Convert 3 Bed semi-detached to 4 bed

orangedog21

Hi there, 

Just wanting to see if anyone can help me out. I have a 3 bed semi detached, that I was hoping to turn into a 4 bed (plus study if possible).

I've attached my current floor plan.  The issues I have at the moment are:

•  two of my children share the loft room, it would be nice to have them in their own room each
• the kitchen/breakfast room has room for only a small dining table, unable to fit 5 of us comfortably, and the living room / dining room is only really suitable as a living room - so can't put a dining room in there
• the current "study" is actually just a nook in the eaves. My head touches the ceiling when I sit up straight in my chair while in there - working from home from that nook has taken its toll, and now the desk is also in the loft room - making it a room for 2 plus office
  

Each council probably has their own rules, but I was wondering what is possible with a floor plan like this - if at all anything?   We're keen to stay in the area but 4 bed houses are rare, and out of our budget

thanks in advance

Emmia

Do you have any outside space you could extend into?

The house is quite narrow and I'm not sure there's a huge amount of scope for rearrangement within the current footprint.

orangedog21

Yes, we do have a long narrow garden.  But I'm not sure we can extend further back, as I think this house might have been extended previously, as the kitchen is fairly new.  Although in saying that, the neighbours house ends at the same point as ours does.

aoleks

this is the most unfortunate type of layout to work with and in your case, it seems it's been extended in the loft/at the back already.

the only option remains, thought you need to be very open minded and love modern houses, to convert your living/dining area into a living/dining/kitchen (kitchen on one wall, behind the stairs) and use the current kitchen extension to convert that into a bedroom. separate the entrance from the new kitchen and you get a proper sized hallway + lounge too.

again, very unusual, but there's not much you can do here.

are there any wide (20ft+) 3 bed houses you could move into?

Emmia

A kitchen/dining/living area (which would still be quite a small room) may put buyers off in future - its a situation more frequently seen in flats. It would mean one living/eating/cooking space in a 3/4 bed house.

Andy_L

Unless you were to change the single story extension into 2 stories I don't see that its possible. Its a 2 bed semi that's had a loft extension, rather than a 3 bed semi that would have given you more floor area & a loft to work with.

Is a garden office an option?

SuperHung

If you have space in garden, maybe build a posh "shed"  at the back?

orangedog21

Would it be possible to extend the 2nd story and loft right out over the kitchen?

GDB2222

Andy_L said:

Unless you were to change the single story extension into 2 stories I don't see that its possible. Its a 2 bed semi that's had a loft extension, rather than a 3 bed semi that would have given you more floor area & a loft to work with.

Is a garden office an option?

Precisely what I was thinking. The OP says there's a long garden, so sticking a decent office at the bottom serves two purposes. You can get a really decent amount of office space, plus you separate working and living more effectively. 

Andy_L

I'm guessing this is a Victorian terrace? Are you a semi because it's an end terrace? So could you go sideways? or is it a semi because it's got a mid terrace alleyway next to it?

ETA would a dormer window where the study is give enough extra space to be worth it?

orangedog21

GDB2222 said:

Andy_L said:

Unless you were to change the single story extension into 2 stories I don't see that its possible. Its a 2 bed semi that's had a loft extension, rather than a 3 bed semi that would have given you more floor area & a loft to work with.

Is a garden office an option?

Precisely what I was thinking. The OP says there's a long garden, so sticking a decent office at the bottom serves two purposes. You can get a really decent amount of office space, plus you separate working and living more effectively. 

Actually, we do have a garden room, but we've found its not really suitable for an office - does not have windows and is either too cold or too hot, and inefficient to heat when the main house is being heated already.  There could be an option here to fix it up to be a proper living space though.

It doesn't solve the issue of giving a bedroom to each child, or having a bigger dining space.  This is looking like its unlikely to fix these problems