Extension Ideas

[GrumpyHoonMain]

Hi

Our house is a detached and the current kitchen and dining room are seperate but too small to be useable. The kitchen is too small for a dining table and fridge while the dining room is a long thin rectangular space that only fits the dining table and fridge.

We want to join them together and extend out into the garden by 4m to create a more open plan kitchen / diner / lounge area. The open plan layout if the only one that’s feasible because extending each room would just give us more of the same useless layout!

As we have a wide house our garden is bigger across than it is down. So that means by extending out we will end up with a much smaller garden compared to our house’s footprint. It won’t be smaller than neighbours (we live in a small desireable town with a lot of green space, so people in the area always extend rather than upsize) but it would still be smaller than what it is currently. I wanted ideas really on how to make the most of the outdoors meets indoors concept.

I think bifolds that meet in the middle might be a good idea to maximise light. The architect suggested a partly glass ceiling too but apart from that I have no ideas. Our garden, after the extension, will still have about a 3m length and 4-5m width remaining.

Can you draw a plan? doesn’t need to be to scale though if you can put the main dimensions that will help.

A 4m extension which only leaves you with a 3m deep garden doesn’t sound great, but if neighbours have done the same then maybe that’s what people want in your area. Have you looked at your local council website to see if you can see planning permission documents for similar houses who have extended? We got lots of ideas that way. Also rightmove!

Sliding doors can go taller than bifolds I think and have slimmer frames to max the view/light. You can consider floor to ceiling glazing as well.

Lanterns can creat extra height and let’s in a good amount of light too.

A small garden works fine if you have good vertical planting to create the illusion of space.

You might want to consider the direction that your house is facing if you're going for a lot of glazing, if you're in any way south facing it can make those rooms incredibly hot especially if you have roof glazing as well as large glass doors.

Also before you extend and loose most of your garden has the architect suggested anything other than 4m extension that could get you what you need? A good architect should be able to come up with innovative solutions to your space planning that might not mean reducing your garden by 50%

*lose most of your garden!

The garden sounds very small and could impact ability to sell when that time comes?

We have a similarly extension (which is fab..I love it). I think many architects have same ideas (prob a template from what I see)

Lantern type ceilings....means flat roof which was a no no for us with leaks etc. However, bigger issue is the sun and how it comes through..depending on which way it faces you could end up with a large part of the room being unusable from strong direct sunlight. We went for conventional sloped roof with 4 large Velux windows with blinds.

Outside opening. Started off with bi folds and switched to sliders when saw them and took advice. Hi folds do have more to go wrong with more complex mechanisms with lots of weight in them. They also have to stack back so depending on outside or inside layout it may or may not work. We had 4.5 M opening so had 3 large sliders...which are great. Robust and less frames to obstruct the view.

NOTE...if the opening is a lot smaller then there are benefits from bifolds as you retain more opening space.

I also decided against internal blinds in the frames...loads to go faulty as 2 friends both had them fail and required whole new glazing units.

Good luck....ours needed huge amounts of thinking through which ALL went into the spec.

@MarieG10

The garden sounds very small and could impact ability to sell when that time comes?

We have a similarly extension (which is fab..I love it). I think many architects have same ideas (prob a template from what I see)

Lantern type ceilings....means flat roof which was a no no for us with leaks etc. However, bigger issue is the sun and how it comes through..depending on which way it faces you could end up with a large part of the room being unusable from strong direct sunlight. We went for conventional sloped roof with 4 large Velux windows with blinds.

Outside opening. Started off with bi folds and switched to sliders when saw them and took advice. Hi folds do have more to go wrong with more complex mechanisms with lots of weight in them. They also have to stack back so depending on outside or inside layout it may or may not work. We had 4.5 M opening so had 3 large sliders...which are great. Robust and less frames to obstruct the view.

NOTE...if the opening is a lot smaller then there are benefits from bifolds as you retain more opening space.

I also decided against internal blinds in the frames...loads to go faulty as 2 friends both had them fail and required whole new glazing units.

Good luck....ours needed huge amounts of thinking through which ALL went into the spec.

Thank you. This is really useful. Did you sacrifice a lot of garden to get what you needed?

Lost 4 metres but not the full length as there was an l shape extension so we filled that in. We still had decent garden space left so wasn't an issue .

The final "room" is 70m square. But not in a totally square shape

@SollaSollew

You might want to consider the direction that your house is facing if you're going for a lot of glazing, if you're in any way south facing it can make those rooms incredibly hot especially if you have roof glazing as well as large glass doors.

Also before you extend and loose most of your garden has the architect suggested anything other than 4m extension that could get you what you need? A good architect should be able to come up with innovative solutions to your space planning that might not mean reducing your garden by 50%

We’re waiting for the designs and will discuss both 3m or 4m. We will need a minimum of 3m to get useable space - he said anything less wouldn’t be worth the cost. He suggested 4m because he said it won’t make a huge difference in terms of garden but may allow us to build a utility room.

It’s one of those 90s era new builds where the house itself is huge, the upstairs is expansive, but the kitchen / diner is tiny because the lounge is meant to open to the dining room. When we open the doors between the rooms it’s lovely. The gardens are small anyway in our area due to the style of house - but others seem to have completed similar extensions and reduced garden space without impacting selling prices.

Good luck then...make sure you spec it well and ensure it is all included in the contract....and make sure the stage payments are in place with non in advance.

@MarieG10

The garden sounds very small and could impact ability to sell when that time comes?

We have a similarly extension (which is fab..I love it). I think many architects have same ideas (prob a template from what I see)

Lantern type ceilings....means flat roof which was a no no for us with leaks etc. However, bigger issue is the sun and how it comes through..depending on which way it faces you could end up with a large part of the room being unusable from strong direct sunlight. We went for conventional sloped roof with 4 large Velux windows with blinds.

Outside opening. Started off with bi folds and switched to sliders when saw them and took advice. Hi folds do have more to go wrong with more complex mechanisms with lots of weight in them. They also have to stack back so depending on outside or inside layout it may or may not work. We had 4.5 M opening so had 3 large sliders...which are great. Robust and less frames to obstruct the view.

NOTE...if the opening is a lot smaller then there are benefits from bifolds as you retain more opening space.

I also decided against internal blinds in the frames...loads to go faulty as 2 friends both had them fail and required whole new glazing units.

Good luck....ours needed huge amounts of thinking through which ALL went into the spec.

Right now it wouldn’t impact sales, as the types of people who currently buy in the area are commuters without much time to do gardening. Also the local schools are all outstanding which is rare in this part of the county. My main concern is if for whatever reason the target market changes we could end up struggling to sell - plus I really, really love my garden and this is the first time I have ever had a decent sized one to play with.

I’ll just caution that gardens are far far more important than they have ever been, due to covid. People are now working from home rather than commuting and want a lovely garden to enjoy while they are home and for the DC to play in. I know several families who are selling their house with a small garden and moving to a less pricey area in order to get a bigger garden. Places with small gardens are struggling to sell (except to buyers who are moving from flats with no garden).

If you can post any sort of floor plan you’ll get loads of ideas on here (we love a floorplan!)

Just waiting for the floorplan

I would advise against the roof lantern / too much glazing. Family member had to install air conditioning in South facing extension.

in relation to the garden, I agree that a 3m long garden sounds completely out of proportion to a large, detached extended house. I agree with a pp who said gardens are more important than ever and if it's a family house, even in commuter-ville, I'd expect buyers would want decent gardens.

A 3m long garden is really very small for what sounds like a relatively big house.
What is at the end of the garden? what could be built there in 10 years? In addition to garden size, I’d be concerned about privacy with lots of glass and not much “gap”. Will it be a lovely bright space or more like living in a goldfish bowl?