Semi detached extension renovation - explain it like I’m 5!

23 days ago

last modified: 23 days ago

Hi everyone. hoping to get some advice, as Ive never dabbled in building/renovation before.

our house is in need of major rework. its an old late 20’s old council house. Some damp walls, so guessing exterior may need work. There is already a dilapidated extension with a plastic roof that is broken and leaking. we just use this whole room as storage at the moment and the washer/drier is in here along with fridge.

i’d like to change the right picture to the left picture. I want our kitchen and ”social space” to be open plan. The kitchen is open space shared with a “social space” right now. These measurements are approximate.

where do i start? how do architects work? can i hire an architect to just make plan and apply for planning permission? or is it worthwhile they manage everythjng? or should i get plans and then ask builder to manage? what is cheapest?

i have a feeling the work will have to be completed in phases, due to budget. to start with, we have 60-70k. maybe more.

any advice appreciated! forgot to add, im based in south east not far from london, so realise this will increase costs.

Featured Answer

Jonathan

23 days ago

If you allow £2000 per square meter you will realise that the extension you are planning will use all of your money and not leave anything for dealing with the damp or fitting a new kitchen.

So I think you need to replan. A replan would have been advisable anyway because it looks like you are planning a downstairs single bedroom where your current kitchen is and I’m not sure there is a window. Presumably you are a semi detached house and connected on the stairs side of the house?

Also by making the back sociable room the through fair to your extension you reduce how much use it is because it becomes a corridor with no window.

So perhaps for you the first steps should be to list everything that you will want doing and then see what money is left for an extension.

For example:
Minor work to roof and gutters to deal with damp.
Some replastering
New kitchen.
Some rewiring
New bathroom
New carpets for bedrooms and living rooms.
Resurface drive.

Google searches can give you an idea of what these will cost. If you end up thinking there is only £20k for a builder then you need to look at your wish list and prioritise. Realistically this means building on a space the size of your current kitchen and perhaps then the plan should be to have an open plan kitchen and dining space across the back with a modest extension to make it bigger than it is now. In reality that also means there isn’t money for an architect.

If you post plans with some clear measurements I’m sure that you will get some creative plans.

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Comments (6)

rinked
22 days ago
60-70K is a decent interior renovation budget, without extending or structural works though. And get those damp issues sorted first, if the comes from roof/foundation, it could take a fair chunk out of that budget. So will a new kitchen.

Floorplan with measurements and door+window locations would indeed be nice.
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I like your plan, I would put an external door on the utility instead. and ideally get the boiler in there if you can. (boiler there more important than door- if its a choice) block up external door to office (not needed) put a cloak room under stairs and use the doorway space - access cloak room from under stairs. Just need to know where your external soil pipe is to confirm. i can recommend an architectural technician. (although you could probably sketch it yourself) he also does B.regs / project management as well, if required re the construction, over hand block build the party wall side. brick and block the rest, you will need a steel over the bifold if wider than 3.6m. cheaper option is to have larger french doors with fixed glazing either side, (then you may not need the steel.) you will need one for the internal partition. so delivering two easy as one i may be able to supply the easi joists and 18mm osb for the roof (bit of a small job) get your services (lights) up in there easily . 5m easy to span try and get a warm roof if poss. (insulation on top and then ur choice of roof covering) check heights when designing and submitting plans) cold roofs are a pain. good luck , happy to help Chris
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thanks guys we are having a large american style fridge freezer in the kitchen - the freezer and fridge in the utility are just for the dogs food!! we are having a outside hot and cold tap for washing dogs outside the utility.. that was my compromise as i wanted the utility to be more of a dog room for wet and muddy dogs! which it still will be i guess. The layout of furniture was put in by the architect so we could gage the size and workable space as seeing it with no furniture it was hard to visualize, but thanks for the comments and we will look at that :-) Although a 4 bedroom there is only me and my partner and our two dogs - bedroom 4 is being made into a small walk in wardrobe.
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Thank you for the replies. I have taken inspiration from a house nearby and really like the idea of a rear extension that opens up the back bedroom into a mezzanine area (which then becomes a home office / gym / laundry room. This requires the side extension to be of a higher height (~1.5 stories high) with a glass roof slanted towards the top of the mezzanine level. Given the back of our property is set down at a lower ground level than the neighbouring property by ~ 1.5 metres they will not be overlooked anymore than a regular 1 story side return. Do you think Lambeth will give planning for this kind of extension? bearing in mind we want to go back by 3m with a regular rear extension too. So it will essentially be a rear extension and side return (rather than a wraparound). The link to the photos of the house extension on the next street along that did this are here: https://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/8-northstead-road/london/sw2-3jw/18089869 The planning for this was granted back in 2004 so I can't find any docs related to it. Thanks fro your help!
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Kay S
Original Author
21 days ago
Thank you both, this is really helpful!

The side where the current kitchen is has windows. We are joined on the left side.

My main priority (and this gives me anxiety) is the roof on the old extension, which feels like will blow off at any second. This will need to be fixed ASAP, so I'm thinking we should get the extension extended at the same time? Do you think it would be more cost effective to get the shell, plumbing and electric done for the extension? Then deal with any layout/kitchen plans later down the line? I would like a solid wind and rain proof area.

Regarding plans - can I hire someone to just draw up plans, and pay a fixed fee for this? then deal with a builder to follow those plans? (I realise this is probably a silly question but I can't make any sense of who draws up plans).

The damp is on 2 walls on the front of the house in the upstairs bedroom. I'm not sure if its a ventilation problem as its only behind a wardrobe and drawers. But this will need to be investigated.

I'm not sure how to make plans with measurements! I will try to do something by hand and share.
rinked
21 days ago
For now some measurements on the floorplan you made is fine to make a scetch for you, plus door and window locations. And if possible locations of plumbing, soil pipe, radiators.
rinked
21 days ago
Are the external walls single stone? My home has and on the walls where furniture used to be was damp/mold in abundance. We used alkreflex foil to insulate (2cm slats, foil, 2cm slats, plasterboard, but there are several options to fight damp, depending on the structure of the wall. But yeah, gutters and roof should be checked first.
Jonathan
21 days ago
Damp- You need to isolate the cause and deal with that. It could be ventilation. Equally it could be flashing around the chimney or a hole in the roof, or a blocked gutter, a leaking radiator….. the list goes on.

Extension- you can get an architectural technician to draw your plan….. but you need a plan to start with. You could also see if the builder has a contact who does it- in fact when my Mum extended her builder also took on planning permission too (although that’s rare).

And it’s fine to do work in stages but I think you need to be realistic about how much you will be able to find in the future if you build an extension now (because presumably it will eat all of your savings or be costing extra each month on a mortgage).

And flimsy roof on the outhouse. I think you need a builders opinion about if it will need knocking down to start again- it may not have any insulation, it might not even have the same floor level as the main house.

And I agree with Rinked- accurate measurements will help get creative input from the community. You should consider what you actually need too. (Because your plan has a small downstairs bedroom and it’s rare that an additional single bedroom gets used.)

Semi detached extension renovation - explain it like I’m 5!

Jonathan

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Semi detached extension renovation - explain it like I’m 5!

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