Advice please for redesigning ground floor of 1960s detached
5 months ago
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Comments (9)
- 5 months ago
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Ideas redesigning our ground floor please!
Comments (10)I did not realise there's so much involved but now I see the point after reading your comment, mintyman. We are a young family with two boys aged 6 and 7.5 and do have guests around quite often as well as playdays for kids. The new extension will be at the rear of the detached house and will go out to a decent sized north-west facing garden (there's lots of sun from afternoon to late evening). We are surrounded by neighbours from both sides and the garden backs another neighbour's garden with well overgrown trees and shrubs so not so much overlooked I believe. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking, doing homework, entertaining guests and would like it as an open plan with the dining area and I even don't mind it opening up to the lounge either. I do like my utility area separate though and badly need a downstairs toilet (possibly using the area under the stairs?). There are no people with disabilities in the family. I am attaching pictures of the rear of the house and the garden. By the way, the internal width from left to the utility wall is 6.2m Thanks so much for your comments!...See MoreGround floor redesign - confused by options
Comments (24)Dosia_Konn Perhaps I could answer your query by explaining first what Architects do. The Architect takes the client's brief and instructions, prepares feasibility designs , cost estimates and makes Planning and Building Regulation Applications, negotiates with Planners & Building Control Officers on behalf of the clientdesigns the whole building/extension, specifies the materials to be used in the construction, specifies the quality and method of construction, provides detailed, dimensioned drawings to Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, etc etc, prepares tender documents for the whole project, checks potential contractors, invites tenders, reports and advises on received tenders, prepares Contract documents, administers the Building Contract, issues Certificates for Payments at appropriate times, inspects the work as it proceeds to ensure it conforms with the Contract, agrees Final Accounts with Contractors and issues Final Certificates to clients etc for payment, makes six month inspections, issues instructions to contractors to make good defects etc etc Interior Designers are sometimes, but not invariably, engaged as part of the Professional Team to advise on the design of the interiors of buildings, including colour schemes, fabrics, fittings and furniture, estimating costs, sourcing fittings, furniture and fabrics including floor and wall coverings. They specialise in these aspects of the building project but do not offer the extent and quality of services as offered by Architects who are normally regarded as the leaders of any design team and who are required to have considerably more training, qualifications and expertise in all aspects of building projects than Interior Designers have or need. I am unaware of the minimum qualification necessary to call oneself an 'Interior Designer' and would be interested to learn that. Some Interior Designers offer more than the normal service as mentioned above and if a client prefers to take that option that is their right to do so. Some draughtsmen do the same but I wouldn't recommend that course of action in this specific instance unless the particular Interior Designer/Draughtsmen shows himself/herself well equipped, experienced and qualified to do the job as well as an Architect....See MoreHelp with ground floor layout please...... playroom, snug or study?
Comments (19)We did love some of the suggestions above… but stuck with our original plan! Although we did change the kitchen layout from U-shaped to ”farmhouse” style, with the table in the middle and sink under the window overlooking the garden. The old dining room has become an office with two desks - partly due to COVID and the need to work from home and homeschool etc! We have also moved a lot of the children’s toy storage in here although they still bring things into the main lounge to play where there’s more room. At 8 and 5, they also actually now keep and play with a lot of toys in their rooms, so I think the old dining room will remain as more of a computer and homework room - it’s nice being able to shut the door! The ”study” on the plan is very much a workshop/gym/play room for my husband! We didnt want to sacrifice that space. It might turn into a teenage den later on perhaps, or even a downstairs bedroom for my Nan. The small upstairs bedroom has become a second office as I’m also still working from home (and my husband has too many meetings downstairs!). It houses our sofa bed too so acts as a spare room and my space to do yoga and sewing. Overall, we are pleased with how everything turned out. We quite like the option to have space away from each other and the flexibility to change the use of the different rooms. We do all spend a lot time together in either the kitchen or main lounge as plenty of space in both....See More1930s semi-detached single storey extension layout advice please
Comments (14)Hello and thanks for your prompt reply. The drawings provided show that the support beams are 203mm depth and therefore they will be too big to sit inside the ceiling void. As the weight per linear m is 23Kg as detailed on the drawings it may be worth asking the engineer to reduce the depth and and increase the weight so the beam can be inserted into the ceiling void. I note that there is also a couple of posts in the stud wall and these could be upgraded if necessary. I do not make these suggestions lightly. The main benefit of inserting the beam inside the ceiling is the removal of the shadow cast on the ceiling. The return nibs on either end could be cut back and if needed posts could be fixed direct to the brickwork to provide vertical support. There may need to be a spreader plate welded to the bottom of the post in order to mitigate the point load on the foundation. Obviously this is more of a structural design issue. Is there a good reason for not centring the bifold doors to the external wall? You have so much height on the flat roof why not put a warm deck roof on instead of a cold deck with in cross ventilation? Can I also suggest a warm pitched roof too. You may find Web Dynamics TLX Goldto be a very useful form of insulation as you will only need about 75mm of PIR insulation in between the rafters. I've never been fortunate enough to meet a building control officer willing to accept a heavy duty Catnic lintel over a 4M bifold door. I thought the under stairs might be the position of the meters. I would consider relocating these to an outside wall. Then turn the WC through 90 degrees and design it under the stairs. If I was planning a kitchen diner extension with a beautiful bi-fold door looking out into the rear garden would try and create a direct flow from front of house to the back. I would move the utility room into the middle of the house to provide a direct line of sight from the front door to the rear garden. GD3 would provide access into the utility room. I'd consider moving the door along the living room wall so it could open into the hallway. This would allow a 950mm wide fully glazed door to be placed between the hallway and the kitchen diner. With regard to the position of the new extension wall which is adjacent to your adjoining neighbour I suggest that you look up the party wall act 1996 booklet online here - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523010/Party_Wall_etc__Act_1996_-_Explanatory_Booklet.pdf The part that is of interest is "Line of junction - building astride the boundary". If you build across the boundary you should gain at least 150mm of additional internal floor space along the length of the outside wall. Also if in the future your neighbour decides to build an extension they can utilise your wall for if they pay half of the cost of its construction. I'm sure you know that you are responsible for paying all of the costs from all sides relating to the party wall agreement. If the neighbour on the other side is within 3/6m then you will need an agreement with them as well. The architects drawing indicates that the drain is not adopted or shared and therefore you will not require a build over agreement with the water authority. Best wishes Andrew...See More- 5 months ago
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Jonathan