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Smaller Homes Renovating Design Dilemma

Extending (broken plan) without demolishing the back wall?

5 years ago

Just wondering if anyone has experience of this... We live in an Edwardian end terrace and have been considering a single storey extension towards the back, to extend the kitchen area and add a shower room. The rooms that would be affected are the galley kitchen which has some nice original windows to the rear (which we want to keep) and the back living room which has 1980s sliding doors, patio style to the rear (which we don't!).
I just had the idea that rather than Knock out the whole back wall, we could just take out the patio doors and take the kitchen door, which sits in between the nice windows, off the hinges, then build out from there. So it wouldn't be the very 'clean' looking completely open plan space that kitchen/dining extensions often seem to be, but more a series of connected spaces (obviously we'd finish it nicely, not just leave a hole where the doors were :)) where the original position of the walls is quite obvious. I feel this would suit us, and the house, better and I suspect would also save money, as less demolishing to do, and save knocking about what's a fairly elderly house too much, as well. However I'm a complete novice at extensions and I haven't really seen any pictures of this kind of approach -what do you think, good idea or not??

Featured Answer

Carolina

5 years ago

I think it could be lovely. It could add real character and create cosy spaces.

I found some photos of extended properties with the original back wall more or less intact. Noticed that they almost all have a glass roof to make the most of the light. Because it will make your rooms darker if you leave most of the wall up.

Comments (12)

Carolina
5 years ago
Watch the pics on this site; there’s a cute side return extension with glass roof and window seat in there https://space-program.co.uk/
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Carolina
5 years ago
Correction, its only a side extension. Still... :-)
kwg kwg
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Hello, I know exactly what you mean - keep the existing structure and build around it. I've seen a few houses like that whilst we were looking to buy a house but not that many, however the house opposite us has the same design that you mentioned. I guess it will save you a little bit of money as you probably don't need any steel beams on top of the demolition and removal of rubble etc.

If you think the layout will suit your way of living and your personal circumstances then go for it but personally I'm not a fan of that layout and it did put me off buying those houses that had that layout because I wanted open plan and having a layout as you have suggested would mean having to re-do the whole extension so I might as well buy a house with no extension in the first place as it will be cheaper. One of the benefits of open plan, especially if you have very young children or babies is that you can easily keep an eye on them in one room rather than going into the next room.
PRO
User
5 years ago
Can you post a plan with the dimensions?
A B
5 years ago
I think the middle room would feel really dark if you only removed the patio door and there is no other window. I also imagine your current kitchen would just become s corridor to the new space? I do love the idea of retaining the original window though. I’d speak to an architect to see what options you have with your plan. I think there was a similar layout on George Clark’s amazing spaces and it ended up working really well
Leila Rasheed
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks everyone for your suggestions and thoughts, very useful. Yes, light is something I'm concerned about. I suppose the thing to do is get a few plans professionally drawn up with different possibilities for roof glazing and also think about things like being clever with mirrors, possibly sun tunnels and internal glass. I think whatever we do the middle room will end up being dark, though. So many things to think about! :)
I don't have a plan on me but if I get a chance will try to draw one.
Jonathan
5 years ago
I think when you extend and add square footage you can either make your current space bigger or add extra rooms. Unless you take down some walls you will just be adding another small room. This will be cheaper to build but won’t add as much to the value and I agree with an earlier poster- as a purchaser I would view your broken plan as a botch job and buy something else. If you particularly like your window consider using it elsewhere.
kwg kwg
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Hi Leila, I think Jonathan has hit the nail on the head with his comment, I know it's something you don't want to hear because you've probably already made up your mind about 70% to go with your layout design. I'm pretty sure it won't add as much value as another house with an open plan layout. As long you will accept the fact that when you sell the house in the future it won't be valued as much as another house down your street with an open plan layout then that is fine. Buyers will definitely think you done it on the cheap so won't want to pay the price you are expecting but you are expecting a certain price because you've done an extension but it's not an extension that people want unless it's at the right price so if anything, your house might take longer to sell. Of course there will be exceptions, people desperate to move into the area for schools, if you are in a very desirable street etc so you might be abe to sell quicker ( no-one can ever predict the market at the time ).

An extension is a lot of money so best to try and get it right even if it means saving up for a few more years, it's not like deciding on a kitchen or bathroom layout out ( bath or no bath sort of question ) which can easily be changed.

If you decide to go down the route of knocking down the back walls perhaps you could use the original window in the new back wall and also re-use the bricks that were knocked down to build the new extension? It might save a little bit of money and one of my neighbours has done this. I didn't think of this at the time and I'm pretty sure my builder took all of my good london stock bricks to use on another job as I remember he stacked them all up in a nice pile rather than put them in the skip!!

Good luck, I'm sure a fab architect would be able to do some amazing design for you and we would love to see it if you follow your design :-).
Carolina
5 years ago
Okay, I half agree with the rest that an amazing open plan space will likely impress more people and will perhaps make it more saleable in the future.

On the other hand: you want to add a shower room and extend the kitchen area. You don't need a fantabulously big open space.

And we do see dilemmas here from people who have that open plan space and don't know what to do with it. I'm not against open plan living. My house is very much open plan. And I love it.

Anyway, it doesn't have to look like you did it on the cheap. See photo. But neither would you want to save the back wall to save money. If you save the back wall, do it because it's worth it.

But it's all guess work, since we don't have the plans of your house ;-)
PRO
User
5 years ago
I think having a look at the proposed plan and dimensions first is the best thing to do. It may well be that you don't need and Architect, maybe just someone that's qualified to draw up plans, a good concept planner for instance.

It may also be that broken plan will work, it's hard to tell without the dimensions. If you're adding a shower room, then presumably, you'll have a corner somewhere to work around. The most important thing is light to the back room.

We await a rough plan.
Carolina
5 years ago
Ooo... someone just posted this link on another thread. You might find it interesting: https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/kitchen-tour-a-clever-extension-preserves-victorian-proportions-stsetivw-vs~103236361

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