A rather large project: My house

House needs risers and Chris King headset

workshop (low priority)

Boo

I've got a document which is a supplement to the planning proposal that went in to developing a stand alone level 6 house a few years ago. It has lots of the general info about U values and insulation that might be helpful if you want it? Some of it will be out of date but it's quite handy.

Ha!

That, and I'm in Swindon, which must benefit someone somehow. Can't polish a turd, but I'm quite sure I up Swindon's rank just by being here (couldn't get any lower).

Oh yes please! I shall PM you.

I have lived in worse places than Swindon for sure, and you do have the 'designer village'

I shall be living vicariously through this thread for a bit.

Well if money gets really tight I will be inviting people down to 'experience the build' so you may get a chance to really live it...

One more question for now... paging @Dammit as I'm sure you did this

Parquet flooring: is attempting to renovate it as bad as it is made out to be? I have managed to find a yard that has a good load of oak parquet flooring that was the dance floor from the Colston Hall in Bristol, which I think would be pretty cool to use in one of the rooms, but suspect I am putting myself in a world of sanding and bitumen stripping pain?

Subbed. What a project!!

Yep, already working on that. Rebuild costs are relatively straight forward, somewhere between £900 and £1500 psqm depending on spec and how much I do myself.

Renovation costs are much more difficult due to the fact there are structural issues, so until they start stripping the render externally and plaster internally it's hard to know how much a renovation will cost...

Yep, already working on that. Rebuild costs are relatively straight forward, somewhere between £900 and £1500 psqm depending on spec and how much I do myself.

Do you have the time and inclination to do a lot of the work yourself and as you have gathered its like opening a can of worms as you won't know what something costs to repair once you delve in to it.

Well I'm happy to do some of the work myself, but I can't do any of the structural work, but I can do a lot of the internals (obviously not electrics etc.), but there is a balance between doing it myself and it taking longer but a bit cheaper compared to concentrating on earning money and getting a pro to do it

Me personally, I'd bulldoze the house and build something eco friendly perfectly insulated blah blah blah tat will last years and once done, enjoy it maybe even using some of the old stone in places.

That is of course the sensible option, but loses the character of the house

That is of course the sensible option, but loses the character of the house

Don't be sentimental when it comes to brick and mortar and how is the house positioned as you want to maximise sunlight.

True, not sure the planners will let us reposition the house as we are in an aonb, but they are happy with us rebuilding in the same footprint

Are you going for a Nest system?

Security cameras?

Good question... I have nest hearing in my current house, so I think I will use that again, but will probably have separate ones for upstairs and downstairs as planning on under floor heating down and radiators up.

Will be using nest smoke alarms, hadn't thought about security yet...

I'm going to be losing a fair bit of heat through the walls

I can't stress how true this is. I grew up in a cottage in Northumberland and the walls were solid stone. Despite the loft being well insulated the house is freezing unless you pump a load of heat into a room, and even then when you turn off the heat it cools very quickly.

Following with interest, glad you made the thread! I'm in favour of the renovation route, I think the extent of the renovations you're doing give scope for the place to be a fantastic mix of old and new.

Cheers, yes that's my worry don't really want to be heating the place 24\7 even with efficient heating solutions, so will be jamming in as much insulation as possible!

Interesting project!
Haven't read the whole thread (yet), but it is slightly amusing that you seem to have the audio/electronics system quite figured out, but that's just the very last step of what'll be a huge undertaking.
You've seen a few episodes of Grand Designs? Perhaps you could even contact them, if this project falls in their scope.
Best of luck!

Yep, tech and audio are bits I can do, waiting on builders to quote for the main work... it's my way of avoiding the scary part!

That's what I thought :)
Good tactic!

So thinking about floor plans to get builders to quote on, thankfully the upstairs is well laid out so will broadly stay as it, with one of the bedrooms being split into a bathroom and en-suite.
Downstairs is more tricky, due to the two extensions on the back, which we would like to utilise more. This is the current floorplan to scale

As you can see the kitchen is small, and the bathroom is big, and the exetensions are difficult to get to.
My first pass on a simple rejigging is based on the aim of not taking down any of the main house walls, apart from turning one window into an archway. I think it gives a more usable floorplan? Anyone got any better ideas?

If the two extensions are condemned and we have to rebuild them, then we are tempted to make one long extension along the back of the house, and attempt to open up into the main house, but this is obviously much more structural work, so will depend on foundations etc. I'm struggling on where to put a downstairs cloakroom in this one though.

Not particularly happy with the size of the utility room in either options, but keen on keeping the kitchen a big square. I wouldn't mind reducing the size of the hallway, but other half is keen on keeping it big and airy.

Any thoughts? will obviously speak to experts, but think it is always good to have an idea in your mind in the first place.

that looks like a handy tool that roomsketcher thingy.

just some thoughts from a junior architect:

why the two living rooms on opposite sides? ild rather put them to one side and connect them.
then kitchen and diner connected on the other side.

toilet is a bit weirdly positioned too; imagine guests having to trawl through kitchen/other room to get to the toilet.
ild position that directly connected with the hallway.
the hallway has to stay in its present form due to bearing walls or is there some play?

in general i think its still room-room-room whilst you have the opportunity hopefully to make something more spatially rich, if statics allow.

aja. and whats the orientation?
if ild have a house in the countryside ild go all classic and get a kitchen/breakfast to the east and dining room to the west to maximize the sun hours

Hey, thanks, you sound infinitely more qualified than me!

two living rooms are essentially where they are at the moment, but good point about shifting them both to one side, have fireplaces in both front rooms, so would be nice to have a fireplace in the dining room.
Yes take your point on the flow to the toilet. Will see if I can rejig to get access from hallway. We are trying to avoid moving the walls too much as the structure isn't the best!