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.

Thanks @korawick12345 and @Whatthebloodyell. Up revved with suggestions.

The under-stairs space is quite small and houses the meters etc. I'm thinking that with the UFH Manifold it will be pretty full so want somewhere else to put coats.

I've investigated the glazing between the hall and reception. We have a loft so would need fire glazing I think and the first quote is £10K + VAT. I could sacrifice glazing the extension for this feature. What are your thoughts on this?

What do you mean by sacrifice the extension glazing? If you mean a roof light or lantern then yes I would but not if you mean the glazing in the back wall? What are you reasons for wanting UFH?

Really like the new design 😀

It's the glass wall practically possible? Do you have electric or plumbing in that wall? Double doors with glazed panels would be more usual.

Your dining in tiny for such a big space, also the loo will be cramped.

IF the plumbing and ventilation is possible can you put coats under the stairs, then loo and utility in the middle of the house, and a proper dining table at the back. You probably need to decide whether a utility or sitting area in the family room is more important.

@korawick12345

What do you mean by sacrifice the extension glazing? If you mean a roof light or lantern then yes I would but not if you mean the glazing in the back wall? What are you reasons for wanting UFH?

Yes. That's what I meant. Thanks.

@korawick12345

Really like the new design 😀

Thanks, It's all your doing! Are you an interior designer? You can see it doesn't come naturally to me.

The most recent file flips the Kitchen to the other side, which has some wins. What do you think about this?

@Rollercoaster1920

It's the glass wall practically possible? Do you have electric or plumbing in that wall? Double doors with glazed panels would be more usual.

Your dining in tiny for such a big space, also the loo will be cramped.

IF the plumbing and ventilation is possible can you put coats under the stairs, then loo and utility in the middle of the house, and a proper dining table at the back. You probably need to decide whether a utility or sitting area in the family room is more important.

@Rollercoaster1920 Good point. I have no idea if there's electrics or plumbing in that wall. Double Doors with Glazing sounds great too. Option 2.

Yeah, this floorplan is based on the estate agents from when we bought it so it's not exactly to scale. I guess for dining it should be a comparable size to the island then? Of course I want it all, snug, diner, space..... Something has got to give.

I like the kitchen flipped but would keep the larger utility as it could double as a pantry/storage for small appliances. I think not having to walk through the kitchen to access the living space in the room is a better layout.

My husband wants the UFH, ultimately he wants an air source heat pump. I like the idea of no rads and a warm house. The house is currently pretty cold.

I haven't done any of this before and don't know how much I should work with what we've got and minimise disruption (minimise removal of walls, keep kitchen and loo on outside walls, leave chimney breast in tact) versus optimise the space. I guess I need to talk to builders to get a feel for costs.

Love watching the evolution of this. I also like the larger utility. Make it a pantry space as well so fewer cupboards in the main kitchen so you have more dining and snug space there. Toilet under stairs works.

I'm glad you're enjoying it @BuffaloCauliflower. Yes. Updated.

@RichmondMumof2

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

Can you put it back?

You have a tiny garden already

Is space or garden worth more where you are? Here it is garden. Might you be devaluing the house by extending and losing even more outdoor space.

@Dogsarehairy

You have a tiny garden already

Is space or garden worth more where you are? Here it is garden. Might you be devaluing the house by extending and losing even more outdoor space.

If the OP is in Richmond SW london rather than Richmond N Yorks e then the extra space will be worth more than the garden and the garden at 12 x 7 m would not be considered tiny!

My suggestion is to get some graph paper or normal paper and a ruler and draw the plans to scale. Then cut out bits of paper the size of your sofa, dining table etc etc and move them around to see how much space they will take up. It's very low tech but very useful to get an idea of what you can fit in!

Thanks all, yeah. Richmond SW.

I really liked the way that the utility rooms were tucked away in my dds apartment in U.S.

www.amli.com/apartments/dallas/frisco-apartments/amli-frisco-crossing/floorplans A6 the washer and dryer room make a hallway into the apartment.

I wouldn't have one long utility room in the space that you've divided off. I would split the area space into two parts, one doorway into the kitchen and one doorway into the hall. I would use the area from the hall as a downstairs cloakroom with loo and small basin. The area with the door into the kitchen I would use for the washer and dryer - with shelves above and a hanging rail - then also see if you can have a vent to the outside - thus allowing air to circulate.

The space doesn't have to be uniform either so you could make the washer dryer areas deeper and thus creat a recess in the kitchen if you wished to allow for more storage if thats what you want.

A long narrow utility will not be easy to manage in my view and having two separate rooms will give a more defined space for each activity.

Thanks @ivykaty44. It looks lovely, and in gorgeous Dallas. Good suggestion, see the floorplan before this one. Which was along these lines.

The larger loo come cloaks is appealing off the hall. There were concerns around getting the waste out.

It seems I need to do a floorplan that I'm confident is to scale as @korawick12345 has suggested. Watch this space.

Cool to see this evolving. I recently spoke with a concept planner. (was initially about a dressing room!) and I asked her to safety check my idea for a kitchen change around ( re using same cabinets) and she pointed out that if I put my hob under a beam I wouldn't be able to duct a hood over it out, as the beam rests on a pillar that can be cut through. She pointed out other errors I'd made too. Give her a call. She's called Karen and she runs OnePlan design. I know she's really busy so it's another month on top of the usual month lead time, but she's so worth the wait.

We are looking to have an ASHP and wet UFH installed. Have you considered having wall insulation fitted also? DH using the lockdown time to fit the tracks and channels himself. Our walls are very uneven so we will loose around 125mm along some walls but anything we can do to warm the house will help. Will you be applying for the RHI for your ASHP?
Our house is currently rated a "G" sadly cannot do anything to improve its rating ( and the heating) until the ASHP as been fitted. So we have to live in a freezing cold house. We cannot have the ASHP and UFH fitted yet as we are remodelling the property internally and need to remove 6 internal walls but Covid has put a stop to that at the moment.
We are looking at either a NIBE pump or a Daikin Altherma. Which pump are you considering?
Good Luck with your reno

@korawick12345

like this

Love this too

I would certainly use the time to insulate if you can, I would also - as someone else suggested, look at underfloor heating and then solar panels on the roof so you can have ultimately free at source underfloor heating

Could you move the angled wall by the front door up a bit? Seems a shame to block the lovely bay window. Maybe just a door width up?

I'm personally not keen on the glazed wall in the hall as it just seems pointless. I'd rather just have it open, if not fully seperate from the hall.

I like the smaller utility and loo on that side version. I'd also try and make the hall 1.5 or double width at the entrance to the kitchen and even all the way through as that would make it feel more spacious and less like a corridor with doors, if you follow me.

Instead of the glazed wall (gorgeous!), could you have a normal wall but with a high level window in it? A bit like the old 1970s idea of windows above doorways but nicer

That way you still get the sense of privacy in the room (people at the door won't see straight into the lounge), you can have plug sockets etc in the wall but you still get the light.

I'm hoping to do something like that in our kitchen, it's really dark and when we knock it into the old boiler and utility cupboards after our extension I'm hoping to put a high level window between the kitchen and the new utility (with frosted glass so we don't see the washing drying!) to let in some light.