Extension - kitchen/diner advice

houseowner81

Apologies if this is the wrong forum to write this, but any advice would be appreciated.

I live in a 3 bed semi, and downstairs consists of a decent size living room in the front, a small kitchen and a separate dining room. The side of the house is an empty space (basically a car port) beside the kitchen.

I am looking into the possibility of adding a small extension on the side of the house, where the kitchen is, using the side car port space. This space is approx 2X3.5m square. this is in order to update our kichen/dining space. My wife and myself are trying to agree what to do from the below options:

1) complete extension, knocking side wall, and have patio doors onto our small garden. This would mean we have no side access to the back garden then. The rooms downstairs would include living room, kitchen/diner, extra living room. The quote we have for this work is £13k (includes building of extension, patio doors, plumbing, electrics, plastering, painting, putting in new kitchen, completing small patio area outside patio doors, I need to supply kitchen and slabs for patio)

2)do not complete extension and knock in wall between kitchen and dining room to have a new kitchen come diner. this would mean one less room downstairs but slightly larger kitchen/diner.

3) complete option 1 and 2 together. would mean a very large kitchen/dining area but lose side access to garden.

From the 3 options above, what would have the most positive impact on the house value (especially when wanting to re-mortgage or sell in the future?)

Also, does the quote I receive sound reasonable?

Thank you in advance

ih8stress

I think some of it depends on your circumstances e.g. any kids or future kids, whether you would spend more time in the kitchen or lounge, how long you plan on living there etc.

I have a side extension, so have no access to the garden and it is a real pain! Any garden waste has to be taken through the house, it can cause various problems when having work done on the house, and if you have a window cleaner (I don't), it can be impossible for them to do the back windows.
If I'd chosen my extension I would have added it onto the back of the house, instead of the side (already done when I moved here).

I'm hopeless at measurements but would suggest you try and find out how much floor space you would actually gain with the extension, once the size and depth of the bricks/walls insulation fittings etc. have been taken into account.

Don't forget about outside drains and being able to access them easily.

Finally, you have to consider any issues with light into the rooms, would they be south facing? or cold and dark.
Importantly, would the extension have a window put in the side - and if so, would this look onto a neighbouring property?

Hope this has given you some ideas - look at property programmes for ideas on layouts and talk to family and friends for tips too.

HTH

houseowner81

thanks for the reply.we are actually expecting so was thinking the extra space would help (we have a dog too). we cant extend onto the back as we have a very small garden so would lose all the space. rubbish is not an ssue as we keep the main big bin at the front of the house anyway. light should be ok, in my head I want to go for the extension to have a kitchen come diner to give us the extra room at the back of the house. the space itself is only 7m2.

stebiz

If it was me I'd knock through and leave the side, for all the reasons mentioned.

ih8stress

houseowner81 wrote: »

thanks for the reply.we are actually expecting so was thinking the extra space would help (we have a dog too). we cant extend onto the back as we have a very small garden so would lose all the space. rubbish is not an ssue as we keep the main big bin at the front of the house anyway. light should be ok, in my head I want to go for the extension to have a kitchen come diner to give us the extra room at the back of the house. the space itself is only 7m2.

I suppose it boils down really as to whether you just have it as a kitchen/diner or kitchen/diner plus an extra room.

Again, I haven't got a tape measure out (I'm more of a feet and inches person ), so cannot really visualise how big or small the actual FLOOR SPACE would be for it.

I would suggest you think of HOW you would use this extra room, then use paper or card templates etc. to position any furniture it would need and see if that shows if it is worthwhile (probably get room templates, plans etc online somewhere).
Don't forget to take into account the positioning of doors, windows, radiators etc. which would determine the layout and also where you can put your furniture too.

I also think the costs sound on the low side.

I think you also have to let your mortgage provider and insurer know before you do any major building work.

Can you get a mod to merge this thread as I notice that you have also posted about this on another board

houseowner81

thanks again all. the extension will make the kitchen into a kitchen/diner with the living room a separate room. Ive worked out measurments and have completed a design on a homebase web app (impressed how I managed to do that lol) and it looks like more than enough space with all appliances, fridge/oven/washing machine/dishwasher/tabl and chairs etc. I think it would be nice to have the extra living room too with a child on the way too. we dont intend moving anytime soon, maybe never (but can never say never lol)

as a matter of interest why do i need to tell my mortgage advisor / insurer?