Home extension/renovation ideas for tough layout
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Hi,
I just recently purchased an old 1960's unit. It used to be one big house but was subdivided into two units. One upstairs and one downstairs. Now, the layout is a bit unusual. This is the floor plan for the unit.
Highlighted in orange, is the outline of the unit above mine. The house itself is an old brick house. I am looking to build to the front (highlighted in blue) and possibly double storey? Given the layout, I really would not know where to begin. Not sure if knocking down internal walls is a possibility either, as there is a unit above mine. I would also like to knock down the bath, toilet at the back to make a nice decking area, (That all appears to be an old extension btw), but then I would be down to 1 bath for the whole house. I would love to get some feedback on what my possibilities are, and cost.
Thanks
Marsh
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Comments (8)
6 years agoI suggest changing some rooms around, the kitchen I think would still have garden access? depends on how it's shared. As with removing any walls you need to check with a builder/engineers
Marsh Mac thanked siriuskeyRelated Discussions
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Comments (41)Hi Sarah, hope you enjoyed your travels last night, that's something we have spent our lives doing plus living in different countries. Do look into the attic room/s they are lovely and the Velux skylights very unobtrusive, look great and if positioned correctly take care of venting any hot air, as I mentioned ours were pivoting ones and could be locked open in several positions. I much prefer these to dormer windows, you don't really notice them. The stairs were built off site and lifted into position and installed, built in. At the time we did ours a very good friend a builder did the same but just completely opened the whole ceiling space right out towards the gutters into a large bedroom play study area for his daughters, also using Velux windows. Glass ceilings, like Velux windows have been around for years, believe me I know, we're both getting older. Velux windows can be used as glass ceilings in opening and non opening configurations. I would love to see you keep the outdoor loo as well and updating the old shed into a new connecting space to the house, perhaps a glass breezeway. I will have another look at your plan again over the weekend. I love your front iron gate as well, auto sliding driveway gates work really well and would really fit with your carport. My brother in law put in a tall timber sliding gate at his last home, lovely cheers...See MoreFeedback on extension/renovation idea
Comments (16)How ere you proposing to retain the 4th bedroom when you plan to turn it into a separate living area adjoining the kitchen? Your revised plan with the changes only shows the backend of the house, not the full floorplan. From that I assumed that the current 4th bedroom was being repurposed as a dining/living room and you were retaining the original 3 bedrooms. If you look at the original house fllorplan, it's a H shape with what appears to be two equal sized wings. One of them houses 3 bedrooms while the other the current kitchen, 4th bed/study and the dining room. Flipping the house into a mirror image will require moving the walls of the current dining/kitchen and study to create three bedrooms the same size as your existing ones. The kitchen would then be positioned in the [current] centre bedroom space with an open plan dining, living towards the rear. There is no need to install a U shaped kitchen as you currently have. A galley style that runs across the space will be more space efficient and give you a large island to work with. While the front part could be your 4th bedroom or you can relocate your current front living room to that space and put the forth bedroom where the current living area is. It's really not much different to the floorplan you have in mind, it's just a mirror image of it placing all the bedrooms in the south and living area's in the north as is desirable. Unless you are planning to move out during the build it's going to be difficult living in the middle of any renovation. Your builder will have to remove the rear wall of your house to extend and you'll be living in a house with tarps on the backend anyway. Any renovation can be staged to cause least inconvenience. But no matter what, changing the footprint of a house is always going to be a major hassle. Which is why a lot of people choose to move out and rent for the duration of the build....See MoreWanted: Renovation/ Extension Ideas
Comments (16)Makes way more sense . Now the tricky bit , BUT I'll offer another idea , although probably more expensive , for adding on . The existing bathroom is in the middle of your house , with the laundry to the left . To the right of that is what I will call Bed 2 -- a smaller bedroom . The Rear Right bedroom I'll call Bed 1 ( Master ) and the Left Rear will be Bed 3 . Now , if you extend your floorplan to the Left ( instead of to the rear ) basically enlarging the current laundry , you could make the existing Bath and Laundry and the extra 1.5 metres into your new Master ( Bed 1 ) and ensuite and WIR . This is assuming the walls aren't load bearing except the external wall , and there is a slight advantage that theb plumbing is already there for the en-suite . Across the hall , you turn what I call existing Bed 2 into the primary Bath and also Laundry , OR leave as a Bedroom . With me so far ? Now the 'rear' has also been extended 'leftwards' to approx equal with the existing kitchen boundary , maybe even closer to the boundary , depending on council rules . Across here you either have 3 bedrooms and a hallway , or Bed , Bathroom , Laundry then Bed if you keep the other bedroom as it is . This still gives you some useable back yard , both options will need partial re-roof and new trusses and new external walls -- my gut feeling is this will look and work more logical than adding onto the rear ( as oklouise says , how will you do a hallway without it looking strange and added , for example ) . It looks like a very nice house , so I assume it is worth spending the $$$ -- i.e. it will probably add the $200k or whatever you spend , to the valuation . Of course , the other option is to sell and spend $200k or whatever finding elsewhere , and I guess you have considered both options ....See Morefloor plan layout for renovation/extension
Comments (8)my parents were builders, i have a lifetime of private renovating and building experience, houseplanning is my obsession and HOUZZ offers a constant supply but i'm having a problem uploading my latest plans and i have an idea for a wiw for bed 1 but can't share until the technical problem is fixed but if the entry foyer and end of hall is altered when you're ready for an upgrade of the ensuite there could be space for a wiw but we need the dimensions of the hallway, entry foyer and ensuite to be sure but keep in mind there will probably be more actual storage in the original biw but a wiw could provide a dressing room and use some of the long hallway...See More
6 years ago- 6 years ago
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my suggestions include a loft master suite inside the raised roof space, double garage, expanded kitchen opening out to a deck with beams (shown as dotted lines) replacing the wall between the old kitchen, hallway and bedrooms) and new bathroom inserted into the old living room space
simple gable roofs would retain the style of the original house
PRO6 years ago
oklouise