Ideas to add value to this house

silvercar

Yup, I asked for opinions on layout not on price; I know the pricing round here, I know what is happening in the immediate area, but I wanted to hear ideas on layout.

Doozergirl

silvercar wrote: »

Are there no extra problems by adding a bathroom a whole floor higher than the current one?

I'd expect the joists would be strong enough for the weight of a bath in a house that age.

Only perhaps how water is fed currently to and water pressure. Decent combi boiler if the existing needs replacing or an electric shower if you want a separate shower. People don't often check the water pressure if a house is for sale - unless you get my husband demonstrating it to potential buyers, utterly soaking them in the process

truman_sparks

silvercar wrote: »

Yup, I asked for opinions on layout not on price; I know the pricing round here, I know what is happening in the immediate area, but I wanted to hear ideas on layout.

Best of luck then.

TS

GDB2222

It does seem a difficult time to be doing this, Silver. Whatever you do to it, you'll want to be very quick getting the work done and remarketing the property.

Incidentally, I don't know if it looks better in the flesh, but from the picture supplied the garage conversion has what looks like a bay window stuck on it. Also, the front door looks decidedly odd.

PasturesNew

Take out all the ceilings and all internal walls. Take down the back wall.
Replace the entire back wall with a glass wall.
Put a mezzanine floor about half way up the structure. Run in a new door from the outside to that mezzanine.
Fill the bottom half with water

Big open plan loft living, with integral swimming pool.

A unique property!

Doozergirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

Take out all the ceilings and all internal walls. Take down the back wall.
Replace the entire back wall with a glass wall.
Put a mezzanine floor about half way up the structure. Run in a new door from the outside to that mezzanine.
Fill the bottom half with water

Big open plan loft living, with integral swimming pool.

A unique property!

You missed your calling :rotfl:

dopester

Maybe I am a house-snob, but that house, whilst not the worst by far I've ever seen.... I just think they built some ugly and cheap slaveboxes in the past few decades all over the country.

Stuff which I'd love to see destroyed and rebuilt pretty and functional and lasting - although I know it doesn't make economic sense.

PasturesNew

Doozergirl wrote: »

People don't often check the water pressure if a house is for sale

I checked it in my rented bedsit. Flushed the loo and turned the cold tap on in the sink.

I've lived before where the pressure was fine, it was the flow-rate causing the issue. I was getting just 12 litres/minute, new builds are 30 I believe.

Either way I don't want to be living with the problem.

chewmylegoff

PasturesNew wrote: »

Take out all the ceilings and all internal walls. Take down the back wall.
Replace the entire back wall with a glass wall.
Put a mezzanine floor about half way up the structure. Run in a new door from the outside to that mezzanine.
Fill the bottom half with water

Big open plan loft living, with integral swimming pool.

A unique property!

why no retractable roof

silvercar

GDB2222 wrote: »

It does seem a difficult time to be doing this, Silver. Whatever you do to it, you'll want to be very quick getting the work done and remarketing the property.

Incidentally, I don't know if it looks better in the flesh, but from the picture supplied the garage conversion has what looks like a bay window stuck on it. Also, the front door looks decidedly odd.

There is a lot of updating needed. The garage conversion was done in 1993, structurally it was done properly and now houses a very nice kitchen.

All the windows are aluminium with blown seals, so they would need replacing, with the bay window at least in a matching style to the rest.

Front door is actually two doors side by side, the gas meter box you can see in the picture is held up by duck tape!

The place needs completely redecorating inside and out, including the windows. That bay window wouldn't look so odd if the remaining windows were in a similar style!

I spoke to another prospective purchaser at the open day. He said that if he bought it, he would give it a quick coat of paint and do nothing else. He would then offer it to the council for social housing, hoping to get a 5 year term. If he checks this out before bidding, he'll find the local council won't do this at the moment.