Renovation Advice please

[Louise2309]

Hi All,

We are looking at having some work carried out on our house and wanted some advice please, as we have never done anything like this before. The house is a Dormer Bungalow and it has a small dormer on the back. We have 2 bedrooms upstairs and a large toilet/sink room (No bath or shower in it) and one of the bedrooms has unused space which we just use as loft/storage.
We are wanting to try and get 3 bedrooms upstairs. Originally, we were looking at adding a large front Dorma and extending our rear dormer but renovation costs have gone up so much, it is looking less likely that we can do this. Speaking to others who have had this done, we couldn't afford this now.

So we are looking whether we squeeze another room upstairs by reducing the size of the large bedroom and the toilet. We are also considering moving the staircase. Our staircase is in the dining room, yet most on our street have this in the kitchen.

I have uploaded drawings I have edited just to try show what I mean :)

Option 1 ( cheaper)
We move the internal wall reducing the size of the larger room and adding size to the loft space which we then make into a bedroom. The issue with this option is you would need to go through 1 bedroom to access the other. This would not be an issue for us to be honest, but I would imagine it would devalue the house maybe?

Option 2.

We move the staircase to the kitchen. We would then have the wall taken out to create a kitchen/diner. With this option though I think we would require a small front Dormer putting on to create the room for the front bedroom.

On top of all this the house needs a new heating system, kitchen, two bathrooms and re plastering and various other repairs - the total cost of a full renovation is literally impossible for us! :(

We have no experience with any of this and wanted to get any advice prior to approaching builders. Someone might think of something we haven’t 😊

Moving a staircase is bonkers and really expensive. Can't you do option 1 but extend the landing slightly so that you take a small square out of the new bedroom and both bedrooms can then have separate doors?

What are the room sizes upstairs?

With Option 1, are the rooms big enough that you could add a little entrance area allowing separate doors into both bedrooms? It would eat a little into the size of what would be the newly created bedroom, but overall I think I’d much simpler to do this than the second option you list.

Great minds @Geneticsbunny 😬

My thoughts too.

We just moved a staircase this year and it’s messy and feels bonkers, but actually a shockingly simple, fast process, and if it gives a better layout 100% worth doing. Also not massively expensive when we took into account the improved layout. We live in terraces, about half have moved their stairs from stupid original position and it does really improve the home value to do so.

Speak to building control at the local council as the stairs and most of it will have to be approved anyway and they can make good suggestions you may not have thought of.

We moved our staircase too (had to) and it wasn't that expensive. Used a local company that sends out a surveyor to advise and measure etc. The staircase itself (with an oak bannister) was under £1.5 k, and the labour and removal/building of stud walls was about £3.5k. We got building control sign-off.

Stairs in kitchens are a fire risk, people can be trapped in upstairs bedrooms or overwhelmed by smoke if there's a fire in the kitchen. You'd need to look into fire regulations and whether you can put in a second exit route for the upstairs to make them acceptable.

You need to speak to the planning department/a planning expert.

Hi! Wow Amazing replies thank you so much! I didn't even think about extending the landing and that would be perfect! If we were to do that, the room would be the same size as the bathroom and that would be big enough :) I will speak to planning and see what they say about the fire regulations just in case we do move them :)
Now I need to try and find a builder - This is something I really aren't looking forward to... Its a nightmare to get a tradesperson around here.. we have a leaking roof and need a gas safety check and cannot get someone to turn up!
Any advice on how to deal with builders please? I had it with the garden where people tried charging me a fortune (11k for my garden doing with gravel and the drive way gravelling) I just don't want someone to come and try and us a fortune x

It’s the building control department you need, not the planning department.

I think with builders you have to do your due dilligence.

Research. Be ready to wait for the right company. Walk around where you live - if you see people having work done knock on the door. Ask who did it, were they happy etc. Go and actually see the work any builder you talk to did - get references, and follow up on them.

Also - figure out the costs as best you can. For example - electrician day rate, ditto plumber, the amount of hours it would take to do the work, labour cost per day/hour, cost of material, and so on. Having a good understanding of the costs involved will help you have a better relationship with your builder.

If you do all that research you will have a realistic set of expectations from your builder.

Good luck OP - the best advice I can offer re builders is to absolutely go from recommendation if you can, really put some work into finding locals who have GOOD things to say about builders from start to finish. NOT from people who have just started with the builder and think they're great... ones who have finished the job properly and not disappeared or lost interest 70% of the way through when the cash flow to them starts to dry up.

My last renovation nearly broke me, had aggressive men shouting at me in my own home for daring to question their 30th excuse in a row as to why they were suddenly only turning up for a couple of hours once a fortnight, while my house lay in ruins... it's an absolute minefield for those of us (most of us!) who try to get a reasonable job done but can't throw tons of cash at it to ensure it's project managed by someone else to completion.

Recommendations all the way... and - if a builder is recommended but says they're busy for the next however many months, take that as a good sign and WAIT for them.

Thank you so much! We have luckily kept the details from some local builders in the area who seem to do all the work around here :) We are waiting for a quote back and have another builder coming tomorrow... So fingers crossed! We have decided to go with extending the landing and go with the two doors for the bedrooms :) Fingers crossed ! xx