Welcome some advice on a 1960/70's bungalow renovation please
Julie Norris
6 years ago
Hi there,
We are in the process of buying a late 1960's bungalow, I'm interested to hear any ideas on whether to do a loft conversion before we move in (we are currently in rented so will be doing the refit before we move in)... and you'll appreciate why with the photos! Truly bad, just structurally sound!
We are thinking of making a big open plan kitchen/dining/family room using the current kitchen, dining room, bedroom 3, and utility (and part of the garage) with bi-folds across the back. Putting a WC in the back of the current garage, and then a room, for use as an office/bedroom3 if we dont convert the loft straight away.
It needs new heating (currently has an electric boiler!) new windows, would like to render the exterior etc, it has a huge garden and a paddock, circa 2acres.
I'm after any useful advice on heating systems, loft conversion costs, how we know whether any of the internal walls are load bearing..... basically hit me with everything you know!
Thanks in advance, Julie
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Comments (13)
Julie Norris
6 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (7)Hi, What a lovely place you have there. Bags of potential and some outside space too! I am with OnePlan I am afraid - I could do all the interiors bits and happy to make recommendations when needed but it is an architect or interior architect you will be looking for for any building work or planning. You could try the 'planning portal' if you have ideas you want to look into or even call your local planning office who should be able to point you in the right direction. Regarding interiors I would begin by looking at how you want to use the space. Spend a few days living in it and working out where you feel comfortable and like spending your time - what do you like, what don't you like and then start making some lists! All the best, Gina...See MoreExpert advice please - best house investment options
Comments (12)Hi igho sadly it was not available, it was a probate purchase and was still showing for sale as the probate has been going on since November and wasn't complete, so the deal hadsnt even begun yet! I wouldn't be too impressed if I was the buyer and 7 months later no news.. I have now seen a 2 bedroom detached cottage in a really plush road, it's flanked by lots of 5 and 6 bed houses so it's a very unusual find. It's £475k and to make anything of this it would definitely need a 2 story extension and a substantial remodel with new kitchen and bathrooms, a £120k+ job probably. Very difficult to tell how risky this would be given that the total spend would be well over £600k once all fees and finishes are calculated. If I bought it and spent money doing a ground floor extension with kitchen diner etc, I'm still left with just a 2 bed cottage and even the estate agent said I'd make a loss! At the moment I'm more inclined to look towards renovation rather than extension type projects....See MoreBungalow Extention
Comments (17)Excellent comments by Justin earlier, just a couple of things to add. You may not strictly need an architect, so weigh up what you genuinely need. People like me (a house designer) are often scoffed at by true architects, but the fact of the matter is that if you are simply replacing a garden room and you are nigh on certain about what you want, paying full architects rates may be unnecessary and an architectural designer could easily produce plans and get it through planning. In my mind, for a project like this, an architect may be overkill, and you could strip some money away by using a house designer / architectural technician. However, if you are going for a full on remodel with a focus on creativity then certainly, an architect is where you would want to push your money as the net results could be better, there is no arguing that the extra training they receive carries benefits. I'm not suggesting you discount or discredit either option, just do your homework. To reiterate, an architect will probably offer up more diverse and creative ideas, but that assumes that they are needed, so just be very sure about what you're trying to achieve. Large bungalows are notoriously tricky to design to avoid feeling like rat runs, far too many are simply large rectangles with a spinal corridor which makes for a long, dark and frankly depressing building. The question you need to ask yourself is "what do I want from the building?". Don't look at it and think "what can I do" because if you do that you start designing to original buildings constraints, rather than what you actually want from the alterations. The bedroom which is accessed via the rear boot room is a little odd, and there's a part of me that would rather see the living room turned into the master bedroom / en-suite, then open up the the dining / kitchen / utility to become a triple aspect living area and finally open up the bedroom / en-suite and boot room to have a dual aspect kitchen / dining room, which accesses the garage and rear gardens. Its a case of how much you want to spend and how far you want to go with it....See MoreRenovating a 1960's 3 bed semi - help with layout and kerb appeal!
Comments (65)Hi all, Thank you so much for all the helpful comments and suggestions, and sorry that it's taken me so long to respond - house renovation and work have been keeping us on our toes! This has become a long post, so a quick reminder - we were looking to renovate and rewire our 60s house to update it and also make it more wheelchair friendly downstairs for when my mother-in-law comes to visit. We employed an architect and came up with what turned out to be an 'aspirational' design (much more than the budget!) so we ended up deciding to split things into two stages: Stage One to add a downstairs wetroom for accessibility, remove chimney throughout and add a porch Stage Two to do the extension across the rear, removing the conservatory to open out a large kitchen/diner and add a utility room The layout below shows both Stages One and Two as complete. Bits shown in red are existing walls which have been/will be removed (apart from the wall in red in the seating area below which is between the existing kitchen and dining room - that's a mistake). So.....the building work is now done - hurray! Stage One is complete, we are much poorer, and we now need to decorate the whole house :-) Some before and after photos below - please bear with the terrible photography skills. The rooms aren't big enough to allow for expansive photos!: We've re-plastered throughout, apart from in the kitchen and upstairs bathroom, as we'll deal with those later. Current challenge is deciding how on earth to pick paint colours and flooring throughout.... Anyway - hopefully that gives you a sense of where we've got to. Best wishes...See MoreJulie Norris
6 years agoJulie Norris
6 years agoJonathan
6 years agoRevised utility position.
Alternatively you could put a laundry room next to the downstairs bathroom or upstairs
Julie Norris thanked JonathanJulie Norris
6 years agoJonathan
6 years agoIn the absence of a utility room you can put a freezer and additional storage in the kitchen. But I think a laundry room is useful as it puts the noisiest appliances away from a living room and closer to where the dirty washing is generated. It is also nice to close the door on the ironing pile.
Julie Norris thanked Jonathan
Jonathan