Extension

[Fifiona291]

We bought a 3 bed semi a few months ago and cannot decide what extension to do first.

1. We have twins and want to give both boys their own room currently they share. You can see from the plan our third room is quite small. We will do a loft conversion and make 1-2 rooms hopefully.

2. I would also like a bigger kitchen area. Not sure whether to knock through the kitchen and dining room and extend with another family room at the back in a few years or keep as it is until we extend and put the kitchen at the back when we extend. I would like to move the toilet to open up the hallway and I would love a utility room too.

So my questions are: How would you design the downstairs ? WWhat extension swould you do first?

We are saving to do loft and rear in one go. Can't be doing with the disruption twice! Means living on a scruffy house for longer, but should be cheaper doing in one hit.

Did you mean to share a floor plan? My phone can't see it. How old are the twins?

Coming from a very similar situation for our project which is due to start shortly on a 3 bed bungalow.

I think you need to decide on what your priorities are for doing these extensions/conversions, sometimes this will dictate if you can do it in stages or if you need to do it in one go.

Doing it in stages does ultimately mean more disruption and cost overall but i can understand why you would do it this way.

Share the floor plan and i'll have a look.

To get the benefit of going both at once, which is ultimately cheaper and done at a cost less than that of two separate projects, you may need to move out.

@Whatiswrongwithmyknee

Did you mean to share a floor plan? My phone can't see it. How old are the twins?

I've attached it now, thanks

@Whatiswrongwithmyknee

Did you mean to share a floor plan? My phone can't see it. How old are the twins?

Twins are 4

My answer would totally depend on the age of the twins.

Cross post!
I would def do the downstairs first. Living space is much more useful / important pre teenagers. 13+ and I would say bedroom space becomes more important.

I still can't see the floor plan.

On the one hand I'd want to do the downstairs first as, at 4, there are many more years of your twins sharing a room before it becomes a problem. On the other hand, extensions are so disruptive and mess making that, if you do the downstairs first, you may have to re-do some elements (at least decoratively) when you have the upstairs done. Hard to say more without seeing the floor plan though.

Here it is, sorry had limited access before!

This is the upstairs

It looks like a typical 30s house, if you go on Pinterest and type in 1930s extension floorplans or something similar, you will get tons of ideas. All I would say is that be careful with extending out the back - depending where you are (I don't know whether thats the norm) the back garden isn't very deep according to the floor plan and a rear extension would quickly eat up a chunk of that. It might be disproportionately small for a 4 bed house (which in all probability, is geared towards families who will want a decent garden).

In terms of which to prioritise, if you can, save up for it and do it all at once. It will be cheaper in the long run.

Fab, I love a plan! I didn't really understand what you said about the extension options but in terms of the downstairs, I'd probably extend out by around 15 feet across the whole back. I'd keep the door into the dining room as the door to the kitchen. I'd split the existing kitchen into 2 parts. The part nearer the front door would be utility and if it works with the stack you can move the look into what appears to be a larder? (then you can open up the hallway at the front). I'd make the back half of the kitchen accessible from the kitchen in the new extension and have that as a larder.

Honestly I'd probably do this first as your boys are fine for a good while in the shared bedroom. They will make much more use of the new downstairs in the next few years. You can go into the loft to get an extra bedroom later. Keep us posted!

Thanks all. We won't have enough for an extension for a good few years or when we remortgage. Would you keep the kitchen as it is for now or knock down the wall and make it bigger for the next few years?

We’ve got a v similar layout to you. We’re in London and extension costs are continuing to rocket. While we could stretch to rear extension, we’re thinking of knocking through the kitchen as it is the layout - not the lack of space - that is the big issue for us. Possibly a small box extension out where the current kitchen is to allow a lootility near the stairs.

I think it depends on how long you see yourself staying in the house and your lifestyle and family needs. Rear extensions are generally not a good investment in the same way as loft extension/ extra bedroom is, so factor that into your plans if this is only a less than 5 year home (will you make the money back?). Your garden looks on the smaller side, so consider the impact of even a small rear extension might have on your outdoor space as well. We’re thinking through how we use the space and what is of most value to us - but it is pretty hard!

We are planning on doing loft conversion later as not needed right now. I can see the case for doing work altogether if possible, but I think we’d be in a better position to assess what we need from a loft extension in a few years (we don’t have children yet).

Your twins can share for a long time yet and one could sleep in the smaller bedroom, so I would go for the downstairs extension first.
I live in a similar house with an extension doubling the kitchen/dining area. It's a lovely room and everyone who sees it comments on it. Your garden is plenty long enough to accommodate an extension. Mine is smaller but quite big enough.
Some houses I viewed have knocked the kitchen and dining room through and this also gives a much better family space than the separate rooms.

It sounds like this may be a longer term home for you. It could be that you knock through sooner but keep costs lowish by not spending v big on new kitchen (or adapting your current one if it is in good shape). Later on you could do your loft and a rear extension if you know you’re staying put and it is needed? I know that means doing more work over time but you can then adapt it to the evolving needs of your family - while they are small, I think the opening up of the kitchen will make life considerably easier (and bigger garden more useful with small children), while the extra family space from a rear extension would probably have more benefit when they are older anyway?

Thanks for this..very useful
How much have you been quoted for a box extension for the utilityloo area.? that's exactly what I was considering. Garden is about 100ft so shouldn't be an issue I don't think I'd we were to extend out in the future. How much are you getting for a rear and loft quote? @Yazoop

Did you do your extension straight away downstairs or make do with a smallee kitchen or knock through first? @RebeccaManderley

Did you do your extension straight away downstairs or make do with a smallee kitchen or knock through first? @RebeccaManderley

I bought the house already extended. The loft has also been done but I think the downstairs makes the biggest difference. Over half the houses in my road have been extended, many with both loft and downstairs like mine. I think it adds around 10% to the value (which is a lot in outer London).

Depending on your finances, I think knocking through kitchen and dining room makes a huge difference at less cost than an extension. On the other hand, if you think you will extend in a few years the total cost will probably be more doing two jobs.

Do you have any space down the side of the house?

No quotes for box extension yet! But going out for quotes in the new year to see whether it makes sense. We’ve been given rough estimates by builders of £2,500 per metre for any rear extension (anecdotally in the London area that can often rise to push £3000 ).

Limiting to just a small box extension off the kitchen would obviously keep costs a lot lower overall but still a few quid. Our budget for downstairs is around £50k but that’s to (hopefully!) cover: knock through wall, decent quality kitchen, poss small box extension on kitchen side with small downstairs lootility under the stairs, new flooring throughout. Not sure if we are in the right ballbark yet, though, so plans may have to adapt!

Full rear extension seems to increase things to upwards of 100k and I’m not sure the extra space is really worth it (the main thing for us is loo/utility space and we should be able to get that anyway)

Worth having a nose on Rightmove of configurations of similar properties in your area to get an idea, if you haven’t already!

We originally had the same layout as you before we decided to knock through to make a large kitchen diner.

We moved our kitchen to the dining room and put a range cooker in the chimney breast to save some more space.
This all meant we were able to have an kitchen island.

We also knocked through an opening to the living room, to make downstairs fairly open plan. In a few years we are hoping to extend but the space we have now really benefits our family. I'm able to spend time in the kitchen while watching the children play in the lounge. Let me know if you want any advice.

That sounds really nice @OwZ321! I think it is a great benefit to have an open area like that while kids are young.

Op - might be worth checking out apartment apothecary and katie at the crescent on Instagram - both great examples of what you can do in a 1930s terrace / semi to have a lovely kitchen diner without an extension at the back.

Sounds lovely. Do you have any pics?@OwZ321