Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Aug 11, 2010 11:33 pm Hi,
We are going through the process of doing our plans for an extension we want to put on our little 3 bedroom home in North West Sydney. We have already submitted one plan through council and received conditional approval which meant that we still had to make some changes to make them happy. But this got me thinking again and I have come up with what I think is a better floor plan to suit our family. As we already have to pay another application fee it doesnt really matter what changes I make. What we are trying to achieve with this extension is: - 4th bedroom - bonus if it has an ensuite or not but the second plan allows me to have room for a king bed which I so desperately want, also we have only just started having our children. - bigger lounge and dining room - an outside entertaining deck - garage which isnt siiting in the backyard taking up space My husband, who is going to owner build, and I have received mixed feedback from family so we would like other peoples opinions of what would be the better option to go with. Our biggest conerns with the new plan is 1. The hallway - is it ok for it not to be one long straight one 2. Internal entry - we have had to sacrifice it as we can't fit it in the kitchen space but the garage is not far and is undercover to get there. Is that ok? We are planning on staying in this house for a long time and raising our kids here as we love the area so we want to get it right but no matter which way we play with these plans there doesnt seem to be one perfect solution. Please help...... The white part in the original plan is our existing house and due to slope in our block and maintaining a budget we need to extend off what we have with no major structural changes to the exisiting. Original Plan submitted http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y380/bendezo/House%20Plans/OriginalPlan-1.jpg New Design I have come up with http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y380/bendezo/House%20Plans/NewPlan2.jpg Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 2Aug 12, 2010 7:02 am the orignal plan isnt there...you cant delete it from photobucket once you put it on here or we wont be able to see it...can you put it back on, would love to see it? I like the new plan...very spacious. your master looks big enough for a king..whoaoa! you now have 3 loos... whoao! I like it. But would like to compare to the one you submitted ...just as a sticky somewoman on here is amazing, she will be able to help you. if she sees this thread. Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 3Aug 12, 2010 8:30 am Thanks for the reply. The original plan is now back up. It was there last night so not sure what happened. Have edited my message about the hallway as my husband has concerns, what do yout think? I think we played with the original plan for so long and came up with the new one so quickly that we are double guessing ourselves. Plus negetative feedback always makes you really question if we are doing the right thing. How do I get someowman's attention??? Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 4Aug 12, 2010 8:46 am My thoughts: Entry into 2nd plan is a bit awkward, going around a bend like that.I see your husbands point on this. However it does have a separate entry which first plan just has a semi- separate entry with half wall from liveing - which I think would be OK. You have 2 liveing areas in 1st plan but only one, although large open space one, in 2nd - I prefer the 2 areas for a 4B house especially. 2nd one - your bathroom wall seems to impinge on entry to front bedroom - is there enough space for that to work? The "not sure what to do with that space" in 2nd pic, I would use to make ensuite wider, seems silly to have a small ensuite when it could be larger instead of wasting space - you could put a double vanity or just spread out a bit more. Not sure about the 3rd toilet - for a house this size, 2 seems fine - and not keen on the way the toilet opens from liveing area - if you are going to keep it I would have laundry extending further along and have toilet off the laundry. Overall I preferr 1st plan but I would have B4 as the main bedroom (if it is large enough?) and have the bathroom opening with sliding door as the ensuite - just swap vanity and toilet positions. Anyway just some random thoughts from me. Whatever you do, you will get mixed feedback - just shows people have different tastes, that's fine. PS: best way to get somewoman - or anybody else's - attention - would be to send them a pm. Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 6Aug 12, 2010 8:58 am she is way busy with work, but she is very quick at reading and changing plans so PM her and if she has time she will swing by. Do a search for her name. (top of the page, next to forum) and then 'send private message' and send her this link. So you have done the second plan on the same dimensions? the second plan has all the bedrooms together (good for a family, not so good if you wanted a guest room ..ie bed 4, away from bedrooms) 3 toilets and a bigger master.. and a NEW kitchen, got to go with that surely..ha ha the space in master that says "not sure what to do with this space' could be a nook? you lose a second lounge in the 2nd plan..which you kind of need for a 4 bed home (and trust me, with 5 kids..you NEED a second lounge) what we did was build an attic room in the new extension, just within the roof line (we had a 30 deg roof pitch as the house was 1940's) and had some velux windows. we did a concrete slab so having a loft room was no prob...but couldnt be done over the old part as that was piles.. so if yours is a slab and the roof pitch is ok to stand just in the middle (I could stand hubby couldnt, but it was just for the kids to play cricket etc and watch tv and play play station and so couldnt be classed as living just 'storage' on plans for council) the stairs could be where the nook is...curling ones, or a loft ladder you pull down. it will cost you in flooring, gib and plastering, but the gains are WELL worth the extra $2000 my kids use to have sleep overs up there, play rugby with dad after tea..I could hear them but not see them..yay etc we had a hip roof, but made it a gable and had a window (or french doors and a juliet balcony!!!) at the end, cos of the loft room it could then be a study/ play area if big enough to partition off etc and storage for suitcases etc in the eaves as you dont have much storage in the house now. just my 3 cents... but I like plan 2 better...that small lounge dining in plan one is better as a master suite nicky Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 7Aug 12, 2010 9:52 am The original plan is a bit deceptive because even though it says living up the front of the house it really isnt big enough to do much more than put a toy box in or a day bed so it will be mostly dining room. People have said that walking straight into someones dining room is awkward, like crashing a party, and I tend to agree. We have tried to try and make a better entry in that front room but couldnt. What do you guys think? With the kitchen being so far back it, i thought it would be a bit difficult to see the kids running around in the yard plus its not very close to the patio which when entertaining could become painful so thats why i moved it ... thoughts? Either way the kitchen will be redone. Also I prefer the lounge to be within walls as im concerned that the kids will use it to jump right over when they get bigger as I have seen done at some friends places. The new plan has been drawn in dimension. The actual usuable floor space in the lounge and dining of both plans are exactly the same. My pictures of the furniture are probably just too big. In the first plan you cant use all the floor as lounge as we need to allow for walk way. Helyn - my husband doesnt want to sleep at the back of the house cos he likes to be able to hear if people are out the front so Bed 4 will never be used by us which is a shame and thats why i tried to create us a better master up front. We arnt worried about a guest room, just making sure we have one each for the kids. I am going to play around with what you have said about the laundry and see what I can do. I wanted the 3rd toilet so if we have guests over they dont need to walk all the way through the house to our main bathroom. Can you explain a little more what you mean about the ensuite impinging on the entry to the master? Would we be better to delete the ensuite and make the walkway more open and therefore less bendy?? Kiwi - our roof pitch is only 13 degrees so not possible to put an attic. we played with the option to put a play room on top of the garage for a long time but neither us or the draftsman could get the stairs to work without impeding on the garage which is skinny enough already. Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 8Aug 12, 2010 2:28 pm Quote: Can you explain a little more what you mean about the ensuite impinging on the entry to the master? No thats not what I meant - I meant the entry to main bathroom inpinging on entry to front bedroom at far left - it appears that bathroom wall is partly across the bedroom doorway - although if this is unchanged from original it must be ok - probably just the way 2nd pic is drawn, now that I think about it properly Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 10Aug 12, 2010 4:13 pm Helyn Quote: Can you explain a little more what you mean about the ensuite impinging on the entry to the master? No thats not what I meant - I meant the entry to main bathroom inpinging on entry to front bedroom at far left - it appears that bathroom wall is partly across the bedroom doorway - although if this is unchanged from original it must be ok - probably just the way 2nd pic is drawn, now that I think about it properly Ah that makes sense now. The wall doesnt actually impinge on the bedroom door, just looks that way. Thats what happens when I try and do these things late at night. Greatly apprecaite any feedback you have. Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 12Aug 13, 2010 2:11 am I think you're definitely on the right track by moving the kitchen back into the new living area and keeping the bedrooms together at the front, particularly given that you've said you wouldn't consider having your master at the rear. It would be good to walk in the front door and have a straight hallway through to the extension. I'd make the old kitchen area your fourth bedroom. To improve the existing master bedroom you could knock a doorway through to the small single bedroom at the front of the house and make that an ensuite/walk in robe. With the narrow space to the right of the straight hallway you could have a void for a study nook as you walk in the front door and then create a new bedroom to replace the one taken by the ensuite. Alternatively, assuming your bathroom would need renovating you could make the old bathroom your ensuite and create a new family bathroom and study area on the right. There'll probably be room for some built in storage too. If you create a new bathroom in this area you could avoid putting in the third loo. The hallway would then enter the back where you were going to have your kitchen units - can you swap the kitchen and laundry around? This would give you the option of putting a doorway from the garage straight into the laundry. Would this work with space to put a clothesline? Do you have the land to go out by another 2 metres or so? Behind the kitchen you could put a narrow galley pantry/larder area. I would also probably make that back wall level all the way accross, extra living space inside will be more valuable than having the narrow deck area and this will also simplify your roof line and eaves. All the best with your project .. it looks very exciting! We're OBing an extension too and can't wait to move in! Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 13Aug 17, 2010 10:58 pm IN the newer plan, the toilet seems quite close to the kitchen. Ours is a similar distance and seriously, you don't want to be smelling the loo while cooking or eating. I would look at enclosing the toilet within the laundry so you have more of a 'buffer'. Re: Extension House Plans - Opinions Needed 14Sep 07, 2010 2:01 am Could you make your main entry point the proposed laundry door? This would give you more space in the front of house to play with and remove the bend in the hallway. You would have to move your laundry but that addition is spacious enough to play with quite a lot more. It would then mean you could enclose that front hallway adjacent to the entry door to become a quiet sitting/study area and you could have french doors opening from the bedroom onto an enclosed porch area. I think with 4+ children you need to look at when they're older and people want to use the house less openly. Everybody will need breakout space and it's quite an open plan at this stage. People make one happy, not houses? I do not think so. Houses are more to be trusted than people. Elizabeth Aston, Mr. Darcy's Daughters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmDX0tgONFs http://lightndreamy.blogspot.com/ Hi, We have a single story MacDonald Jones house, on a waffle pod slab with steel frame. Are we able to build a second story extension? 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