Which adds more value and which would you prefer?

[puffylovett]

Hi, just at a turning point with our self build extension and wondering what people would prefer? Bearing in mind this is for us to live in (but I am facing Reno fatigue and want our lives back!)
standard 3 bed semi, quite a narrow house.

Option 1 (original plan) - good sized kitchen dining living space (8x5m), with separate snug, back door to boot room, walk in pantry and large utility with second downstairs shower (downstairs loo is under the stairs and won’t be moved).

option 2 (husbands choice as it dramatically reduces the work he has to do) - large kitvhen with living space and dining room off (in original middle room), smaller utility room with coat storage, no back door in this plan.

option 1 is my choice but does make a lot of small rooms, better for me coming back from dog walks with a muddy spaniel but a shedload of work in terms of getting services and drainage to the middle of the house. Most of this is already in place. But, it would be cheaper and so much easier to go with option 2. And would give us more space for the 3 separate functions.

we are doing the work ourselves, have been at it 18 months already and I just want my fella back! We both work full time and it dominates his weekend! Teens largely abandoned through the whole process :(

torn :(

Can you do a rough floor plan as it's hard to picture.

What is the main gain with option two? Other than less work.

Do you retain a separate living room as I think this is crucial for family living/ not being subjected to you tube pish by the kids

Option 1 sounds best.

You'll need to show the different floorplans. In option two is there no other living spaces? In option one what is the access to the gardens and do you need a downstairs shower or is that for the dog?
Is your husband doing the work?

Yep, need a plan.

Option 1 doulas best in theory, but there's a risk of it being a series of cramped spaces.

Is there the ability to put in back door access for option 2?

I'm not really following option 2. Any chance of a diagram?

Ultimately though renovations can cost marriages, or people end up hating they project so much that they can't enjoy the house. (This literally happened to a friend of mine and they sold it once they'd finished it.) You've got a finite number of days on the planet. It's OK to choose to spend more of them with your family.

The way you’ve described option 1 it sounds like the dream.

But it’s clear from what you say that it is your dream option so that’s not surprising!

I can’t really understand option 2. Floorplan?

I'm also struggling to picture it. Surely there's some sort of half way. E.g. you don't need a separate utility and boot room, but the utility doesn't have to be smaller as per option 2?

Option 1, despite my own 4 years of reno fatigue

With a dog, you'll need a back door into the utility at least, otherwise come howling wind & rain, you'll be letting warm air out and all the weather & wet dog in to your main living areas everytime they want a wee.
Obviously option 1 is the dream.
Maybe lose some of the fripparies such as the pantry ( I do love mine but it really wouldn't affect family life if we didn't have it) boot room, extra shower & prioritise the main space working for you as a family?

Thanks guys! Sorry I knew would need a diagram and then I ran off. We are on holiday so trying to box everything off!
Ive attached diagrams of both.

the reason for wanting a downstairs shower is teen boys who totally hog the upstairs bathroom from about 9-11 at night taking hour long poops. Yes, really. So trying to get them showered and into bed at a reasonable time for school is a nightmare. Also we need storage for mountain biking / ice hockey / paintballing / shizzle. A smaller utility room will just about allow us to store coats and shoes and give me a deep sink for washing football boots and the pooch (who does a muddy shake in my nice hall every single time we get in!).

yes I realise we should’ve moved but we can’t afford to, and the extension is built already - I definitely think option 1 will work best it’s just the work involved, plus the waste from the shower will have to be via a saniflo.
its been such a long slog I think I just want a life back as we’ve literally done everything except the foundations, brickwork and steels!
thank you 🙏🏻

But with either of those layouts you have to walk through either the utility or dining room in plan 1, or boot room in plan 2, to get to the main living area. Neither is good.
What's at the back? A garden? Why is the 'back door' to the side - does that lead to the garden or is it a side return?

I think you've missed the shower room off option 1?

Also does option 1 mean you have to walk through the boot room from the hall to everything at the back? That sounds like a nightmare. Surely you want to shut off the coats, shoes, mud etc?

After all this effort, I don't think you should compromise hugely at this stage (personally, I could live without a walk in pantry, but wouldn't miss the chance for a second shower if you only have one in the house already, for example). Also I wouldn't not have a back door to a utility with a dog.

Option 1
Plus as children get older you spread out more so not all in one big room.
We did something similar as it's great, was different when children were younger as all in one room more often. Even now with one life home and one at uni, it's not unusual form me in one room and Dh in another. I want to read in peace and he watches sport in the other.

Sadly it’s the only option, due to the existing layout of the house. Not ideal and was a compromise. But, planned bootroom space will be nice and will be neat cupboards - not planning to have coat racks. Planning for it to be more like an extension of the hall. At present we can’t use our downstairs loo as it’s absolutely stuffed full of coats and hoovers!
at the back is big sliders to our garden, which is gorgeous with lovely views.
back door would be more of a side door, to come in with the dog and go straight through to the utility to dry her off (we have the option to move the door to the utility.
showrt would literally be in the utility space - would plan to have it as a partition wall with glass door to make it private. There is no window in that room, so ventilation etc is a concern but can be sorted.
theres all sorts of compromises with this house, hence why I am agonising over it all!

Yes we already do this, I have the front room snug in the evenings and the other half is usually on a tablet with headphones - he’s looking forward to having an actual telly to watch!

shower would be in the utility kind of partitioned off at the back.
bootroom would basically be nice cupboards, fancy tiles - more of an extension of the hall - envisioning only 2 blazers and school bags hanging up tucked into a corner so not directly visible from the hall or walking past.
its an awkward house :(

may oresent we only have 1 shower over the bath in our tiny main bathroom.
imo we should remove the chimney breast from the old middle room, this would enable us to properly partition a second shower room - but the other half won’t consider it.

Why can't you still have a side door with Option 2?

I could, but it would leave me with zero storage space for coats and hoovers etc :(
can’t stack the washer dryer, due to boiler being in the corner by the door from hall.

Neither are great. Traipsing through the boot room would put me right off a house. If I had time pick one then option 1, but I wouldn't buy a house with either layout.

Ok, I understand now about what you are calling the boot room in option 1,

If you're not going to go for option 1, then I would see if you can be smart about how you use the utility in option 2. It's a big ask, but can you still fit in a back door and a shower e.g. by stacking appliances? I don't think you need the doorway from hall to utility (not sure if you're having one or not) which will save some space, you can just walk through the dining room to get to the back room which is very normal.

Or can you knock through from under the stairs to make a loo and shower room and have it fully separate from the utility/back door/boot room? Either a straight wall or even a dog leg, as you'd really only need to steal the space for a shower cubicle from the utility. (Pics below, I'm not sure I'm explaining myself well)

And, could you bring the utility further out into the extension?

You've got the fatigue but you'll probably be cross with yourselves if you over compromise,

It never occurred to me to block up the door from the hall!
right back when we first started planning, we did think we would use the old kitchen as a utility and just walk through the dining room to the new kitchen.
then along came my architect, who said ‘oh but - sight lines!’ Which is how we’ve ended up where we are at. The sight lines right from the front door through to the garden is one of my favourite things about the extension, but it’s caused us no end of issues with layout. I still love it, though. Step through the front door you just see greenery, it’s lovely.

our old middle room is dark and cold, so it made sense to utilise that as functional space.

Sadly the boiler is on the wall where you’re suggesting knocking through for a shower :( oh and the OH has just finished plastering the new partition wall from the kitchen to that space, so we can’t make that room any bigger, either.)
he would kill me if I suggested that, our 3rd back bedroom had been extended by previous owners out over the old outrigger, it’s cost a lot to get steels under there!
I wish we could’ve afforded to move!

Go with option 1. having a properly separate utility it worth it even if it takes longer to get there.

Righty ho. This is the point where I have to say I think you're nuts, but mean it kindly.

If you want the sight line (which I understand in principle and love the idea of), you won't be closing off the utility in option 2, ever, which means you have nowhere to stash anything away. Madness.

Each time you say more, option1 makes so much more sense and is so well thought through for what you want.

If you are prepared to ditch the shower, can you retain the floor plan of option 1 but install the utilities however you plan to in option 2. That way you won't need plumbing in the "utility" of option 1, but retain the storage. Maybe even there a smart way of cupboarding the essentials because it would mean all traffic via that area.

Thanks 😁no seriously, thanks for taking the time to talk it through with me. I think we just need to keep on track, don’t we - I’m letting the Reno fatigue play with my head, I think.
just want it finished, am so sick of second guessing all my choices all the time! I genuinely never thought it would take us 18 months to get to this point. The worst of it is that practically every other room in the house now needs redecorating and let’s not even touch on the landscaping..!

Okay I get the sight line now. If you are going for that look and sacrificing dining then commit to it fully.

You could have the washing machine on the outside wall where the current toilet is (rather than the boot room). Still built in but you could put a nice work top on it so it feels more open.

If carving up dining room, I'd close it off from kitchen to be able to utilise the walls better for an l shape kitchen so you don't have your fridge stuck on the opposite wall or have to walk through a boot room (because you have big items for dumping that won't be in a cupboard!)

Give up on a dining table and just have a big Island as without fridge other side you have more room for seats (As long as they are round two sides and not in a line it's nice to eat at)

Sorry that's probably more work not less but shower room immediately behind kitchen rather than with pantry between might be less distance to run water pipes??