Kitchen renew or move

AdrianC

walwyn1978 said:

AdrianC said:

perbinder said:

This is the problem. I am not sure what the next buyers will want. I would prefer a bigger kitchen but the next buyer may or may not. In my last house which had a massive kitchen the buyer knocked out walls to make it even bigger. 

Never mind what "the next buyers" will want. You're living there in the meantime. How do YOU want to live?

This. Unless you’re doing it up to sell immediately,,do what you feel works for you. 

And, if you are, then reconsider because I bet you won't add more value than the cost of the work...

Doozergirl

perbinder said:

Scotbot said:

I would move the wall between the kitchen and lounge back into the lounge so both rooms are rectangular thus enlarging the kitchen. The lounge is large enough. Similar to Doozergirl's suggestion but not open plan. It is probably a  retaining wall so you would need to put steels in . Not cheap but the neither is moving plumbing. 

I will certainly look into the costs but am concerned that I have to move the original external wall corner not just the back wall. Not sure if that is even possible or how much it would cost. 

It is possible.  It's a bungalow too, so the load isn't too great and one steel can rest on the rear extension wall, so it's not as difficult as it might otherwise be.  

The cost would probably be on a par with a set of bifolds.   I think the benefit to the house of being squared off is greater than bifolds in a room 1.8 metres wide.  

ic

I can't seen any mention in this thread - where are the stairs up to the bedrooms in the loft?

Scotbot

perbinder said:

Scotbot said:

I would move the wall between the kitchen and lounge back into the lounge so both rooms are rectangular thus enlarging the kitchen. The lounge is large enough. Similar to Doozergirl's suggestion but not open plan. It is probably a  retaining wall so you would need to put steels in . Not cheap but the neither is moving plumbing. 

I will certainly look into the costs but am concerned that I have to move the original external wall corner not just the back wall. Not sure if that is even possible or how much it would cost. 

It is possible but you will need a structural engineer which will increase cost, however moving the kitchen will also be expensive.. You need to get quotes and compare. You would still have a good sized lounge and a better kitchen layout. Whether you go open plan as Doozergirl suggests is up to you, it's a matter of taste but would be a bit cheaper as no partition wall.

Moving the kitchen but retaining the layout would give you an odd shaped lounge, 6ft 10 is very narrow, basically a wide corridor and depending on the orientation of the house it will also affect the light. This may not bother you but could limit your market when you sell IMO

Scotbot

Doozergirl said:

perbinder said:

Scotbot said:

I would move the wall between the kitchen and lounge back into the lounge so both rooms are rectangular thus enlarging the kitchen. The lounge is large enough. Similar to Doozergirl's suggestion but not open plan. It is probably a  retaining wall so you would need to put steels in . Not cheap but the neither is moving plumbing. 

I will certainly look into the costs but am concerned that I have to move the original external wall corner not just the back wall. Not sure if that is even possible or how much it would cost. 

It is possible.  It's a bungalow too, so the load isn't too great and one steel can rest on the rear extension wall, so it's not as difficult as it might otherwise be.  

The cost would probably be on a par with a set of bifolds.   I think the benefit to the house of being squared off is greater than bifolds in a room 1.8 metres wide.  

I'd  go with removing the walls and then have bifolds so that you could have either open plan or a sealed off lounge.  I have champagne tastes!

phoebe1989seb

AdrianC said:

coachman12 said:

Does anyone really spend more time in a kitchen as opposed to a lounge?

Yes. We spend a lot more time in the kitchen than the lounge.

Our kitchen is 6m x 4.5m, airy and light, triple aspect with windows S, E and W, an 8-person table in it, and space around that. We both love cooking, and we tend to do "proper meals" most nights, so a fair bit of time cooking and eating. In effect, it's a combined kitchen and living room.

Our living room is the opposite end of the house, still large - 6m x 3m - but darker (3 small windows in one side, albeit S) and cosier. It's where we retire to later evening if there's something we particularly want to watch on the tv (the tv goes on maybe twice a week at most), or if we're lighting the woodburner. Perhaps think of it in the old "withdrawing room" frame.

But that's a very different layout to the place the OP's looking at. You could move the kitchen into the big room - and use that as an open-plan kitchen/diner/living room, spilling into the extension on nice evenings. But then I think i'd get frustrated at the narrowness of that strip - plus it not being opener-planier in to the main room, and that'd be a big job. If you were up for that job, then it might make more sense.

As a compromise, I'd probably plan the kitchen to be more in the large end of the extension, with the galley strip more as a utility, and put a large, open doorway nearer the "kitchen end".

We have a very similar set up in our cottage, although in our case - knowing we'd spend more daylight time in the kitchen - we chose to move the kitchen from a dark room at the back to a triple aspect (also S, E & W) room at the front that we created by knocking the old south-facing living room through incorporating a long, narrow room behind. We now have a 8m x 4m (narrowing to 3m) *eat-in* kitchen with large island, sofa and wood burning stove which is where we spend day time/early evenings. We also only *withdraw* to the snug (the former west-facing kitchen) when we've eaten/if we want to watch TV/ and light the second stove in the much more cosy, lamp-lit space (approx 6m x 3.5m).

These days we don't have a large hallway but decided we'd rather walk through the porch, then the *lobby* (where the stairs are located) then straight into the kitchen with shopping than either trudge through two reception rooms loaded with bags or go in the back (actually side) entrance 🙄 

Having a larger kitchen works for us as we spend so much time in there, only using the snug after dark. We do have another living room but currently that's a dumping ground for building materials as we're building a new, larger double aspect (S & E) *summer* living room next spring, as our existing living rooms don't overlook the garden which is rapidly becoming a feature of the property 

In the OP's situation I think I'd be knocking down the supporting wall in order to square off the kitchen as imho that narrow strip seems a bit useless/unworkable and a large kitchen is a huge plus point to me/many people......

AlexMac

Unless you really want to move for moving's sake surely cost is a factor?  I assume you've done the maths?  Again, assuming your house price is an average £400k+ for your SO53 area, that you'll probably not complete on a purchase before April 2021,  and that the chancellor won't extend the SDLT holiday, you'll be into around £20k stamp duty, so moving costs including fees, removals, new carpets, etc will be anything up to £30k...?

You get a lot of building work for that? 

But you make your own assumptions?

And if still undecided, toss a coin.  Old Kharmic Guru trick; as the coin falls, your heart, gut or head will lurch and tell you if fate has chosen wrong!

perbinder

AdrianC said:

walwyn1978 said:

AdrianC said:

perbinder said:

This is the problem. I am not sure what the next buyers will want. I would prefer a bigger kitchen but the next buyer may or may not. In my last house which had a massive kitchen the buyer knocked out walls to make it even bigger. 

Never mind what "the next buyers" will want. You're living there in the meantime. How do YOU want to live?

This. Unless you’re doing it up to sell immediately,,do what you feel works for you. 

And, if you are, then reconsider because I bet you won't add more value than the cost of the work...

Realistically we will stay for a couple of years until my fixed rate ends then move to another area to be close to family. So next buyers needs are a consideration. I have to admit I had not anticipated the extra costs of moving the kitchen - pipes etc. 

perbinder

ic said:

I can't seen any mention in this thread - where are the stairs up to the bedrooms in the loft?

The stairs are in the hallway at the front door

perbinder

Scotbot said:

Doozergirl said:

perbinder said:

Scotbot said:

I would move the wall between the kitchen and lounge back into the lounge so both rooms are rectangular thus enlarging the kitchen. The lounge is large enough. Similar to Doozergirl's suggestion but not open plan. It is probably a  retaining wall so you would need to put steels in . Not cheap but the neither is moving plumbing. 

I will certainly look into the costs but am concerned that I have to move the original external wall corner not just the back wall. Not sure if that is even possible or how much it would cost. 

It is possible.  It's a bungalow too, so the load isn't too great and one steel can rest on the rear extension wall, so it's not as difficult as it might otherwise be.  

The cost would probably be on a par with a set of bifolds.   I think the benefit to the house of being squared off is greater than bifolds in a room 1.8 metres wide.  

I'd  go with removing the walls and then have bifolds so that you could have either open plan or a sealed off lounge.  I have champagne tastes!

If I was living here long term I would do the lot but I don’t think I will recoup it all. You can still have champagne with patio doors!