New to this: what are the first steps for a downstairs extension and renovation

[december2020]

Forgive my ignorance (and I have been googling lots), I'm really new to this so would love to understand the process from people who have done it.

Our downstairs layout just isn't working for us. It possibly needs an extension and then renovating the layout and aesthetics.

However, I have no idea where to start.
Do I need an architect who could draw up what the new downstairs could like with an extension?

Or is it a builder or interior designer?
Or a combination and in what order?

In the meantime I will keep googling but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We asked our builder to come and discuss with us what we thought we wanted. He drew up everything for us, provided a quote and went from there

If you don't know the answer ask a few architects round. We got three, one was crazy, one basically repeated our thoughts and one had a couple of extra nice ideas. Make sure you can articulate what the problems are and get an idea of what budget you could play with and have some chats and see if that helps your thinking progress. You can also try this scheme www.ratedpeople.com/blog/the-architect-scheme-no-strings-consultation

Floor plans/architectural drawings come first - we drew up our own using an open access version of CAD as all we needed was a very simple box extension but for anything more complicated you'll need an architect. They should be able to suggest a couple of different layout options although as per PP you'll need to give them parameters and ideas to work with i.e. do you want an open-plan kitchen/diner space, do you have a garage you want converted etc etc. It's not like on Phil and Kirsty where you just bring them into the house and they tell you 'knock down this wall, put this table here' and so on, it's more you tell them what you're trying to achieve and they give you options to achieve that.

Once you have a plan you are happy with, then you'll want a structural engineer report to let you know to achieve it - e.g. if load bearing walls are coming down do you need a steel and what size etc., what thickness of walls and roofing is needed for any extension etc. You'll need this for planning permission (if not within permitted development) and also to tell your builder/contractor what to do. Also if there are any party wall issues you need to understand this and get the ball rolling on that at this point.

Then once you have this you'll need to work out if your extension falls within permitted development rules or if you need planning permission. If the latter get your application in - you can start looking for a contractor/builder before this but obviously can't start work until planning permission and party wall agreement (if needed) all in place.

Getting a builder can be quite challenging, unless you are experienced developers I'd recommend getting a main contractor who will take you to a 'first fix' point i.e. a watertight building that has electrics, plumbing and plastering in place, and possibly you might want them to also do kitchen installation, tiling/flooring, decorating too as although it's probably cheaper to find your own contractors for these jobs it can be a real nightmare getting good tradespeople and syncing everything up as the client ATM so it's a lot easier for a single main contractor to do it for you even if you pay a premium - otherwise you risk being in a 'building site' state for much longer.

An interior designer I would say is an optional extra, they would be much more on things like decor, kitchen design and layout etc - depending on budget I would personally use free online tools or the free services available at places like Wickes and B&Q rather than paying someone seperately. I will say in my recent project I was really taken aback by how much we ended up having to pay in professional fees for structural engineering, planning and party wall services, we totally failed to budget enough for these and ours was really a quite straight forward job which didn't even need an architect - so we certainly didn't have enough left over for interior designers.

We used an architect and found it worthwhile as we didn't know any builders. The architect ran the tender process with reputable builders they have worked with before and signs off on the builder's work monthly at which point we pay a bill.

We have found it to be well worthwhile. The work had been planned for some time so while he did improve the design we had in mind, that hasn't been the main advantage as we had a reasonable idea in our head of what we wanted.

Steps are:

1. Think about it
2. Realise it will cost a ridiculous amount of money at the moment
3. Go on holiday instead.

Same as this but used an architectural technician, bit cheaper. We'd used him before but he'd originally been recommended by a friend.

We weren't doing anything mega complicated but needed some big steels and he had some good idea on planning as it's a conservation area. He also reined in some of my more Grand Design ideas. He also did the snagging list afterwards - which was very handy.

If your house is similar to others in area you should be able to look on local planning site and see what other people have done.

We sat down together and worked out that what we wanted was a view of the garden, a larger kitchen, a downstairs loo and a utility.

And think of a number and double it.

Great advice from @maxelly upthread. My husband is an architect and we extended our ground floor and did a major renovation that involved moving the staircase to another location. It cost an eye-watering amount but the result is a house we're really happy with and plan never to move from. He thought of all sorts of small details of layout that were improvements that would never have crossed my mind. It's really worth getting an architect!

We asked friends and colleagues for recommendations of architects and builders.

So we had a proper architect do our plans but the builder kind of ignored them

He "forgot" to put in an internal door but got him to put it in after a discussion showing the plans etc that he had quoted price on

Also, we wanted a set of external patio doors to come inwards, and had discussions with the architect while he was doing the plans about rainwater etc so we understood the reasons for and against (but still wanted inwards due to wheelchair use) so the plans were for inwards that were quoted on.

However, the builder wanted to make them go outwards. Anyway, we were bullied into having them outwards and really regret it now.

So needless to say we never recommend this builder to anyone.

This was us 12 months ago!!

We were advised to start with finding builders as many of them have their own architects/designers. We reached out to 6 different builders and had 3 come to give us a rough estimate, from conversations with each if them we had more ideas about how best to use the space would be creating. We decided upon a builder and they put us in contact with their architect who drew up the plans for us and then put in for our planning permission.

We first met with the builders last June and are commencing work in April so not the quickest of processes but it's been really useful having them to check in with and they have been really useful in making decisions about how to get the most space for the money.

I started with excel - I set it up as graph paper so each cell was a square. I then drew out our ground floor as a plan as it was. I then played with this. The original space had been an open plan sitting/kitchen/dining room but none of it was big enough.

Once I had something I was happy with we engaged a builder (someone DH had worked with in his electrician days). Builder quoted and my plans were sent in to planning and building regs approval.

We were within our permitted development rights so planning was straightforward.

The build was straightforward. The builder even referred to my plans!

We were basically adding a box to the back of the house. The space we added became our sitting room. The kitchen was extended into the old dining room area and the old sitting room area became the dining room.

This is probably a lot more DIY than you want. However I would strongly recommend doing some basic layout drawings for yourself. It helps to formulate thoughts.

🤣🤣🤣

We're in the middle of a single storey extension at the moment. Here's what we did:

1. Invited a builder (who had done some work next door which we liked) round for a chat and asked for a ballpark figure (so we knew whether we could afford it). He recommended an architect that he had worked with before to draw up plans.
2. We had two architects round to discuss our ideas chose the one we preferred and after a few visits and drawings going to and fro we got plans we were happy with. We didn't need planning permission as we're within permitted development.
3. Shared our plans with and got formal agreement from our neighbours.
4. This was the difficult part - getting builders out to quote. We finally got 3 quotes after a lot of pushing and the cheapest was about double what we had originally been told. This was with very few changes. They were all people we had had recommended.
5. Panic at the additional cost - was it worth it? By this point we had already invested money and it had taken about 18 months.
6. Booked to start - more waiting. Our work has been going on over the winter and it's been very cold. This is worth considering if you have a choice.

Thank you everyone! This has been so so helpful!
I've started off by getting in touch with 6-7 builders who are with the FMB (and asking which ones have a full project service)- so hopefully I'll a few will reply.
Now also searching architects.

Oddly find house projects very exciting, but let's see how I feel about this one once we're right in the thick of it!