Adding radiators and remodeling a terrace house

ForeverFirstTimeBuyer

Hi, am a first time buyer and have resolved myself to the fact that all I can afford is a place that needs some major work. There's a house that doesn't have any radiators and a slightly confusing layout on the first floor (you have to go through a bedroom to get to the bathroom). So what I'd be looking to do is remodel the layout of the house and add gas central heating. The house does have a gas supply (as there is a gas fireplace in the living room).

I've drawn a before and after of the floor plan for the work I'd want to do (please see the image link, http:// i.imgur.com/1efaF.gif). I think it will cost around £4,000 for gas central heating, and £4,000 for the two chimney breasts to be removed. But I have no idea what kind of figure I'd be looking at for:

• the staircase to be moved
• the 2 reception rooms turned into 1 room
• moving the doorway slightly for the kitchen

Anyone got a rough ball park, are we talking around £2,000; £5,000, or what? Any advice greatly appreciated.

Worth mentioning is that I dont know if the staircase houses any service meters. I know that moving these outside will cost me a fortune. Will be checking out the place properly tomorrow.

drummer_666

Where in the country?

The link doesn't work, so can't say properly but if it is removing one supporting wall for the 2 reception rooms to turn into one I'd say £700-1000 including make good i.e. new plaster

The cost of moving the door will depend on if it's a supporting wall or not

I don't think it should cost £4k to remove chimneys

Is it one chimney, in downstairs room and in the room above?
Or two chimney, downstairs and rooms above?

I'd say you're right with central heating being around £4k

Can't help on the stair cost, tho at a guess I reckon it'd be around £5-10k

VoucherMan

Found link http://i.imgur.com/1efaF.gif

jc808

are you planning on doing a loft conversion at any point? in which case stairs running the other way may make sense


cheap way of sorting the upstairs prob is to stud wall partition off a corridoor in the front bed, add a door, thats your bathroom access

!!!!!! layout indeed best of luck

DVardysShadow

The most I would contemplate doing with the stairs is to reverse them in their present location. In terms of first floor timbers - without having thought too hard, it will probably be much much more straight forward to do this with a small adjustment to the stairwell slot than to carve out a new stairwell slot in a different location and at right angles.

Putting the stairs this way puts the upstairs corridor into sensible use as a landing, but transfers your walking through rooms problem downstairs where it is less of an issue.

Personally I don't like big through rooms - it deprives you of one space - plus with your front door opening onto the street, if you do knock through downstairs, you would need to consider an inner porch, I think.

drummer_666

looking at the photo now, won't cost £4k to remove the chimney, depending on where you are in the country, I'd say around £2k

keystone

As an FTB with limited funds I'd suggest your most cost effective approach is this:



Cheers

Edit: Sorry forgot to stick a rad in the kitchen and the sitting area. There is no need for a rad in the conservatory and such can be construed as converting it into habitable accommodation which means it can no longer be classed as a conservatory. I've put an internal door into the conny as well. Do you really want to go round the outside to get to the wetroom/cloak?

drummer_666

keystone wrote: »

There is no need for a rad in the conservatory and such can be construed as converting it into habitable accommodation which means it can no longer be classed as a conservatory. I've put an internal door into the conny as well. Do you really want to go round the outside to get to the wetroom/cloak?

Hmmm I think a conservatory would benefit with a rad. My parents added one to theirs even tho they had underfloor heating, as it gets very cold in there apart from in the summer

keystone

drummer_666 wrote: »

looking at the photo now, won't cost £4k to remove the chimney, depending on where you are in the country, I'd say around £2k

With all due respect you really don't know that. Lets not forget that its a terraced property and chimneys will be shared. So whatever you do it will affect next door. You can't take it out of one house and not affect the other. In any case I think OP thinks he wants to remove the chimney to create more room in bedroom 2 which he has now made smaller by moving the wall over on his plan.

drummer_666 wrote: »

Hmmm I think a conservatory would benefit with a rad. My parents added one to theirs even tho they had underfloor heating, as it gets very cold in there apart from in the summer

Hmmm. You missed the point. Putting a rad in a conservatory makes it habitable accommodation, therefore no longer a conservatory and therefore an extension which will count against permitted development rights. Thats the reason - its absolutely nothing to do with heating it.

Cheers