Go the extra meter and lose more garden?

[Cherryblossom200]

Hi there,

I'm getting a single story extension on the back of my house. I have the option of going out 3 metres which won't need planning or 4 metres. I'd love to go to 4 metres, but it will obviously eat up more of my garden. My garden is a fairly decent size, and I love it in the summer. But it will be sad to see so much of it eaten up by the extension.

However at the same time I think about the space I'd be gaining by going the extra meter. It'll be a kitchen/lounge area with bi folding doors.

I can't quite work out which would be the better option 😬

Personally, I don’t think you’d regret going bigger - at that size, every inch counts and it will be smaller than 3 metres inside if it goes out by 3 metres, if you see what I mean? We have permission for an extension and in a way I regret we didn’t go for bigger (despite having good reasons not to).

That's that what I thought too, I think I'll go the full 4 metres 😊 I know I'd regret not doing it in the end 👍

You spend more time in the house than the garden. I'd go bigger.

I'd prefer the extra space indoors, especially since your garden is a good size.

Amazing, thanks guys! You are all echoing my thoughts 👍

As long as you don’t lose light from the house. Middle sections of deep extended houses can be too dark if not designed well

We went out further - by about a metre, but a longer extension in total so a smaller percentage of it.

Sort of wish we hadn't. Plus points the space inside is nice but not essential.

Negative points - it's not quite balanced, it's basically a metre too long.

We should have added another window to increase the view of the garden from it.

It blocks out the sun from the garden in the winter. We used to get a block of sunlight all winter that we don't get now till about February.

So check your sun if that's important to you.

The patio round it takes up a lot of space from the garden. You need a decent amount of hardstanding to step out on to and it reduced the planting area in the garden. We hadn't really factored that in.

And yes, it makes the middle section a bit darker than it needed to. But not hugely. But there's basically a bit of space we don't really need....

Thanks, that's my concern too. I'd have put some sort of decking down outside the extension which would eat up more of my garden. Potentially it could look amazing.

My house isn't huge, and the sun is at the bottom of the garden during the morning. Mid afternoon the garden is pretty much dark due to my neighbours tree, we get the afternoon sun on the patio where the extension would be. It should hopefully stream through the lantern in the ceiling making everything lighter even the middle part of the house.

Will you regret not having any patio in the sun of an evening?

The extra metre won't make a difference in terms of sunlight. The late afternoon/early evening sun is literally against the house if that makes sense. So if I wanted to keep it I would have to decide not to have an extension. Which isn't an option.

Do make sure you don’t end up with a poor view from the upstairs window. My neighbour’s view from her window is dreadful.

Yes, you might find you can no longer see much of your garden from the upstairs windows if you go too big.

How long is your garden and is it over looked? I don’t think we can answer before we know the compromise.

@MMAMPWGHAP

Do make sure you don’t end up with a poor view from the upstairs window. My neighbour’s view from her window is dreadful.

Never thought of that!

Good point re the upstairs window. Tbh it won't make of a difference, the upstairs window in my daughters bedroom is fairly high. All you can really see is the conifers at the back of the garden so that's not something I'm worried about at all.