Help me decide if this house has potential to be extended/reconfigured

5 years ago

Hi everyone, thanks for landing on this question!

I went to see a house the other day and I left very confused if it has potential to be made in something very nice or not!

It’s marketed as a three bedroom although in actual terms one of the bedrooms is located in the basement that has a reduced height.

My question is the following, based on the photos and floor plan do you think there is potential to extend the lower ground floor/ basement to potentially house the kitchen/dining area? Is the ceiling going to be too low? What is that massive stone step that is dividing the patio in two tiers?

I don’t know if the idea is completely crazy and doesn’t make any sense at all so I need someone to advice!

Moreover, based on the pictures, do you think there is any chance to add a side return to move the entrance of the house from the side to the front (on the side return) and house the staircase to make it less steep? Or is a no/no for terraced houses?

I attach five pictures:
- back of the house (where you can see that massive step)
-current floorplan
-photo of ceiling height in the basement room
- photo of the ‘utility room’ in the basement

Any feedback welcome!

Thanks

Alex

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Comments (4)

Jonathan
5 years ago
Everything you have talked is possible but there is a budget implication. Digging down to create extra floor head height is particularly expensive. I suspect digging out the patio step will undermine the garden wall unless it happens to be low the other side (might be worth a peek.)
It is possible to build a hall on the side of the house to allow a front facing front door but I suspect you would have to build on the boundary which requires a party wall agreement.
Basically all your plans can be done but none of them are cheap so you need to consider if it is affordable and if it is worth doing it.
Alessandra
Original Author
5 years ago
Hi Johnathan, thanks for the comment.
The set up is not the exactly same the other side of the wall, however it is raised on the other side as well so I believe you are right about the garden wall. However perhaps the step can be reduced in size? I attach another picture. It seems to house some draining system and I think it may be just an addition to the house to hide something. Any thoughts what? I don’t think I will be pursuing digging down in the basement to increase height due to cost. So In the plans I used the basement as an occasional bedroom (hopefully with en suite). A very amateurish plan attached. What do you reckon?
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Thanks for all your helpful comments. I have been thinking a lot about how we use the space and been less concerned with keeping rooms just for the girls. I was concerned that it currently looks like a 3 bedroom house with a study but we have no plans to move in the foreseeable future so I think I can put that aside as well. Looking at the plans drawn up by the previous owners is confusing me too much. Our needs are different so I have gone back to the basic floor plan of what we have at the moment. We want to remove the conservatories and utility room and replace these with a large open plan area which will include the existing living room and kitchen. There will be a column (maybe attached to island ) somewhere and velux windows in the roof. I want to keep the kitchen on the right and move the utility into the rear of the garage and install a shower room next to it. I think I would like the living area to be at the back and take advantage of the views. This means the dining area will be on the left of the kitchen . We will have 2 sets of bifold or sliding doors ( apparently it would be very costly to have one large set as we would need to hire a very large crane to put in the steel). I also want a wood burning stove. I still like the idea of a study or even a boot room with external door on the side but appreciate One Plans comments about the space not being big enough. Thank you in advance for any further ideas.
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Personally I would try not to develop the family room as I sense it will never be the contemporary structure dominating your ideasbook and will eventually be replaced. Given that you have mentioned later extension I think I would be looking to open up the rooms you currently have and add extra rooms later as the budget allows it. Personally I would want a big lounge on the right hand side and I would put hubbys desk in the niche and either screen it when you all want to be in the lounge or alternatively buy a beautiful desk for the niche and hide a wireless printer and filing cabinet in the store room which I imagine is also plenty big enough to be a utility.
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Thank you to both tamp75 and rinked. i was hoping to utilise the wasted hall space where all the doors are. its a dark area leading to the dining room, WC, and kitchen. in the corner of the utility room is the boiler. so the niche for a basin couldn’t go there as access will be required to the boiler service door. i have wondered if a Wc could go along the wall of the utility room either a joining the study or ajoining the hall. with the door off the hall. is there enough space for this? Also i am not keen on a Macerator so can the Utility plumbing be easily adapted. its such a shame both the family bathroom and downstairs WC are in the middle of the best aspect. the Ensuite is in the area to the side of the house between the dining room and lounge. many thanks for any help.
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Jonathan
5 years ago
I’m loving your ambition but am concerned about budget. What budget do you have for renovations?
Alessandra
Original Author
5 years ago
Ha! I think it’s the naivety of a newbie and the hope of a dreamer. I am actually looking for someone that knows his stuff to bring me back to reality! Let’s say it depends on how much I can bring down the asking price. But let’s say around £60k on a first instance, without doing any work to the bedrooms and bathroom on the first floor. How much we talking in your opinion?

Help me decide if this house has potential to be extended/reconfigured

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Help me decide if this house has potential to be extended/reconfigured

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