How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

Oh thats super interesting! Would love to see some plans? I am feeling the need to get my loft done sooner than expected.
Are you not afraid he may think you are swingers?

Sure you know this already, but whilst you've got scaffold and access, it could be worth getting that chimney checked out and repaired if it needs it.

Megalolz.

Here's some pics. The plans have changed slightly as the hand-drawn picture shows. Also not going for frenchdoor style balcony windows - just a floor to ceiling window instead.

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Yep - actually getting some repointing done for this very reason.

Looks a decent size! My house is the smallest in East London so doubt I'll be able to fit anything similar but I like the extra room plan, more in proportion with the rest of the house, we went from a bedroom sized bathroom to a decent sized bathroom and a utility room and it was a game changer.

I'm determined to get some sort of roof terrace too.

That seems like rapid progress for 7 days. We're on day 10 and they are building out the rest of the back bedroom dormer and boarding the whole frame out hopefully.

As @Howard mentioned we're definitely getting the chimney stacks and brick work up there sorted while the scaffold is up as I know they are both in a bit of state.

Looks similar to ours although we're putting the bathroom in the middle between the bedrooms. One thing I'm trying to work out is the lighting - how many spots and where to put them. The pink dots in this sketch are the spots, green dot above stairs is a pendant, and an additional wall light in the bathroom. I think the bedrooms are ok but not sure about the bathroom and hallway lighting arrangement.

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Mind if I ask ballpark figure you chaps are paying for these?

Initial contract figure was 55k for the build and I was budgeting for about 70k all in but we we got slapped with an extra 3.5k for the increase costs in materials plus all the other stuff you don't expect so my contingency has evaporated. Probably end up going a bit over 70 now.

Ours is pretty tiny too but we've put a laundry/utility room off the bathroom in the 2nd dormer bit. Chucking the washer/dryer and boiler in there means we can use the downstairs bit for a decent sized dinning room onto the garden without having to do a full side return extension.

Cheers! Yeah I imagine when I get mine done I'll have to factor in about 75K or more.
I'd love to find a way to get it cheaper, but I know I am going to insist on Velfac doors and windows, and defo not the usual tile cladding, le sigh...

I think the bathroom and hallway look OK, but IMO bedrooms are overkill. I'd have half that and have 5a sockets all around to have lamp lighting (and/or some wall fitted), though I realise that is personal lighting taste.

Spots because it's a low ceiling? I got spots in mine for that reason. Used them very rarely because it's too bright for a bedroom. I'd at least spec dimmers for them and have a think about floor/table lamps which is probably what you'll use most of the time.

Probably a bit late now but when I got mine done we also added a couple of velux windows into the area above the bay window (I assume that's what the section on the left of the plan is) which added natural light.

Make sure the Velux rooflights above your staircase are the electric version so you can pull through natural ventilation and help temper the space during the warmer months. The inbuilt rain sensor means they automatically shut when it rains which removes any ongoing thought for them.

One thing to note with loft extensions- The house we bought had it done already, good finish but the bigger room is too narrow to fit a double bed where it would logically be. The sockets are there for a bedside table either side but there would be less than 6 inches to actually get round the bottom of the bed. I suspect the insulation and boarding were not fully taken into account when the layout was decided.

Yes, lower ceiling than the rest of the house so pendants are not going be practical. We're definitely getting dimmers and will probably have at least one table/floor lamp in each bedroom. The section above the bay is a gable end so will either be storage or boarded up and not part of the room. The two Velux windows are going to be pretty big so should be plenty of light in there.

If only we had the budget to spec those - the skylights will be fixed frame in this case but the big Velux windows in the main room will be triple glazed with a heat reflective coating to try and mitigate the heat build up in the summer.

Similar vibe here. Some uplights or recessed strip lighting could provide a less clinical environment

Hi everyone - firstly this thread (and the other general house threads) are very useful so thanks.

Thought I'd ask for some help on a plan to rearrange our downstairs space in an oddly laid-out victorian end terrace.

Plans below - original and two possible ideas I've put together. Currently the 2nd reception/dining room has no direct light source and feels like a corridor (as per for these rooms it seems). Kitchen area is narrow, small and in the darkest part of the house and is a real drag to spend time in. There's dodgy extension connecting the rear of the 2nd recep and kitchen (marked other on original plan) which we would like to replace with something more useful, but budget and the boundary wall dictates its rough size and shape.

Any ideas/criticisms on the possible layouts I've put together? The idea is to get four useful spaces (kitchen/dining area/downstairs utility w toilet/study or snug) out of the rear of the house.

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Is knocking through any of the walls an option? Look like window(s) in what is currently the dining room is an option, going by third drawing?

Personally I like the middle one. Not sure how feasible it would be to turn the 'utility' room into a toilet. I'd consider knocking through the 'living' and 'other' and adding a side window.

One one there is a home office and the other is ‘other’ - assume these are basically the same?

Do you have a garden?

I think 1st option is better but I think I’d divide the ‘other’ room in two, have a narrow utility room and a bigger open plan kitchen diner but with the little nook from other room as a office corner (maybe in some built in cupboard so it can be closed off). Then the utility turned into a WC & have the corridor run from front to back more like it does currently.
Remove the nib in the kitchen if poss and have the walls flush with a single run of floor to ceiling cupboards on the RH side of kitchen and an island then centre doors out to the back so you can see the garden (?) through the house when you enter.

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Very not to any particular scale scrawl

We opened ours up and added some windows. Loses you a lot of storage space but made it quite a bit brighter.

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I'd be tempted to not mess with the footprint at all. The cost to square up and get those cheeky extra cm is not going to be worth it IMO.
I'd concentrate on opening up openings to get light in. Same footprint as original but layout like the second, get two big doors at the end of the house (pivot maybe or Velfac French doors) and if the space is right built in wall to ceiling cupboards along the left wall in "other" so the kitchen dining area is more combined.

That was quick. Useful stuff - thanks all

@Tenderloin - I think your suggestion is as close to objectively the right answer as we can get, but with a budget closer to 40k than 60k+ I'm not sure we could do it justice. Got a decent sized garden but it moves in the same direction as the wonky outer all so cuts off any extension past the existing rear wall on that side of the house at a funny angle.

@J0nathan - the exterior wall in the second reception is also the boundary to the property, we're not overlooked on that side (grounds of a small block of flats) so I don't quite know where we'd stand on permissions there but I imagine it would have to be obscured glass if allowed at all. I only thought to include it in the one version because I can't imagine an obscured glass window in a living/dining space not looking crap. To be honest I can't find an example of it in a kitchen either. Knocking through front two rooms is possible though and would certainly help with light.

@chrisbmx116 - existing end wall of the kitchen is only about 2.1m high due to a sloping roof so a door there would be an uncomfortable squeeze. Part of the getting-light-in plan would be rooflights on both side at the rear - north-east facing so no worries about overheating.

Part of the puzzle I can't fit together is figuring out what the current 'other' space would be useful for if the dining area stays where it is now. Could stick a desk there but some level of separation between home working space and other living spaces would be nice (ie not essentially in a dark corner of the kitchen or living room). Especially as I have an ugly non-negotiatable standing desk!