Where's the most sensible place to put a two storey extension?

[lowster]

I wanted to add a circa 4mx4m two storey extension to add an extra bedroom and extend the kitchen or dining room downstairs but cannot decide on the best place to put it so as not to lose too much existing floor space? Anyone have any ideas as to where the best place to put it would be?

 

[^woody^]

Lol. Normally you put the extension where it's needed, not some random place that it just happens to fit.

Do you want a kitchen or dining room extension?

 

[lowster]

Ha ha, yeh I know it does sound kind of random! But i'm going to re-model the house so the kitchen/dining room can be either way around. Ultimately I wanted a bigger bathroom and en-suite on the first floor without losing a bedroom, but cannot see where the best place for the upstairs extension would be; either the side or the back. If I go to the side it may be too imposing (as you mentioned on a previous post) not to mention I would be paying to lose garage space on the ground floor. So I thought why not put it on the back, but the dilemma there is I can't see how I could add the extra space without losing a bedroom to gain access?

 

[OwainDIYer]

If you don't mind having the new upstairs room on a separate staircase to the other bedrooms, use the passage between the house and the garage for stairs. Move the ground floor WC into the Pantry. Existign kitchen door into the passage becomes under stairs cupboard.

 

[lowster]

The only problem with that layout would be the two storey extension would rise up above the back of the flat roof garage which would make it quite unsightly from the front?

 

[Nakajo]

Without knowing anything about the plot and orientation, this question is unanswerable. I know this is DIY site, but professional advice can pay dividends.

 

[^woody^]

I would think again about alerting the kitchen and dining layout. Having a kitchen next to a lounge and a dining area on the opposite side of the house is a poor layout.

There is a complex relationship between designing what looks right externally and will meet planning criteria and can actually be built economically, and what works internally in terms of space and actual usage.

You can't consider one thing in isolation, and you presumably have a budget

If you want a bathroom and ensuite then it has to go on the side, and someone designs an extension that is not imposing. Anything else is a compromise.

 

[OwainDIYer]

If you put a two storey extension at the back you will lose windows to the existing bedrooms.
You could do an extension to the rear of the garage for the new kitchen/diner. Extend above the garage at the front to create an extra bedroom with en-suite; this lets you use the existing stairs If you took the bedroom extension full back over the new kitchen you'd have space for an imposing master bedroom suite and end up with an L shaped 2 storey house which might look better than having single storey extensions.

 

[lowster]

Yes that's not a bad effort to be fair. I think the only realistic option like you say, is to build a dormer on top of the existing garage to gain the space that way. I know this is a diy site but would anyone have any rough idea what the cost of building the dormer would be? (presuming existing foundations were suitable). Existing garage area is 42sqm. How I picture it before and after (dormer extension would be rendered finish though);

 

[^woody^]

That's a very specific 70's style house with a low pitch roof, which does not lend itself to a dormer extension, and especially not with a different pitch roof.

You could do with a proper designer to look at it, and not the sort that can just draw a square box on the house.

 

[Nakajo]

It's perhaps not quite the country's prettiest house, but it would be interesting to explore what a bit of remodelling could do.

 

[OwainDIYer]

Yes that's not a bad effort to be fair. I think the only realistic option like you say, is to build a dormer on top of the existing garage to gain the space that way.

Not a dormer, that would look odd. A full height extension to match the existing roofline. As others have noted the low roof pitch makes a dormer unlikely anyway.

That garage looks as though it was built detached from the house, and the passage added at a later date. You can't assume the garage walls or foundations will support a second storey, or even that the garage is on the same foundation as the house. You may need a structural engineer to do some trial pits to expose the existing foundations and advise.

Subject to planning, if you extended over the new kitchen for a first floor bedroom suite you could make the bedroom above the new kitchen narrower and set it back on the inside so you have a small roof terrace overlooking the 'courtyard' which could look quite pretty.

4 bedrooms sharing 1 bathroom isn't ideal, if you put two bedrooms with two en-suites into the extension, you could turn bedrooom 4 which looks small into a family bathroom and have a 5-bed 3-bath house.

I would suggest getting one of the free or cheap home planning software packages and having a few plays around.