Building a Home Renovating Design Dilemma

Moving staircase to improve access to bathroom

3 years ago

Hello,

I am in the process of buying a 2 bed Victorian terrace. The bathroom can only be accessed through one of the bedrooms currently. However if the stairs were moved the bathroom could be accessed via the corridor. Does anyone have any ideas on how much this costs? (I am in Bristol)

Have I overlooked anything? open to other ideas!

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Comments (4)

PRO
OnePlan
3 years ago
I worked on a design for a family a few years ago, who had put in a beautiful glass extension with a spiral staircase in the gap at the rear of their house ( next to kitchen and dining areas ) to open /land just infront of the bathroom ( in yours this would shave about 900mm off your bathroom) - but for them it meant easier access to bathroom and larger bedrooms and living areas ... might work for your place too ?
HU-886618993
Original Author
3 years ago
oooo so a two story extension effectively? sounds beautiful. I doubt I could afford this - I was budgeting £30k for a single storey extension to the kitchen and £6k to reverse the staircase. I wonder, do you have a v rough idea of what a double storey extension would cost? (in Bristol) as that does sound amazing - I know you cannot be exact - I can only extend the same length as the kitchen as the garden is pretty small at the back ..
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Front hallway- I say save your money leave it up. Cost of removal is minor but you will likely have to move radiators and electrics and make good plasterwork and coving- I say protect another £1500 profit. Present the larger back reception as a living room and present the front reception as the dining room. Given that the bathroom is likely to go upstairs make the downstairs bathroom into a room to access the garden- I would present the kitchen as a kitchen/breakfast room with doors to see the garden as being able to see from the front door to the back garden should pay dividend.
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@ManAboutTheHouse Thanks got the comment. I agree about moving the staircase, that would complicate things. There isn't standing height under the current (stupid) staircase, so I don't think we could put a toilet under there as it is. We're pretty sure the drain runs from the back of the house down the porch side, but obviously we need to confirm this. Current porch extends out 1.02m, wouldn't want an extension to come out any further than this because we'd like to keep the 80cm side access to the garden. It's 2.36m wide and we could go up to another 2m either way, giving us at least 6m, if we wanted. I'll attach a google earth image, so you can see the house in its surroundings. The deeds say we have to maintain the green landscaping to the front, so that's a no go area. Back garden is tiny, so also a no go area.
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Looks like a really lovely flat with loads of potential. I know there are plenty of neighbourhoods like Jesmond where spending that extra doing a loft conversion is probably worth it. I would check that out by getting some sketch plans drawn showing what it would be like with a loft conversion and then having a chat with some local estate agents to get an idea of what the likely uplift in value will be. Then you can either set your budget by the potential uplift, plus perhaps a little to cover your enjoyment of living there for the next 5 years or so. It is very hard to tell from the photo how much head room you have in the loft space. If there are other loft conversions on your street then it seems likely that it is possible, if not then that might be an indication that it is either not quite high enough, or that there hasn't been enough value to be gained from doing it (although if that is the case and the area is up and coming then this might change). If you climb into the loft (being careful not to put your foot through the ceiling) and measure the height from the top of the ceiling joists to the underside of the ridge, then you'll get some idea of the potential for a loft conversion. You can drop the ceilings for all the rooms at 1st floor to create more head height in the loft if you need to - this is a big job, but is doable and might be worth it. The current head height in the loft will be reduced by the insulation build-up that you will need to add to the roof and probably by new floor joists that you'll need to add (the ceiling joists alone are rarely enough to take the floor for a loft conversion). This is all work needing building control approval, though probably not planning - though it would be worth checking with your local authority planning department to check. You can do PD enquiry. You would need planning permission to add a soil vent pipe to the front of your house to change the study into a bathroom - might be possible to get approval, but not easy. It is usually easier to use the existing SVP or add one at the back. As a suggestion: Maybe you could add a kitchen to the back of the bedroom one / reception room and open that up to the landing, study and front bedroom to make a big open plan kitchen/diner/lounge to the front (if you're extending into the loft you'll probably need to have a fire protected stair so keep this in mind). Then add another bedroom, possibly with ensuite into the loft, and turn the dining room into a bedroom with ensuite and walk-through wardrobe where the current bathroom and kitchen are... You could make the bathroom a bit bigger by taking in some of the kitchen and you could make some of this into a utility room as well... I have a free checklist with support emails to help with getting your project off to a good start and making the right decisions for you. You can get a copy from my website: www.i-architect.co.uk
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I think you could work with the layout you have and avoid pipework changes and still gain a more spacious feeling. The current shower enclosure on plinth is visually very dominant. I think if you can make shower area feel more 'lightweight' this will lift the room. My suggestion is to change the shower enclosure and go for a very simple tray that sits directly on the floor if possible and then use just one fixed panel of glass at the loo end. Find a tray that runs all the way along the length of the wall to the basin. I don't know what your dimensions are but is it feasible to have say a 700mm pane of glass and still have a 500mm opening at end near basin? If you can minimise the framing and ideally get rid of a hinged door on the enclosure I think this will make the room feel more open. The loo and basin are fine so then it would be a case of maybe changing the wall tiles if they are damaged from removing existing set up. 500mm gap between edge of glass and basin?
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Zoe Kelly
3 years ago
Not sure on exact budget but worth thinking about which side the stairs will be open to (dining room?) and the effect on that room, some of it will effectively become a corridor (that might be ok if you’re doing a downstairs extension anyway but worth bearing in mind!).
Wumi
3 years ago
Very typical style of 2 bed house in Birmingham! I’ve been in similar homes where the walls to living room have been removed so you walk straight into the living room from entrance and and the stairs have open banisters.

Rather than change the stairs why not reconfigure upstairs and fit an ensuite in the other bedroom?

Moving staircase to improve access to bathroom

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OnePlan

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Moving staircase to improve access to bathroom

Comments (4)

OnePlan

HU-886618993Original Author

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Zoe Kelly

Wumi

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HU-886618993
Original Author