Thinking of buying - but why is the floor raised in this extension?

last year

Hi there! My wife and I are thinking of buying a house which already has a ground floor extension on the back. The current owners have gone for a bit of a strange layout and if we buy, we would like to reconfigure and open up the space some more for the kitchen/dining room.

The floor in the extension is raised up higher than the rest of the ground floor, and I'm wondering why this might be. If we are to make more of an open-plan living space then we would like the floor to be all at the same level.

Can anyone tell me if it is raised up because of the way they have opted to create the foundations when adding the extension? Or, has it simply been am unusual design decision? Most importantly, can it be lowered to the level of the rest of the ground floor, because it seems like raising the rst of the space would be a big job (as well as reducing room height).

Pictures are attached.

Thank you!

Sean

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Comments (8)

tim_baker921
last year
Probably done for a practical, cost saving, reason. My guess would be to give clearance for drains.
Chris Morgan-Jones
last year
Drains was my first thought as well. It would potentially be expensive to resolve for very little practical benefit.
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Wow! Thanks for the comments so far. It's great to get all these different perspectives. Where to start? So one important thing to mention is that we're really tight on our budget. I figured that the most cost effective option would be to keep the current kitchen where it is which I figured only really gives us option 1 or option 2. I wonder how much more expensive it would be to have a totally different design? The original house didn't have a bathroom upstairs but we managed to squeeze one in when we renovated the upstairs while still keeping 3 bedrooms. So this is the original bathroom downstairs. I wanted to keep a small toilet and shower at least for when the kids get a bit older or if we have guests. The pictures of sofas in the living room and extension are a bit optimistic. I'd be quite happy to have one sofa in the living room and one in the extension. Sophie, our builder recommended we keep the window in the bathroom if possible, but this means making the extension a bit less wide - not by much, but perhaps enough to make a difference. The actual side passage wall is the same in both options. We could ditch the window in the wider bathroom option actually and keep the same width of extension. His point about keeping (or having) a window was that it'd be good to have some natural ventilation and daylight in there. We checked the head height and it'd be enough for a shower. I kind of prefer option 1 from a flow point of view, but I'm very concerned about the door opening straight into the kitchen. Alky, I can't really see much detail in your pictures, are you able to upload something a bit higher res? From what I can see, it certainly looks like a big and creative change. The funny thing is that one of the neighbours whose house is pretty nearly identical to this design (apart from the toilet/bathroom) their house looks pretty awesome. But now I'm confused because you've all raised very valid points which make me wonder about the whole design.
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Sean Strong
Original Author
last year
Thank you Tim and Chris, it means a lot that you replied and offered this info! I think if we go for the house, then we should most likely keep it as it is. It's not the end of the world. Cheers!
PRO
The Baked Tile Company
last year
I'm one of the interior designers here at Baked and both previous comments are most likely bang on the mark. But you can very simply still unite all the spaces with the use of the same floor finish. I have a step up into my kitchen, which is part of an open plan flow from hall into casual dining/ living apace, as it was the most cost effective way to get water to my island. I love the variation in level, it adds interest and zones the various open plan areas. I have the same flooring running though and it all looks fab! If your looking for tile ideas once you secure the house, let us know your preferred kitchen style and colour and we can create some mood boards for you....its all part of our service!
pjdklm
last year
I grew up in a 1970’s built home in Los Angeles, and thanks to lots of space, light, and no worries about trying to contain heat, most homes are quite open plan in their living areas. The single step elevation change is a very common “design feature” to delineate different rooms. If you do buy the house, I can attest that 1) you soon won’t notice the step in the slightest as you move about the house and 2) it’s useful for making different flooring choices. I hope you enjoy your new home!
Jonathan
last year
You could also raise the floor in the lower part.
Sean Strong
Original Author
last year
Thanks for your nice message pjdklm. I totally get it, and think we do probably just need to change the way we are thinking about the final space. It really wouldn't be the end of the world to have different levels.
Sean Strong
Original Author
last year
And thanks to you too Jonathan. We have also considered raising an extra section (the current utility room) so as to keep what would be the kitchen all on the same level. Either way, we like the house enough to live happily with it stepped, or not stepped. Cheers

Thinking of buying - but why is the floor raised in this extension?

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Thinking of buying - but why is the floor raised in this extension?

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