House extension dilemma - Advise please!

DRP

What are you planning on insulating? That might be one of the 1st things to do if you’re talking about interior insulation. 

TELLIT01

It's a terraced house but is there any access to the rear without going through the property?  An extension built when the house is occupied will be disruptive in any event, but if everything has to be carried through the house it would be a nightmare.

Another possibility would be to refurb the house as it stands, then sell and move to a larger property.  Even with others doing the work there should be additional equity once upgraded.

Bendy_House

Hi Akorn.

A layout plan of your house and an idea of the proposed extension would really help folk to advise you - there are folk on here with both the experience and eye for this sort of thing.

So, you're saying you have a choice: either refurb' now and extend later, or else delay everything until later, around 2+ years?

Have you sat down and listed the pros and cons? And put an 'importance' number on each, perhaps 1-5? Don't know if that will help, but it might!

For example, I hadn't thought of TELLIT's point above, but - blimey - that could be a biggie! Imagine taking everything THROUGH your house! That could be up to a '5'!

Another thing to consider is, how quickly can you get the trades in for 'just' the refurb'? Around here, builders are booked in to next year, and this forum is littered with folk not even having trades coming out to provide quotes, let alone do any work. So, perhaps your time is best spent planning in detail and getting all the permissions for the full job, and putting these out to tender to as many builders as you can. Short-list, and try and advance-book for the time you'll be ready financially? Between architects, SEs, Planning, Build Control, and getting builders out to quotes, you are probably talking about many months - 6+ ?! And the earliest booking opportunities for good builders a year+ after that (you ain't going to get quotes until you have done the first part),  so we are already likely talking oneandahalf years. What's another 6 months?!

Tart up the existing living space as cheaply as you can - Pinterest is your friend, and you take the opportunity to go CRAZY in your kitchen for no money, and do stuff you'd never normally consider. Find a pic, and copy it! Steampunk!

I honestly started the post thinking my suggestion would be to renovate NOW, and obviously design-in the bits needed for the future extension (such as CU circuits, CH pipes zoned and capped off for the future, that sort of stuff), but the sheer time that even a refurb' might take to organize made me go t'other way. And TELLIT's point.

Ultimately, tho', I think only a layout plan will determine this. For example, if the proposed new extension barely affects the main house at all - say just one large opening made in the rear wall - then this can be a minor disruption, and easily lived with. And if the extension is to house a new fab kitchen, then refurb' your current house, but stop short at redoing the existing kitchen - live with what you have until then.

Plans!

Bendy_House

DRP said:

What are you planning on insulating? That might be one of the 1st things to do if you’re talking about interior insulation. 

Plan that in from the off. External walls, underfloor, and ceilings.

And over-sized rads throughout to allow you to run the boiler - and future heat source - as cool as possible. 

UFH for the main living areas?

ashe

You say you're buying, have you bought?

have you considered just adding this amount to the mortgage budget and seeing what is out there?

it can be cheaper to buy a house where someone has done this already than to get it done now 

silvercar

akorn77 said:

Twixty3 said:

Small kitchens like this and 3 bedrooms upstairs usually means there are two reception rooms downstairs. Could you knock through sideways to make a bigger kitchen or kitchen/diner ? 

Yeah it has two lounges, the wall in-between has been knocked through. 

Yep its been suggested that i could knock down the wall between the lounge and kitchen, but it would sort of a half-baked/"fake" extension if that makes sense! And I dont think i would want to lose the second lounge.

That seems to be the trend around here at the moment, to make the downstairs one open plan room! 

Personally I don't like it, but people seem to be going that way. I guess the kitchen becomes the hub of the home and big enough for all other activities.

twopenny

I turned down a beautifully renovated bungalow that had been made open plan because a fire breaking out would rip through like lightning. It happened to a neighbours place at night from a fridge.

Some items you state are important like rewire and heating. I had grand designs for the place I bought but was made to live with it because of covid and found that what I'd seen as a problem could be turned into a plus.
Granted the kitchen sounds small but you have utilities elsewhere. I've seen new houses with tiny kitchens without that benefit.
I'd suggest living with it for a bit. Your ideas may change. You may be able to deal with the layout creatively.
Not sure you'd get your £150tho (and it will become more) back on that sort of property. If you remain some time the cosmetic work /layout will be out of date. 

Twixty3

We do not really use the top end end of the knocked through  living room except for eating so to block it off and Incorporate  that room Into the kitchen makes sense for us .  The top end is also larger than the living area at the front  and is a longer room than the kitchen. 

My galley kitchen where one side has reduced width cupboards would not be made much bigger but would become a U shaped kitchen.  Back door would be made into a window and kitchen door would be blocked up. Patio doors would become the back door.   Existing door to the top end of lounge would be kept.  

As @twopenny says living in the house for a while could lead to an overall better result once you know how the rooms are used.  This would have to be weighed up against a second round of upheaval with building works unless you do the extension now.  

akorn77

silvercar said:

akorn77 said:

Twixty3 said:

Small kitchens like this and 3 bedrooms upstairs usually means there are two reception rooms downstairs. Could you knock through sideways to make a bigger kitchen or kitchen/diner ? 

Yeah it has two lounges, the wall in-between has been knocked through. 

Yep its been suggested that i could knock down the wall between the lounge and kitchen, but it would sort of a half-baked/"fake" extension if that makes sense! And I dont think i would want to lose the second lounge.

That seems to be the trend around here at the moment, to make the downstairs one open plan room! 

Personally I don't like it, but people seem to be going that way. I guess the kitchen becomes the hub of the home and big enough for all other activities.

I've been reading some artivles online. Apparently open-plan living is a dwindling trend now, as people are spending more time at home and therefore are seeking to have more segregated rooms - especially if you have a busy household. 

ChasingtheWelshdream

We have knocked through to create a kitchen/diner/living space which we love. But also have a separate living room. I wouldn’t like to have purely open plan.