Remodel Floorplan Feedback

[RichmondMumof2]

Hi All,

I'm thinking about renovating and wanted some feedback on an early floorplan. House is Arts and Crafts built 1910.

We are in West London and have a small rear garden but value indoor space over outdoor right now.

There are suspended floors apart from an original extension to elongate the kitchen about 15 years ago, I think this is concrete.

Since moving in 5 years ago we converted the shower room to more of a utility come downstairs loo and have been trying to save to renovate.

We'd like wet underfloor heating throughout, ideally with an air source heat pump. Please if any Mumsnet people have done this any experiences or learnings here would be most appreciated.

Also, I wanted to get the views of folk on the combined downstairs loo / utility.

Feel free to annotate the proposal with your improvement suggestions.

Thank you.

The back part of your reception is going to be very vey dark

Is it a terrace / semi / detached? I'm wondering about the practicality of having the toilet on an internal wall.

Thanks both for the prompt response.

@korawick12345 yes. My thoughts too. I've put double doors which who'll be glazed to bring some light in but that is indeed a very real trade off.

@emmathedilemma, it's end of terrace (hall and stairs are the end side). Yes. Probably best to do an under-stairs loo do you think? Is the problem getting the waste out?

See attached.

i would worry that you will end up with a sort of circuit with that layout? Depending on budget I have seen some gorgeous refurbs where they complete replace the wall between the hall and the reception room with a glazed screen.

What is your intention for tieback part of the reception room? or is that where you have put the utility, I am a bit confused by the proportions! Is the dotted line across the current back of your reception room?

I like your first plan - but if you can, I would put the loo under the stairs. I would have the utility as you've drawn it as full width rather than the 2nd option. I think light in the extension may be an issue if you're end terrace, can you incorporate a window on the right hand wall above the run of units?

See photos of current reception room. It's knocked through.

Thanks @korawick12345.

Yes, a bit of a circuit. I was thinking as a way to address the dark reception issue.

The current reception room is knocked through to form a reception-diner. The dotted line is where I was assuming there would be a big steel in lieu of the back wall if we were to extend. So yes, dotted lines across the current back of the reception - diner.

A glazed screen sounds nice but where would I put a utility?

So i assume you are removing the fireplace from the rear part of the living room? Or are you planning to run the utility room across so that it meets the wall where the rear fireplace currently is? If so you will need some steel to hold up your rear wall and it feels like you would need a pillar right in the middle of where you are planning your island to be. Unless you are planning on a really chunk steel frame to hold everything up

Ok I get it! So glazed screen would be between hall and reception and utility would stay in the middle, will try and find a pic to show what i mean

like this

The hallway will be very narrow with lots of doors off it. I'm thinking along similar lines but want to make the hallway past the stairs wider so people can pass. I think Iive decided that we'll forgoe the utility and have a cupboard instead. What are you doign with your side access? I plan to cover ours, but deciding whether to try to do a proper structure and use as a utility, or save money and use timber and insulation only as a glorified shed. I want to retain rear access through.

@Africa2go thank you. Will revert to original width of the utility / cloaks. Loo under the stairs.

depending on width of utility if you can have appliances down one long side and fitted shelves about 25-30 deep floor to ceiling on the other long wall you will find that you can store tons of stuff and have a pantry which means you can have fewer units in the kitchen which can often lead to better design choices

You could run the utility down the wall you currently have your kitchen units and go for a longer room rather than wider. You could keep the big glass window at one end of the utility to fit with your frameless sliders. You could then choose to have some frosted glass panels separating the reception room and the kitchen diner. You’d have to rethink your kitchen layout to maybe be against the other wall? But it just might have a better flow than having your utility plonked in the middle of your downstairs.

Oh yes @korawick12345. That glazing option is absolutely gorgeous. Indeed I was thinking of this option if we have to have a smaller reception room due to the current nibs and steel position. We have the nibs from the original steels where it was knocked through by the previous owners. I suspect we'll need to live with these and in which case the reception would be a lot smaller and the glass wall between the reception and hall will be necessary to feel more spacious.

The proposed floorplan is currently showing the reception room boundary butting up to the chimney breast in back room, giving a bit more space. I thought double doors and glazing would have a bit of an improvement in lighting.

Agree with the comments round the chimney breast. That chimney breast is currently bricked up with a vent. Ideally we will remove it (downstairs only) with the additional work you describe.

Yes Re: steels and one needed to go into island. I need to consult a structural engineer to resolve these issues and advise what is practicable.

@Rollercoaster1920 yes Re: narrow hallway. Unfortunately although we own the side access we can't extend here as our neighbours have access rights to get to their gardens. Your plan sounds great. You can put a ladder in there, mower etc.

Yes @korawick12345, your extra storage in utility ideas sounds genius. Will work on that.

Yes @Cherryberrypies, will play around with this!

I don't think you will need a pillar where the island is if you are happy to pay for a big steel spanning the full width, it was more if you hadn't planned to do that.

Yes, your problem might be water and waste pipes to the utility / toilet if you put it in the middle of the house.

Thanks for the feedback All. I've updated the floorplan on top of the original and considered the option where the reception is smaller, but with the glazing between the hall and reception to give a sense of space.

The main win is it means not removing any of the existing key structural walls, which I think is important (but don't have a feel for HOW important). I think I'm probably at the point where I need to talk to a Structural Engineer or an Architect.

Any more feedback please keep it coming. Your beautiful collective mind is helping me greatly.

Or this?

The difference between those 2 plans is the extra space you get / give up in the utility room. What's the dimension of that? I think it will give a better feeling of space to have a slightly narrower utility if you have somewhere else to store coats etc than the cupboard you'd be giving up.

Thanks @africa2go. Good point. I think I was devoting too much space to the utility to square up with the WC. I've narrowed the Utility to ~2m. As a result this now gives a potential snug / office space in the kitchen in this recess.

I took the cloaks cupboard away as there were many doors in that area of the hall and realised that we could have glazed double doors into the kitchen (which would be nice, bringing some light into the hall).

It's still evolving.

I’d access the utility from
The kitchen, which then frees up space for a hall cupboard.

Also why not put coats etc in cupboard under stairs?

2m is very generous for utility and that recess in the back room you could build in a banquette for dining.

Kitchen door could also be a pocket door then you could run your unit right up to the wc wall