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Extension dilemma - help needed!

18 replies

ILoveAFloorplanX · 16/03/2025 20:27

This is our current floorplan. Our aims are:

Upstairs
Big bedroom for us with dressing room and ensuite (4m x 3.5m minimum)
Two big bedrooms for the tweens (4m x 3m minimum)
Two separate ensuites with one being Jack and Jill to the hallway so spare bedrooms can use it
2 spare rooms - one of which can also be used as an office
2 offices total (1 or more can double up as a spare room but can't share a wall and at least one can't share a wall or floor with the utility room - due to sound sensitive job)

Downstairs will need lounge, kitchen/dining room, separate (ish) family room/snug, office, utility room, downstairs toilet, garage.

Plus points
Big £200k budget
Lots of garden on 3 sides so taking up garden space isn't an issue

Constraints
Next door neighbour's house is 45 degrees to the lounge/master bedroom so can't extend out that way, except from where that side window is.
Wouldn't get planning permission for a non obscured window on that upstairs side as the current window already breaks the 45 degree rule. But could have an ensuite obscured window for example.
Quite a shallow front garden
Car can only just in front of the garage. No room in front of sitting room.
Back of house is east facing
Lounge is north facing
Conservatory is awful single skin glass job so is definitely going!
Sitting room is converted garage so too narrow to be the lounge. Currently using it as an office.

Our architect has tried 2 variations and both are too compromised to be worth it for the investment. I'm turning to MN for inspiration!

Extension dilemma - help needed!
OP posts:
Devianinc · 17/03/2025 00:38

Do you really need all of that space. Will you get your money back if you sell? It’s a lot of office space so are you doubling as a business. I’d just do bigger bedrooms.

OneDayIWillLearn · 17/03/2025 06:58

£200K might sound like a lot but in our last house (a 3 bed terrace) we spent slightly more than that converting the loft and extending the kitchen. It included a new kitchen and we also changed the family bathroom at the same time, and we didn’t go for the cheapest options by any means but neither was it massively high spec. We had to move out for 6 months too (it was meant to be 4) so renting somewhere else pushed the budget up.

Also it was really stressful! We did love it when finished and did cover the cost of the work when we sold 3 years later (wouldn’t say there was a profit though) but honestly in hindsight I’d just have moved house in the first place and spent the money getting the floor plan I wanted in another house.

PurpleThistle7 · 17/03/2025 07:07

That’s a really small budget for what sounds like a very long list. Have you priced it out? We were quoted around £70K just to extend into the loft and put in some velux windows. And just refitting our bathrooms was thousands - creating bathrooms from scratch with piping and everything must be much more than that. You’re talking about double height extensions I think?

Seeline · 17/03/2025 08:49

I think you're going to struggle to get all that with the constraints you've got.
Extra beds in the roof?

grassisgreen · 17/03/2025 09:11

Your budget isn't really £200k - essentially it's £165,000 plus VAT.
Architects fees 5 - 10% of extension;
Have you priced up the build costs of your wish list as your budget may not be enough?
What are the detailed costings?

ShhhhhItsASurprise · 17/03/2025 10:24

Obvious thing would be to build on top of the garages? Put your master suite there, then carve up the rest of the space with your requirements (3 beds, 3 baths - 1 bedroom doubles as office).

Downstairs replace conservatory with extension across the back to extend living room and dining room space and then reconfigure to put the other office in. Leave the garage alone. Maybe move the stairs to where the downstairs loo is to help with rebalancing upstairs?

No idea how much all that would cost though.

Sweetneverbitter · 17/03/2025 10:38

Double extension at rear, move stairs to dining room/ bed 3. Office space where stairs are now on both floors.
Will be tight on 200k. Did similar 10 years ago on same budget. Went over by 100k. Costs have gone up massively since.

Money might be better spent doing loft conversion or building over living room and moving walls downstairs.

ShhhhhItsASurprise · 17/03/2025 10:41

Sweetneverbitter · 17/03/2025 10:38

Double extension at rear, move stairs to dining room/ bed 3. Office space where stairs are now on both floors.
Will be tight on 200k. Did similar 10 years ago on same budget. Went over by 100k. Costs have gone up massively since.

Money might be better spent doing loft conversion or building over living room and moving walls downstairs.

The upstairs is already over the living room if you look at the stairs.

valderan · 17/03/2025 10:47

Move house. Too much work, not enough budget. Or scale back expectations.

My downstairs renovations (+ new bathroom upstairs) in an average sized 3 bed semi cost 95k incl VAT. That was walls knocked, steels in, new kitchen, new downstairs utility and shower room, flooring, painting, new staircase, and not much else. No extensions etc. all within the existing footprint.

I absolutely love it, and it was within my estimated budget, but for what you are looking at, I don't think 200k will go as far as you want it to.

BigDahliaFan · 17/03/2025 13:00

can you put an office room in the garden? Or you use one of the downstairs rooms? It's too many rooms.

We extended out the back to create a kitchen diner and also opened up the stairs into the loft and put in a new kitchen and replaced 2 bathrooms. That was £200k just before Covid.

oakl79 · 17/03/2025 13:20

That's tight on a 200k budget. Material costs have shot up in price.

SpikeSalmon · 17/03/2025 13:27

I echo the others that 200k is not a big budget for what you want.

We are stripping back and remodelling a 5 bed house and going into the loft. It will cost us a minimum of £500k. No extension.

tropicalroses · 17/03/2025 13:55

For £200k I'd just move house

AndrinaAdamosballetshoes · 17/03/2025 14:11

That is not a big budget at all, no way can you do all that for that money.

Sweetneverbitter · 17/03/2025 15:46

ShhhhhItsASurprise · 17/03/2025 10:41

The upstairs is already over the living room if you look at the stairs.

So it is, yes so as you say build over the family room / garage. Rebalanced the house which is bottom heavy as it is.

ILoveAFloorplanX · 18/03/2025 16:26

I have no idea where £200k came from! It's a £300k budget.

Thanks for all the replies giving me different things to try. Any more would be greatly appreciated.

OP posts:
ILoveAFloorplanX · 18/03/2025 22:13

We only moved in a couple of years ago. The village is very special to us and finding anywhere that had the potential to meet our needs took 6 years!

OP posts:
ILoveAFloorplanX · 05/04/2025 20:19

At the moment the builder has come back with a quote for £219k which is in budget. It's missing things like plastering, a kitchen (!), decorating and flooring. But that could be in budget too. I'm just not blown away by the prospective layout.

OP posts:
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