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Help with house design for downstairs toilet and side extension

Mayu
9 months ago
last modified: 9 months ago

Hi,

We are planning to renovate our house and build an open plan kitchen diner by extending to the rear of the house. We also need to build a downstairs toilet.

We have a space of 1.9 m to the side of our house which is a passage from the front to the back of the house. We are in a dilemma to proceed with the side extension which can give rooms up to 1.5m width only and we will also lose our pass through from front to the rear of the house,

We do have some designs and are very confused how to proceed.

Existing plan:



Design 1:

This design has the downstairs toilet near the hallway passage ( though we will change the direction of the entry to the toilet from the one opening into kitchen to one opening on hallway). This will make the house open plan but there will be no passage between hallway and kitchen. I wanted to have a living room a bit isolated but in this design kitchen entry will always have to be from living room.


Design 1 modification:




Design 2:

The toilet is placed just next to the staircase below, which provides a passage from hallway to kitchen but the toilet door will open just opposite the dining area which I feel does not feel right. It will be close to the kitchen with no separation as the first design.



Design 3:

Moved toilet to the side extension, but there will not be enough light in the utility.

We are not sure should we proceed with side extension as the room will be too narrow 1.4 to 1.5 m in width. We will also lose the passage from front to rear as our garage is at the back of the house, making it difficult to get things from garage to the front(will be always through the inside of house)



Can you please provide with your suggestions?

a) position of toilet design 1 or design 2

b) Is it worth to build a side extension for utility and downstairs toilet

Comments (31)

  • KXD
    9 months ago

    Both designs 1 and 2 would bother me. I don’t think it is a good idea to have the toilet door opening into the kitchen or dining hall. Better to have the door facing the utility space. Would also be good to have a door leading outside from the utility. All the best!

    Mayu thanked KXD
  • Jonathan
    9 months ago

    I don’t like either plan. For me the issue is that the island leaves a 2.5m space on the dining room side that is too small for a table…… so it’s redundant space.

    I offer an alternative.

    Mayu thanked Jonathan
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  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago

    Just for a clarifying, in design 1, the toilet door will open towards the hallway and not into the kitchen.

  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago



  • User
    9 months ago

    Personally I wouldn't want to lose the side access to add just 1.5m to the width.

    Mayu thanked User
  • Rolly Polly
    9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    For me, side access is important so giving it up for a tiny study/utility would really have to be worth it. Just extending at the rear might be better & you’ve found a place off the hallway for the WC by the look of it so that’s good. However, if you do extend out the back then bear in mind the current existing kitchen/dining rooms could become very dark so lots of thought about how to replace light would be needed. Good luck!


    p.s. on the natural light issue it looks like you’d lose that fairly big window in the kitchen if you do extend on that side.

    Mayu thanked Rolly Polly
  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago

    Thank you for the suggestion. Can you provide any more ideas to improve lights? We are thinking of putting in roof lights. and will also have a window and french doors opening into the garden. any more suggestions?

  • Rolly Polly
    9 months ago

    Yes, roof lights tend to let in lots of light. Windows and doors at the rear too. I’m no expert but think these will mostly benefit the room they are located in…though some of the light will reach further back into the house (how much will depend somewhat on what aspect you have i.e. north/south etc). Lots of people knock through/go open plan so walls aren’t blocking the light & sounds like you’re planning to do that already. Other than that, internal decor can help a bit.


    Having that current kitchen side window (especially if it has a sunny aspect) is probably your best bet for avoiding the dark ’middle’ room that can be created when extending at the rear but that depends on whether you decide to lose that if extending out the side.

    Mayu thanked Rolly Polly
  • Karen Sargent
    9 months ago

    Are you able to fit a wc and space for a combined washer dryer under the stairs? It needs a min of 1.2m x .7 - it’s small but adequate and you don’t give up your passageway

    Mayu thanked Karen Sargent
  • Rolly Polly
    9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    If you do want the side extension then Jonathan’s plan above looks like there’s plenty of scope for windows/light in the middle section (the part labelled kitchen) because the rear extension only goes half way across the back of the house 👍

    Mayu thanked Rolly Polly
  • PRO
    Tim Wood Limited
    9 months ago

    I would put the WC between the study and utility, it would need good ventilation - perhaps a sky light above or a velux light tunnel as well.


    So a door under the stairs or very near to it into the study.


    A door into the utility from the kitchen, probably where you have a window at the end at the moment. I would Extend the kitchen end - from one full side to the other.


    I don't know where your garage is? So don't know how it would be blocked? Or whether you could still access with the design?



    Mayu thanked Tim Wood Limited
  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    @karen @Tim The space under staircase is very small and we have all the electric, water meter just there. We did consider the option but the space was not enough. Also part of the stairs come in the kitchen area. picture below



    @Tim Wood Limited: there is a beam next to the stairs so cannot have a door for the downstairs toilet from the staircase area.


    The garage it at the rear of the house. In design 1&2 where the new utility is placed at the side extension, it will be just opposite to it.

  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago

    @Jonathan- Thank you for the design. Unfortunately we do not have much space to extend to the rear for living room as we can only go about till where the current utility is.


  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago

    Thank you for your views and suggestions. Would definitely have a think over it.

  • Jonathan
    9 months ago

    My earlier suggestion to provide a square living space was only a fraction further out than your current plan and because it wasn’t full width the garden would have felt bigger.

    My problem with your plan is that you are building redundant space - this shows about £20,000 of under used square footage

    Mayu thanked Jonathan
  • Jonathan
    9 months ago

    One solution would be to replan where the kitchen goes in order to better use the space

    Mayu thanked Jonathan
  • Jonathan
    9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    I think I would still try to add a living space because I think it adds more to the resale value than a study


    Mayu thanked Jonathan
  • Jonathan
    9 months ago

    But jf you are happy with a kitchen diner then I think you can achieve a super space without building out into the garden

    Mayu thanked Jonathan
  • tim_baker921
    9 months ago

    Side extension looks like a lot of money for little extra space and loss of rear access. I'd look at a 2 storey rear extension to incorporate an upstairs laundry and study/4th bedroom. Two storeys are more cost effective and I think it would add more value if you sold.







    Mayu thanked tim_baker921
  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago

    @Jonathan- Thank you for your suggestions. Its really a good idea to have a living space along with kitchen diner.

    Worth considering if we do go ahead with side extension.


    the reason we prefer rear to side is :

    1) Its within planning limits no extra permission required

    2) we have the existing utility already so it just needs to go all way along the rear so not really going to cost much as side extension

    3) With side extension we need to have planning and build the foundation which is fine if its worth getting that extra space of 1.5m but also going to lose that access path between rear and front of the house.


    But the plan looks great if we do the side extension and worth considering. Thanks so much for your help and suggestions.

  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago

    @tim_baker921- thanks Tim. Yes we too think side access is important.

  • Anna G
    9 months ago

    We kept a narrow path (680mm min at drainpipe, 750-800 elsewhere) and it proved more useful than imagined as the back garden needed a lot of work post renovation (clearing unreusable building waste and barrowing in compost and plants).


    I think you could benefit from a super skinny side extension keeping a path but as you've flagged, the costs might not add up. Also, looking at where your bathroom is, I'd want to check where the drains run beforehand as I suspect it'd be expensive if they're where your foundations would go.


    Here's my suggestion anyway! To the left of the front door would be a small open area with a door to a cloakroom which sits alongside the stairs. My friend has just done that, and having two directions of travel from the front door makes the house feel much grander. The cloakroom would be narrow but I think Karen's right that 700 would be adequate plus you could put a standard lintel in the wall adjoining the stairs and take back what was the external wall to create extra width for the sink. The utility becomes just a laundry room, but serves the key purpose of getting the noisy washing machine out of the open plan room, and could have a door if you want to keep your bins on the path. Run the foundations straight as no reason to dogleg. I'd second Jonathan's idea of moving the kitchen to the centre. I'd add a clerestory window to the side by the corner dining area.

    Mayu thanked Anna G
  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago

    @Anna - Thank you for your detailed suggestion. Yes the drain pipe goes from the side of the house where the foundations for side extension will go. is it possible to draw a rough sketch of the cloak room or the side extension you explained earlier?


  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    Thank you everyone for your valuable suggestions. Certainly got great pointers and views from this community and it has been really helpful

    We have finally agreed , to not go with side extension for now and will keep it as an option in a future if we need it , along with the other suggestions we have received from the experts here , like two storey.


    We will just be going ahead with the rear extension as shown in the design and will try and accommodate toilet downstairs like the design 1 but obviously the door for the toilet from hallway.

    Any ideas or suggestions from you guys how can the space be utilised after we open up the kitchen and dining room along with the full rear extension.



  • tab darcy
    9 months ago

    Now that you don't need to opening to the side, my preference would be to turn the bathroom so that you can access the kitchen from the hall - I think a separate sitting room (where available) is important, without needing to walk through it to access other rooms. Use some of  the current kitchen window and a small part of understairs. Second choice ( more expensive with pipework) is to put that loo between sitting room and new kitchen diner, with utility incorporated or behind it.

    Mayu thanked tab darcy
  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago

    @tab darcy: We thought about the option of moving around the toilet so we have access to kitchen from hallway, but then the toilet door opens facing the dining area like below.





    Our existing plan also does not have the hallway opening into kitchen which gives more storage in kitchen. Thats how the layout was when we first purchased it.

    The entry to the kitchen is from dining room. The living and dining room are open plan.

    We are also thinking of adding bifold doors between the current living and dining area so that we have the flexibility to open up or close our living space when we need.


    The staircase area is too small and has all the electrical and gas metres. Also that staircase space is quite useful to store vaccum cleaner, broom and other cleaning things.


    if we go with the second option in that case also may be the toilet door will open near to kitchen area.



  • Jonathan
    9 months ago

    Alternative

    Mayu thanked Jonathan
  • Mayu
    Original Author
    9 months ago

    @Jonathan - Thanks Jonathan for the alternate design, does that mean I might have to go towards the side a little at the back of the house ( The area just behind the toilet)?

  • PRO
    Canmore Design
    9 months ago

    Much of what you can do really depends on budget. You are looking at about £25k for the side extension and a other 45k for the changes to the rear. Internal finishes will add another £10k at least. If budget isn’t an issue you can always put the side extension on the upper floor with a passage way underneath. Though that will add about 20k to the build. As for the current plans I don’t get why you need so much light in a utility room. Not why it needs to be so large. If you want to maximise internal space have the bathroom and utility in the same space as there is enough room. A non accessible toilet cupboard only needs 1.1m width and 1.2m length (internal volume). So not much space really. Roof lights could be a solution but if you have a neighbouring house just to the side of that extension you won’t get much light anyway (if it’s on the ground floor that is). Use LED strip lights to bring light into that space.

    Mayu thanked Canmore Design
  • PRO
    The Living House
    9 months ago

    Hi Mayu , we are an interior design company and have a blog post all about mistakes to avoid when extending your home which you may find helpful. Here is the link if you would like to take a read - https://www.thelivinghouse.co.uk/blog-interior-design-tips/the-6-most-common-mistakes-we-see-when-you-extend-your-home


    If you would like any guidance and help with your home, we are an online interior design company offering expert advice with affordable packages. Heres the link to our website if you would like to take a look - https://www.thelivinghouse.co.uk/

    Mayu thanked The Living House
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