Reno on 1970’s chalet bungalow

3 months ago

Hi all,

Newbie here looking for an advice!
We are thinking of buying this 1970’s chalet bungalow. It needs a full renovation and there are number of issues for me:

The kitchen is too small, there is an opportunity to open the kitchen up into the dining room, so considering this.
The outside is super ugly- what can I do to modernise the look of it?
The upstairs bedrooms are small. There is 1 long bedroom that long but narrow. Would a two storey extension work here?

Has anyone worked on similar style house that could share their experiences with us? We are planning to live in it whilst we are renovating. We don’t have a big budget so hoping to find a good architect who can re design it and we will carry out the changes bit by bit.

The plot on this house is large so very attractive for us because of that and it looks like there is so much potential here but also lots of work to be done!

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Comments (10)

Isla Cherry
3 months ago
Do you have a floorplan? Its much easier to plan changes from that. Good to get an idea of the outside though for items like front door, window and garage door updates.
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Newbie DIYer
Original Author
3 months ago
I don’t have the exact ones, but these are very similar with the following differences:
1. No porch to the front
2. Living room has double doors to the side with a window where the double doors are showing now.
3. Upstairs bedroom 2 and 4 is 1 long bedroom currently.
The garden is large so plenty of scope to extend.
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Dear @judibutler I assume you are referring to a wall which is wholly above ground and that you have completely ruled out damp tracking into the wall from above. A lot depends on the size and thickness of the wall and other factors, such as if the building is listed. Damp penetration (driving rain) through granite walls has been an ongoing problem in church towers in the southwest of England for some time. Ironically the problem often seems to get worse after re-pointing in lime. Granite is fairly impervious and was often in laid in large blocks meaning trapped water has little chance of getting out through thin mortar joints. Historic England held an excellent conference on the subject in 2013; the transcript of proceedings can be found at: http://content.historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/damp-towers-conf2013-programme-transcripts.pdf A roughcast lime render coat may help, but there could equally be voids in the wall which are holding damp and may need grouting. However, grouting is a very tricky and expensive technique which should not be undertaken lightly, and only works if one knows exactly where the voids are. Over-cladding the whole wall with semi-sacrificial weather boarding may be a last resort. This and rendering are likely to require planning consent. Depending on where you are located, a company like ArchiMetric (www.archimetrics.co.uk) could insert some interstitial moisture monitors into the wall to try and find out exactly where and when the damp is getting in and how it is moving through the wall, but this may be expensive. Some localised investigation by dismantling pockets of stone may be useful. The Society of Ancient Buildings helpline (mornings only on 020 7456 0916) may be able to help with specialists in your area. Most importantly try to get an understanding of how water is getting into and moving through your wall before you embark on anything. If your problems relate to below-ground damp then a different response will be needed.
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Isla Cherry
3 months ago
I can see that opening up the kitchen dining would look great. You could add french doors to the garden and completely change the feel of the space. Live in it for a while first. Any house can be made much more attractive with new windows and doors, maybe a porch and planting some lovely greenery. I think the budget depends on how much work you want to do? Is this your foverever home or a stepping stone? I would also look at what your neighbours have done for ideas.
rinked
3 months ago
Some ideas:

New windows (preferably all 3 the same) and siding on the dormer, same siding next to front door.

Open up kitchen to diner, move side entrance to create more space for (tall) units.

And what width is the long bedroom at the front? Enough for your double bed (let's say at least 260 wide) to make it the master bedroom? Or do you need 4 bedrooms?

Please don't park your car in front like in the photo, make yourself a proper inviting footpath with some green on the sides.

Not shown in scetch: bathroom layout changed. With a slightly narrower window (or at least move it towards the left corner), you could have a shower bath along the front wall. Move toilet and sink to the right.
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Sonia
3 months ago
Removing the wall between the kitchen and the dining area would be a great move. We did that and it made such a difference as our kitchen was pokey. If the garage is too narrow for your car, that could be converted by dividing it if you wish into a utility and storage area. I don’t think the front is that bad, just needs new windows, front door and garage door, or paint it.
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siobhanmcgee90
3 months ago
Live in it for a while so you can get a proper feel for what works and what doesn’t. This will give you time to save a bit too. Knocking the wall between kitchen/diner will work and as rinked suggests the main bedroom could be split into a great WIW and en-suite. The garage would be a great 4th bedroom in time. You could transform the look by changing the windows, and front door. If you don’t have the budget for that, Paint the porch area, the garage door, park in front of the garage, put in a bin store, remove the rubbish, paint and fix the fence and create a garden area with lovely planting the full width of the left of the house. A few hundred quid and plenty of elbow grease would transform it.
Newbie DIYer
Original Author
last month
Hi all, thanks so much for all your comments and apologies for such delayed response! We have been going through the rollercoaster of purchasing this property and at one point thinking it won’t ever happen! But we are now hoping to be in by Christmas! Woohoo!
We have couple of priorities to do here, like securing the garden/ fixing up the fence and most likely replacing the kitchen and bathroom first. I’m still thinking about boxing in the kitchen door but not sure if to open up into the dining room now or at later stage… the actual floor plan attached now. We have asked a builder to view the property with us again to assess costs on couple of things so should know what we can afford now..
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Sarah L
last month
Definitely open up the kitchen to the dining room. First thing I had done after moving into my bungalow.
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Sonia
last month
Exciting! We knocked down the wall between our teeny kitchen and the dining room. Why did architects think in the 1930s that a teeny tiny kitchen was a good idea? 😂 Best thing we ever did. We got it checked by a builder and it wasn’t load bearing so we took it down ourselves 💪 It’s still a galley kitchen but so much better than what we had. Good luck with your refurb.
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Newbie DIYer
Original Author
last month
Thanks for your input guys, really appreciate your thoughts! , will update on progress as I have it 😊
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Reno on 1970’s chalet bungalow

Comments (10)

Isla Cherry

Newbie DIYer
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Isla Cherry

rinked

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Reno on 1970’s chalet bungalow

Comments (10)

Isla Cherry

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Isla Cherry

rinked

Sonia

siobhanmcgee90

Newbie DIYerOriginal Author

Sarah L

Sonia

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CONNECT WITH US

Newbie DIYer
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