Extension advice please

[GlasgowGal2014]

We (panic) bought a house last year which was a bit smaller than we ideally wanted thinking that we could easily extend because it's got a large garden. However, now that we've settled in we have come to realise that it would be difficult to achieve what we need with an extension because of the layout!

The downstairs space is fine for needs, however upstairs Bedroom 3 is very small so we need to either make it bigger or (ideally) create an additional larger bedroom. We also need a second bathroom. In terms of space to extend, we have about 2.3m to the right of the plan and to the top of the plan and could build to the boundary, plenty of space to the left of the plan which is where we thought we'd originally extend and we are unable to extend to the front because of planning rules. My problem is if we build out to the left then I don't know how the new rooms would access the stairs and if we build to the right it would be so narrow I'm not sure it would be worth the expense. If anyone has any ideas about how we could make this work I'd love to hear them!

I would make the kitchen/diner and garden room open plan then build on top to make the bedrooms bigger. You could even have a jack and Jill bathroom between bedroom 1 & 3 if you wanted to.

Can you go into the loft?

The obvious thing to do would be to go into the loft (put a bedroom and bathroom up there) - any reason you can’t do that?

Would also be much cheaper than a two storey rear or side extension.

@LemondrizzleShark and @Seaside3 We can't go into the loft unfortunately because the pitch of the roof isn't high enough to create useful space up there, and we wouldn't get planning permission to change the roof.

@Obeseandashamed I had thought about building out over the garden, but wasn't sure how we'd access an additional room out there. Are you suggesting doing that but just making rooms 1 & 3 bigger. I can see how that might work thanks...

Thanks to those who have already posted. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Can you turn the existing fitted wardrobes/ cupboard into a landing then the new bedroom and bathroom can go at the end of it? And you could put new built in wardrobes in if you wanted on the left of the existing bedrooms, so as part of the extension?

Could you consider moving the dividing wall between bedroom 1 and 3 as far into bedroom 1 as possible to make bedroom 3 bigger and extend to the left adding to the lost space from the extension for bedroom 1 with perhaps an ensuite as well

@superking the wardrobes are only 60cm deep so not wide enough to make a corridor. I wonder if we could take a bit off each room and do that. I had been worried about losing the storage, but it's not particularly spacious anyway and putting built in wardrobes for both rooms in the extension is an excellent idea!

@SummerbodyIwish We could move the dividing wall about 1 metre before it interfered with the existing window in bedroom 1, but if we were to build over the garden room that would be less important because we'd need to move the window anyway! That may well be the best option...

I think if you go to the left, you will then have to make a corridor which will result in 3 small bedrooms. And you will lose light in your kitchen diner as you will cover a window. You could turn bed 3 into a corridor and build at the back, but then the existing kitchen/diner becomes dark.

Ultimately, the house isnt big enough for you, so I woukd save my money and move. Sorry, I know it's not what you want yo hear, but extended houses rarely work as you end up with dark spaces and weird corridors in my opinion.

Or, you accept its the right house and come up with some inventive storage?

A garden office maybe?

Thanks for your honesty @Seaside3 . This was actually the conclusion I had been coming to before creating this post. I fear ultimately the house is too small for us long term and too difficult to extent well. The kitchen diner is such a lovely, light-filled space and I am worried about ruining that because it was one of the things that attracted us to the house in the first place!

Do you have/hope to have kids? What ages are they? I ask because mine are about to fly the nest, so a house that size would be manageable for a couple of years. Or, if they were little, the same. But if in the middle, then I totally understand the need for space.

Have you got a second opinion about the loft the first architect we had found said no but the second said yes…… and the loft conversion specialist builder is starting in January!!

No answers, OP, just solidarity! My house is almost the exact same layout, and also has a hip and gable roof so not high enough to do a loft conversion. It’s a semi, whereas yours isn’t. We gave up on a double height extension when we couldn’t work out how to reconfigure the upstairs (and the side return isn’t really big enough to make it worthwhile).

For yours, is bed 1 big enough to take a sliver off for a corridor, incorporating the fitted wardrobe space? Then extend to the side to make a big chunky upstairs master bedroom, en-suite and maybe a small dressing room. Downstairs you’d lose some light into the dining area, but you could decide whether to open it right up into the new downstairs space so it got light from windows there. You could choose whether to make your current lounge bigger by knocking into the new space, or you could just add a whole new downstairs room/rooms. I wouldn’t extend alongside the garden room, though - stick to the original house footprint. Does that make sense?

I think I'd go into loft as well, but you say you don't want to, so working with what you have here it is! If the house isn't big enough, you probably wouldn't want to do drastic changes anyways. Maybe one day you'll move, who knows!
Here are some home decor ideas for small spaces that can help you or at least give you some directions for what to do https://interior-design3d.com/how-to-decorate-a-small-house-to-make-it-look-bigger.php

Rear extension, corridor either through bedroom 1 to preserve bedroom 3, or through bedroom 3 creating just storage or open plan landing, possibly 2 new bedrooms, might be tight if you can only go 2.3 m. Or left extension, go as far as you need for the room sizes you want put a corridor through all the existing wardrobe areas giving access to 2 new bedrooms one a master and whatever else you want. Lots of new space downstairs or you could extend on pillars upstairs only to give a covered patio area below, depending on aspect that might be a bit dark though.

We've got two primary school aged kids and the house is a fine size for the next couple of years, but it's not going to be big enough when both kids are teenagers. One is a tween already and we're starting to realise we need another bathroom. Bedroom 3 is fine for a young child, but it going to be far too small for a teenager.

At the rear it's about 2.3 between the garden room and the boundary so if we extended above that and put a two-storey extension next to it we'd get about 32 square metres extra floor space. I hadn't thought of doing that and turning bedroom 3 into an open plan landing but it's a decent idea thanks...

@OneCleverPinkFawn @JollyHostess101 It's not that we don't want to convert the loft or need a second opinion, it's just not feasible. I've been in the loft and it's only just high enough for me to stand up straight at the apex and I'm only 5 ft 5. If we put in dormers we'd also need to raise the apex, and I've read the local planning rules and don't think we'd get permission to do either. There are 100-odd houses of a similar style round here with not a single loft conversion amongst them that confirm that. Loft conversions seem to be far less common in Scotland compared to England, except in much older houses. I don't know if that's because of our planning laws or the way we construct our roofs or both.

Honestly it’s the same here there’s literally one similar house with one and nothing else!

I was just saying we were told no at first and we didn’t really have a plan B as we need an extra bedroom going forward……. We probably would of had to have moved which we didn’t really want

We have two teen girls and only one bathroom but do have a second small toilet. We’ve not needed two bathrooms but the extra toilet is useful. Is there space for a second loo instead? We’ve a super sporty family but really haven’t needed two bathrooms.

I am glad that you've found a solution that works for you. I've just re-read the planning guidelines to double check and it does say no dormers that are visible from the front of the house are permitted in a street where there are no other dormers, so even if it was practically feasible we wouldn't get planning permission for it because we've got a pitch roof and a dormer on either side would be visible from the front.

That's reassuring to know thank you! We do have a downstairs toilet - it's the small room off the hallway next to the stairs.

I would get a cost from a builder for changes to the upstairs layout;
to remove built in wardrobes
Move stud wall between 1 and 3
add en-suite to bedroom 2
without dimensions hard to appreciate actual room size and feasibility

That's really interesting thank you! It would leave us with three small double rooms, which is more balanced than what we have now and the extra bathroom would be very welcome. Definitely worth speaking to a builder about thanks!