Victorian House Side Return Extention

7 years ago

Hi all,
I'm going around and around in circles trying to figure this one out... See attached floor plan. Looking for a cost effective way to create a kitchen with living room space suitable for children but struggling with how best to do it.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated or examples of people who have done similar. The things I'm keen to achieve, get light into the back of the house via bi folds/crittal or similar, family space so all can be together and to keep costs as effective as possible. Drains currently in side return but could be boxed.
Thank you for your time.

Featured Answer

Luciana

7 years ago

Hi Victoria,

I don't have any plans to show you, but some construction photos of our side extension - I think we have the same layout as you, but in the mirror :)).

We extended our kitchen 4 years ago, unfortunately I'm not able to tell you how much it cost as we'd had a complete house renovation and paid it all as a pack. However, the structural beams and glazing in the kitchen were billed separately; main beam was about £3000, the glass (including folding doors) was £15000. I remember we also asked for a quote for a roof with 3 or 4 skylights, builder said he'd do it for £9000 at the time (we live in Cardiff).

We had the same problem, wanting to maximize the use of space and get as much natural light as possible. We decided NOT to have two access points to the kitchen, but close off the middle room double door and have an internal window instead. Our thinking was that, if we keep a door there, the space is lost, as it needs to be 'free of stuff' for access :)) especially because, as with your house, we have a loo in between and the back length of that loo can't be anything but a corridor (aka dead space). By closing it, we gained a fully usable middle room and a somewhat closed corner in the kitchen, ideal for bins, feeding the cats, dumping hoover/ bikes out the way, etc. I hope I make sense (I'm a bit tired and my English seams to fail me at such times... :)) You can even have it as a play corner...

view from kitchen 2014 · More Info

There are lots of examples on Houzz for side extensions, just search http://www.houzz.co.uk/ideabooks/query/side-extension and browse the results.

I'd be happy to share my experience if you need more details, just let me know. Good luck!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (16)

ianthy
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I have just completed a similar side return on our period home. Looking at your plans you already have a good sized kitchen. If it were my home, I would close off the sitting room at the front and then give the 2nd part of the room to the new open plan space. Create a utility room and loo in this space - you already have the plumbing near. Then the remaining part of the dining room would become part of the new open plan space with side return. Likely you will need to move the drains - usually they are located in the side return area - this is not a big job for a competent builder. You will also need a roof light or maybe 2 to let in as much light as possible via the side return roof. We opted for 2 x 1m roof light because we also have a skylight looking into the kitchen.

Due to the layout of your house e.g. the 1st floor sits full length on the ground floor - you may need a supporting column at the end of your kitchen. We got round this with 3m bi-fold doors and then a 1.4m single pane of glass the other side of the column. Think about how you want to use the new space - we preferred to have the kitchen at the back of the room with the dining and sofa space next to the doors and looking over the garden. Also consider how you will heat the area - we installed water Underfloor Heating, it was costly but we will see a reduction in the cost of running the rest of the house, because in the winter we will spend most of the time in this area. I think it will be a great project but you are right to put in as much planning as possible before applying for planning permission etc., Once you kick off you don't want to keep changing your mind on the bigger items.
Victoria Needs
Original Author
7 years ago
I'd love to see photos and/or drawings! Is that possible?
Related Discussions
Victorian Terrace Side Return Extension/bathroom location dilemma!
Q
Comments (2)
A bathroom at the front may not be completely out of the question. We have previously installed a bathroom and en-suite back-to-back with the latter to the front of a Victorian mid-terrace. The soil pipe ran horizontally down in the middle of the house (where wears added a downstairs WC beneath the stairs), and ran beneath the suspended timber floor (with the correct fall) on the ground floor to the drains at the rear of the property. Without knowing more details it is difficult to say for certain whether it would work, but it is possibly worth exploring.
...See More
Best Galley Kitchen Layout? Victorian Terrace w/o Side Return
Q
Comments (0)
Hi all, hoping you experts can help me. I have a Victorian Terrace with a slightly awkward kitchen layout. It's very thin (less than 2m) and not wide enough to have cabinets on both sides. The 'internal' wall (ie on the right, facing into the house) currently has full width cupboards and the oven and fridge. The 'external' wall has a half-width set of cabinets (they're actually wall cupboards, but whatev). The cieling is quite low. We currently use the 'dining room' as labelled on the floor plan as our lounge as I don't like slobbing out in a room facing the street. If you were to rearrange the layout of this kitchen WITHOUT an extension/building work (I'm upsizing in a few years), what would you do? Would you move the appliances? Thanks!!
...See More
Victorian style in a non victorian house?
Q
Comments (18)
Given the sideways chimney and wide window I think this house will always feel kinda mid century or modern and so Victorian adornments probably won’t do what you are thinking. Furthermore a TV over a fireplace is uncomfortable to watch and will likely make you more aware of the ceiling height. Plus adding coving will highlight the different ceiling heights. Do you really want this house to feel Victorian (which it probably never will) or do you just want the decorating style to be fancier than your previous house? Maybe the starting point should be your existing furniture and what you have to work with..... perhaps you already have a contemporary sofa and in this house you choose to decorate the walls in warmer shades..... or use wall paper or wall panelling? Instead of a contemporary floor covering at the last house perhaps you might choose a warm hardwood for this one or something patterned such as a Herringbone woven carpet? Instead of downlighters and a ceiling pendant perhaps you might choose wall lights and walk over lights here? And given that the chimney is clearly to the right you can remove a lot of the current chimney breast replacing it with side by side TV and fireplace which means a well planned wall with electric flame effect fire (so needs no chimney and can be used year round) and TV at eye level when sitting.
...See More
Kitchen Victorian terrace - without building into side return
Q
Comments (9)
Thanks both! We’ve had the ‘small extensions aren’t worth it’ comment too - but still exploring whether it might be worth it to us if just grabbing a 1.5 metre by 2.72 metre bit of extra space at the end of the kitchen means we can run our kitchen table either (a) parallel to the new end wall patio doors with the kitchen units fitted galley style down both sides of the remaining kitchen or (b) parallel to the side return wall with kitchen units down the full length of the opposite side… Since our house is split level with steps down to our kitchen it’s not so feasible for us to build into the side return to any great extent since this then means the steel of the new roof over the side return slices through the middle of the window in the back living room… hence the only feasible alternative might be to build into half of the side return leaving a very small 1 metre by 1 metre courtyard adjoining that back living room window (or not building into the side return at all). Could we fit a kitchen table seating 6 people into a 2 metre by 2.72 metre space?
...See More
Jonathan
7 years ago
What sort of budget is available?
Victoria Needs
Original Author
7 years ago
a small one... trying to figure out what sort of numbers are viable. Is it possible to achieve something like this for around 25K or we looking at 75K?
PRO
Kitchenpod - Temporary Kitchen Hire (Home use)
7 years ago
It is possible to reconfigure your room to have a new kitchen and double doors onto the garden with circa £25k but a full side return extension + new kitchen is more £50k+. For inspiration type 'side return extension' into houzz and there will be loads of images to inspire. Your budget will be key to the extent that you can do. A side return extension will pay for itself in terms of value added to the house. Good luck Ed
Victoria Needs
Original Author
7 years ago
thank you
PRO
Abdul
7 years ago
i can draw 3D if you need.
Victoria Needs
Original Author
7 years ago
you can draw a suggested new layout?
PRO
Richard Ruddick Architecture
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
The configuration of the rear of your house provides an
opportunity to create a contemporary, open plan space. I would open up the side
of the house where the hob is shown and infill the outdoor space with a glazed
roof to create a large kitchen-dining area filled with light. A flat roof with skylights could be another option.

Budget permitting
you could open up the wall where the French doors are shown, or just remove
them and create a lounge/play space.
Victoria Needs
Original Author
7 years ago
What would you say the cost difference between the two options would be?
PRO
Abdul
7 years ago
yes i can.
Jonathan
7 years ago
If you build a side extension you will likely spend £20,000 - £25000 on the building.
You may find that to build all the way to the dining room window may not be economically possible as the underground drains may be in the way.
New garden doors will likely cost £5000.
A new flooring for the room will likely be £1500.
A new kitchen will likely be £25,000 plus.
Helen C
7 years ago
We have previously done an extension to a Victorian house with the same original layout albeit didn't have the corridor extending down the side of the stairs. You can view the plans and the house here
https://www.propertypal.com/57-south-parade-ravenhill-road-belfast/366410. In order to get light at the back of the house the architect created a 'box' in the middle of the house.
Helen C
7 years ago
Just to add the total build cost was about £40k (not including flooring and kitchen) but that included renovating some of the rooms on the upper floors and also the whole of the ground floor was renovated including the front room. Also the work was carried out a few years ago and is in Belfast so probably cheaper than England.
Victoria Needs
Original Author
7 years ago
That is super helpful thanks

Victorian House Side Return Extention

Luciana

Comments (16)

ianthy

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Related Discussions

Jonathan

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Kitchenpod - Temporary Kitchen Hire (Home use)

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Abdul

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Richard Ruddick Architecture

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Abdul

Jonathan

Helen C

Helen C

Victoria Needs
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Victorian House Side Return Extention

Comments (16)

Victoria NeedsOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Victoria NeedsOriginal Author

Victoria NeedsOriginal Author

Victoria NeedsOriginal Author

Victoria NeedsOriginal Author

Victoria NeedsOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Victoria Needs
Original Author

Victoria Needs
Original Author