We are now half way through our build: 2 storey and loft conversion. Things are going well enough-ish. Building Regs have come to inspect the 'structural' part of the build only to find a few things they need changing. One is in the part of the house that should be 'untouched'.... namely the through lounge/diner. The arch between the once-two-rooms has had to have its' beam exposed to assess. They have now come to the conclusion that this current old beam is 'grossly over-stressed' and now needs to be taken out and a new one put in, thus a design fee. We are a bit cross that this didn't get flagged up at the beginning. It is now a 4 storey house and this particular steel is on the 1st floor/ground floor. We have been told by architect that it needs replacing as soon as. The builder advises and reassures us that it can be done in a month or so... no rush. But we are worried the weight above like the new sanitaryware in the ensuite will compromise the weight above. Can anyone advise us on the extra costings and the need for this urgency? Thank you.

It does indeed look like a great project. Going with what @Louise Ang said, you’ll probably be better off keeping it one storey and reconfiguring. I’ve been playing around with your plans (for fun!) and have posted below a layout option that gives you two bedrooms, a nice sized entrance/hallway, utility room, large shower room and living / dining / kitchen space. I kept as close to the original plans as possible (keeping internal walls if I could) and squared off the rear of the bungalow, only encroaching 20cm or so into the garden beyond the original plans. If you do wish to go for a loft conversion further down the line, you could potentially put a staircase in the hallway. Apart from seeking professional advice (architect / building surveyor) why not also have a look at other similar properties for sale on the same road / area and see what they have done with the layout? It’ll give you an idea of what is structurally feasible and what developments the local council is permitting. Good Luck!

Here the layout as it is now

Hi all My husband and I are in the process of moving to a newhome, which we want to convert/extend. We have two young children and this needs to be a suitable family home for the next 10-15 years. I've got some ideas for what I want to do, but I'm really interested to get other people's opinions! I've attached a photo of the current floor plan. What we want to work towards is a home with: Combined kitchen/diner Family room/play space plus separate 'grown ups' space Large utility room Downstairs loo and upstairs bathroom, plus master en suite if there's room Study/workspace (this is very important as I work from home) Three good sized bedrooms Easy access into the garden so we can move freely between the two when the weather is nice Any clever space creating/saving/storage hacks very welcome Ideally we want to be clever with the layout but if we can keep some of the existing structure, we should - we don't have a massive budget for this project. Let me know what you think!