old conservatory is rotten, has zero insulation and is an eyesore. To remove and rebuild as a room with heating, insulation etc would cost 18k

1. No downstairs toilet but room to build a small extension without losing much outside space (dark unusable corner of the garden) with a downstairs loo and basin. Cost 18k.

In our ltv bracket, we can borrow an extra 29k leaving us 7k short. So do we...

1. Do one job and not the other, if so, which? Both would add value and pay for themselves when we sell in around 3 years.

1. Borrow 7k using a home improvement/personal loan and pay back ASAP.

Other mitigating factors:

It would likely cost more to get one job done at a later date as the costs are based on the same builders doing both jobs at the same time.

DH earns around 3k in overtime over the festive period if he works as much as possible so a large chunk would be repayable quite quickly.

We could afford a 7k loan repayment on top of the mortgage but things would be v tight with no spare money.

We have three family members who visit regularly who are disabled and/or infirm and are at a point where our stairs are a real problem. Plus 2 adults, one primary aged child and a teenager live here full time and one loo in the only bathroom is quite trying at times though it's obviously manageable.

There is other work to do but it's not ££ - things like resurfacing the driveway, new carpets, replastering a couple of rooms, decorating, new front door. If we did one job and not the other, we could do all of these jobs immediately but they wouldn't add value in the same way. These jobs would have to wait and be done over the next couple of years when we could afford them.

I would prioritise the conservatory/Extension and see what you have left over. You might have had a quote of 18k but these things always seem to go over budget!

Then you can see what’s left and add to the pot with savings/bonuses until you can afford the next bit.

Just wondering though, is there absolutely nowhere you could squish in a loo without another extension? Under the stairs maybe? If you could do that you might be able to do it all in budget and then use the bonus for some of the smaller jobs.

Prioritise the extention 18k for a downstairs loo is too much
If it's just for a visiting relative I would look at a cheaper alternative .

Stayed at a campsite once they had like a garden shed with a sainflow toilet you could do the for under £400

As far as you can ever say it won't, it won't run over budget. I'm reasonably confident about this.

Nowhere else to put a downstairs loo inside. There is a cupboard under the stairs but I work from home and it has my filing cabinets in there. We could consider it I suppose but it also houses all the coats, shoes, wet weather gear, kitchen items such as the slow cooker, steamer etc, medicine box and so on. We need the storage really. It'd also put the downstairs loo off the dining room which I don't think is ideal either.

£18K for a small downstairs room sounds a bit high! Have you got other quotes in for it?

Don't le the builders bump you into doing both by pretending they're giving you a good price!

I’m with those saying these quotes sound high - especially the small extension for the loo. I’m sure our extension across the back of the house only cost about £10k including bi folding doors etc

If you have been quoted 18 k for each job , and they go over budget for whatever reason would you be able to afford it.

I’d prioritise the extension and get that properly done. Perhaps go a bit bigger too. You can think about how you use the space as it should be easy to accommodate your filing cabinet + more kitchen storage to free up the space for a downstairs loo.

They won't go over budget. I'm 99% sure.

And we've had many quotes to check cost.

The downstairs loo extension would also provide room for a utility area and small back hall.

I've just chatted to DH about whether I could move all my work stuff upstairs, sort out better storage in the hallway for other stuff, pare down and put a toilet under the stairs.

So we might have secret option 3 after all.

I am really reluctant to lose the storage space but the toilet downstairs is something I'd really like and would mean my family can visit still.

With the other extension into the garden for a utility and loo, make sure you don’t end up with a botched layout. It sounds like it could end up a little random.

How secure are your jobs? Unless really secure I’d not be taking on that much debt at the moment.

We have a 1930s 3 bed semi with a loo under the stairs. It's small but perfectly serviceable. I wouldn't be paying £18k for that although I appreciate you'd combine that with a utility. Get the conservatory replaced and put a loo under the stairs.

Have you had someone look at your options? (Someone like an architect) rather than just builders? Couldn't you combine the two?

If it came down to choosing I'd (if possible) go for a bigger loo/ulitlity/starsge space than a rebuild of the conservatory. However, that's what would help here, not necessarily at yours!

Personal loan sounds doable though if DH will get the extra work this Christmas.

DH's job is very secure and mine is pretty secure. We can survive on just DH's salary and his job is going nowhere. We have also overpaid our mortgage steadily so could effectively take a 7 month holiday from payments before the over payments were cancelled out if that makes sense. We've had architect involvement and the layout is fine. The conservatory is there already and a loo/utility extension would effectively just widen the kitchen so it would retain its footprint shape, just change the measurements iyswim.

The builder is coming round later this week to talk about options so we will talk about option 3 and how that could affect things. We're keen to get it done before Christmas so need to move quickly.

Are you sure you don’t need a planning permission? As far as I know, conservatories and extensions are treated differently.

@JoJoSM2

Are you sure you don’t need a planning permission? As far as I know, conservatories and extensions are treated differently.

All sorted already. We've been planning for a year, had architects round long before getting quotes and have everything we need and all costs built in.

Can you get your builder to quote to just get the shell of the loo /utility extension built first - all the basics and plumbing & electrics etc, but not buy the suite, the taps, the tiles, the flooring or decorate, or all the kit for the utility. You could then save a bit and get them in later to finish a few months/year later. (Or DIY add them & tile/decorate yourselves)

We would do all the tiling and decorating ourselves anyway. We are sitting down with the builder to go through things cost by cost this week. DH is pretty handy thankfully so can do a lot of stuff. All quotes are up to and including a finished product so we can negotiate down quite easily but want to work with full costings for now so that we don't get stung.

DH, FIL and a handy neighbour have just redone our entire bathroom (ripped back to brickwork and took up the floor) including moving the toilet to the other side of the room, all plumbing and finishing. I did the decorating. Only thing we got professional help with was plastering (though DH has been learning to do this) and some of the electrical work.

I would do it if you are able to live in the house yourselves for several years. Don't assume you can sell it in 3 years for the price you want to move and pay everything back. The current market can't be predicted like that.

But if you will get better use of the house longer term, then do it.

Re the budget, it's what you can't see where things go ary, like if you need new footings for conservatory (likely if it's 20yrs old) or if they find a wayward pipe under the new extension area.