Newbie asking "Is this possible ?"

[OwainDIYer]

You have wasted space in the corridor to the bathroom.

Could you fit a WC in the hall (macerator if need be), change the corridor to a shower room off the lounge, and put a door from the bedroom to the bathroom to give you a master en-suite?

Moving part of the hall wall to give you a doorway to Bed 1 would ease access issues too.

I can't draw doors very well but they're the white rectangles in the wall - I've cut away part of the hall wall to put a new wall with door on the diagonal.

View media item 31440 [/img]

 

[robbigee]

Thanks Owain, everyone is being really helpful and this is great.

What do you think of this layout, this is what I originally sketched as I liked the idea of a hall way anyway as I would be wanting to rent the second bedroom out and it just makes it nicer for everyone not to have to come through the living room and also means I can get a sofa bed and have guests without having to disturb.....

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• robbigee
• 23 Feb 2011
• 1

I'd have to use some clever lighting in the hallway but have allowed for a glazed door to the living room and keeping the high level glazing that currently exists in the wall between the living room and the hallway.

As always, LET ME HAVE IT!!

 

[OwainDIYer]

Unfortunately you end up with a smaller lounge and more wasted corridor space.

With my scheme both bedrooms and lounge have access to the WC in the hall. Bedroom 2 has to go through the lounge to shower, but that won't usually be in the middle of the night so less disturbing to someone on the sofabed.

How big is the hall - it might actually be possible to put a teeny shower room where I have indicated WC. That avoids all the walking through rooms, and would give you a walk-in storage cupboard where I have indicated Shower next to the kitchen.

 

[robbigee]

With the wonders of MS Paint this is the efect on the lounge!

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• robbigee
• 23 Feb 2011
• 1

to this (without glazing)

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• robbigee
• 23 Feb 2011
• 1

If I was doing it as an investment Owain I think I would go your route but as it's for me there's a couple of issues:

1) I don't like the idea of a shower room of the living room.
2) I've had such bad experiences with SaniFlo sanitaryware in the past I don't think I could bring myself to install anything similar!

It is technically wasted space the hallway but with the benefits it brings I'm still erring that way......

 

[OwainDIYer]

I would suggest putting in some dimensions and furniture on the plan before building walls.

 

[robbigee]

Thanks so much for your time Owain, much appreciated.

Does this give you an indication of the space?

These are not exact measurements as it was just me with my measuring tape!

I've allowed 1m for the width of the hallway to match the one there already.

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• robbigee
• 23 Feb 2011
• 3

 

[leccyblue]

Hi,

Instead of 'wasting' space in the lounge building a corridor, why not section the lounge off at the bottom instead? It will use less space and will allow you to use the space for something useful, like a shower room. You could then move the bed 1 door to be within the new entrance hallway, which means both bedrooms have access to the shower room without going via the lounge (great if you are renting a room out) and both have a much better fire escape route.

Something like this?

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• leccyblue
• 23 Feb 2011
• 1

Taking it a step further, you could then make the main bathroom an ensuite from Bedroom 1, which means you could lose the now pointless corridor to the bathroom and have a bigger kitchen with a more open plan feel. Like this

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• leccyblue
• 23 Feb 2011
• 1

Of course I have no idea whether the current building structure and pipe layout/access would allow this!

Just my thoughts

Leccy.

 

[OwainDIYer]

3.7m wide after the hallway is taken away is respectable, but it will seem longer and narrower than current.

 

[robbigee]

Owain: It sure will, but I was always planning to create a natural walkway behind a sofa with the TV on the west hand wall anyway, so I'm only really losing that space really although it will feel and look smaller with a physical stud wall there.

Leccy: Your plans are good and if I didn't have a hatred of saniflow or if there were pipes anywhere near the space I might go for that approach.

I want o conform to building regs (unlike other flat owners in the block!!) so I need to do something. And if I have to do something I like the idea of creating a separate walk way through the apartment that allows the lounge to be a 'private' room that doesn't require walking through everytime someone wants to go to the bathroom!!

Thanks so much for your input everybody, keep the commentscoming if you have any further words of wisdom!

RG

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Thanks Owain, everyone is being really helpful and this is great.

What do you think of this layout, this is what I originally sketched as I liked the idea of a hall way anyway as I would be wanting to rent the second bedroom out and it just makes it nicer for everyone not to have to come through the living room and also means I can get a sofa bed and have guests without having to disturb.....

Untitled

• robbigee
• 23 Feb 2011
• 1

I'd have to use some clever lighting in the hallway but have allowed for a glazed door to the living room and keeping the high level glazing that currently exists in the wall between the living room and the hallway.

As always, LET ME HAVE IT!!

That's my boy! Much better, not just from a safety aspect but practically and for a good resale too. This is the layout to go with, ignore the other posters layout advice.

 

[robbigee]

haha thanks Feddy!!

I do like the practical benefits even with the loss of living room space.

Now is there a reward scheme for shopping the other flat owners to Building Control that might pay for the extra works?? haha

 

[1john]

haha thanks Feddy!!

I do like the practical benefits even with the loss of living room space.

Now is there a reward scheme for shopping the other flat owners to Building Control that might pay for the extra works?? haha

I think with all of these alterations and the noise that comes with it your neigbours will be pi$$ed off enough with you without shopping them to BC. Good luck with the project, take your time, dont rush and dont attempt anything you arn't 100% certain of.

 

[robbigee]

Thanks John! And don't worry I was 100% joking about the shopping to BC bit

You're right though, I better put meeting the neighbours on my todo list and stock up on "sorry about the noise" bottles of wine

 

[Paul-man]

robbi- not sure if this fits within the regs, but you could add some high level glass/blocks in your new stud between the lounge and corridor to allow some natural light into the corridor. - just a thought.