Is this a lot of money for not much gain?

[Indecisivelurcher]

H & I are really struggling to decide what to do here. We are in a fortunate position to be able to do our house up. We plan on staying here 10yrs. Benefits of this proposal are solving issue v dark dining area and giving us more room for table, replace knackered flat roof with smart new one with skylight, again bringing in more light, and replacing unreasonably cold /hot conservatory with usable space. But, it's a lot of money to not add any floor space...

Can you explain what the changes are please as I can't really understand the drawing. It looks like you are blocking off a door so it isn't part of the main house and moving the toilet which I can't understand the reason for and will presumably be a huge part of the expense to do? Maine I need more coffee to get it 🤣

Can you perhaps look upon it as spending the money as a ' life improvement ' ? It will give you extra light , piece of mind for the roof , and giving you extra liveable space. Plus in 10+ years money spent now will reward you when you sell. Look for the positives !

I don't fully understand either, but it does seem a bit like 40k for a downstairs loo

I think there is a halfway house where you don't move the loo but do put the steels in so that you can open up the space (which is presumably the main issue). Otherwise it is a very expensive loo move. However, it depends where you are in terms of value and whether you want to get your money back. If you were in Chelsea it would be worth doing... somewhere where the property is very cheap, not so much.

Ah sorry. Crap diagram! At the mo we have a kitchen diner, then turn right, past the downstairs loo on the left which is isolated in a box almost as the orange scribble over the wall is because its already gone. Into the back extension (labelled snug) and conservatory. The proposal is to move the downstairs toilet, which just to be awkward has the fuse box attached and is an original wall so needs a steel. So the kitchen diner into the snug is just open. Take the conservatory down, and expand the room labeled snug in its place, incorporating a new downstairs loo.

Does that make sense...

So if you were to walk down the kitchen to the dining end and turn the corner, it's all open into a rectangular back extension about the size of a garage.

I'd say yes, although it does depend where you are and how much your house is worth.

Also I would chop off the bit of kitchen behind the stairs where your units currently are and make those into a downstairs loo/utility, then have the long new kitchen/diner/snug without the loo at the bottom garden corner.

So essentially move the loo-in-a-box and replace the conservatory, giving one open room.

House is worth £220k with a ceiling say £240k. It's a mid terrace ex council. We don't need to see it all back but this is once in a lifetime money for us.

Keep the loo where it is, move the kitchen-diner into the back snug/conservatory area, turn the dark kitchen-diner into the snug (possibly subdivide it to make two rooms - office/playroom)

You'll still have a loo in a box though, it'll just be in a different location.

Why do the fuse boxes etc all need moving - that'll be expensive.

@Veterinari

You'll still have a loo in a box though, it'll just be in a different location.

Why do the fuse boxes etc all need moving - that'll be expensive.

Can't move the loo without moving the fuse box, it's on the side of the loo wall. And putting a steel in. If I keep the loo where it is, don't get the benefit of light and space to the dining area. Still an option though. Moving loo etc quoted as £5-9k.

@Lemonsyellow

Keep the loo where it is, move the kitchen-diner into the back snug/conservatory area, turn the dark kitchen-diner into the snug (possibly subdivide it to make two rooms - office/playroom)

Might have been an idea, however off the table as got a new kitchen 5yrs ago and can't see that money wasted.

You can just move all the kitchen units etc. It doesn’t mean you need to buy a whole new kitchen.

Admittedly, moving a gas pipe if you have a gas hob might be pricey.

We are doing something similar and it's costing us £70K ! so I'm thinking that's quite reasonable. Bigger steel in our case and we are extending out beyond the footprint of the conservatory.

I can see why you want light - and it'll look really good. But the new loo placement seems really strange. I'd have imagined you'd have had big windows looking out on to a garden or yard there? Not a loo in a box.

@MaryIsA that's useful thank you! You're right about the loo, I can't work out where to put it 😂

I don't understand why you need to move the fuse box either?

Are you actually moving the loo in a box? Rather than building a new loo? Surely its cheaper to move fysebox to the closest wall rather than across the building.

I prefer other posters idea of utility/loo at the end of current kitchen then 1 big open space. Your new loo and storage wall will make the room look corridor like.

I can see where the money is being spent although not gaining square metres you are essentially building an extension after knocking down conservatory.

£5-9k for a simple downstairs loo seems very pricey to me.

Have you had anyone round like an architectural technician? Just thinking there may be other similarly priced solutions that give you more oomph for your money.

Or live with it as it is and save the 40k for the next house!

@CovidCakeConundrum if you look in the photo up thread, the fuse box is in the cupboard on the side of the toilet wall, so if we're getting rid of the lot to make it open then we've got to put the fuse box somewhere else, and put the toilet somewhere else.

We've had a few alternatives suggested! Even going 2 storey, which is cheaper but that seems madness and overkill for the house.

On the figures you've given that doesn't seem worthwhile to me at all.

A cheaper option could be putting a solid roof and bifold doors on the conservatory and knock the wall down completely between the snug and conservatory so you've got a warmer more usable room with more light coming through to the kitchen.

No real advice on floorplan. Just advice as I’ve built two houses from ground up. Whatever you are quoted to do the work is an estimate. Construction quotes more often over run than come in on budget. Usually due to differing site conditions or things outside the builders control (ie Brexit driving up materials costs perhaps?)

So you need to make sure that you have the quote + 20% in cash reserves. In other words if you have say £80k, make sure the work quoted stays under £65k.

Yes, I would say it is worth it. I would build the extension a bit bigger though, as least as far out as the existing conservatory.