Hello dear forum community,
I’ve had a somewhat crazy idea running through my mind for the past few days.
We built our house in 2015 and everything is basically perfect for us. However, in 2017 we had another child and are now five in total. Unfortunately, our house does not include three children’s bedrooms, so our two daughters share a room. That might work for now, while they are still toddlers, but I fear that this will not always be a good solution...
Since my dad and I have done a lot of the work on our house ourselves, we have been trying to come up with some ideas. Unfortunately, the floor plan does not offer many options, and realistically, only an extension is possible.
However, the building plan assigns a specific building plot. This plot is already fully utilized in all directions. Except to the north, where we still have about 8 meters (26 feet) of space... Currently, this area is occupied by our garage plus carport.
I could imagine an extension above the carport/garage here.
For that, the existing ceiling made of rafters and battens would need to be replaced with a concrete ceiling (a precast concrete slab?). I would like to keep the carport and garage as they are, and just build on top of them. The garage stands 1 meter (3 feet) outside the building plot, so I wouldn’t be able to build over the entire area. Still, this would create a floor space of about 8 x 6 meters (26 x 20 feet). Then everyone would have their space in the house...
My questions on this are:
1. Would something like this be possible, or would such a construction project be prohibited due to building regulations / planning permission?
2. Could the garage/carport be retained, or would this also be impossible due to structural engineering reasons? The concrete ceiling would need to be supported on the existing brick garage.
3. The bathroom and a new room would only have lighting through (large) roof windows—is this allowed?
4. What would be sensible or feasible regarding heating? The utility room is located right next to the carport... we have a gas boiler installed.
5. The current “parents’” bedroom would then become a large hallway—what could be done with that space?
I know there are no 100% certain answers here... I’m mostly interested in the key issues I might have missed that could turn this into a bad idea...
I’ve had a somewhat crazy idea running through my mind for the past few days.
We built our house in 2015 and everything is basically perfect for us. However, in 2017 we had another child and are now five in total. Unfortunately, our house does not include three children’s bedrooms, so our two daughters share a room. That might work for now, while they are still toddlers, but I fear that this will not always be a good solution...
Since my dad and I have done a lot of the work on our house ourselves, we have been trying to come up with some ideas. Unfortunately, the floor plan does not offer many options, and realistically, only an extension is possible.
However, the building plan assigns a specific building plot. This plot is already fully utilized in all directions. Except to the north, where we still have about 8 meters (26 feet) of space... Currently, this area is occupied by our garage plus carport.
I could imagine an extension above the carport/garage here.
For that, the existing ceiling made of rafters and battens would need to be replaced with a concrete ceiling (a precast concrete slab?). I would like to keep the carport and garage as they are, and just build on top of them. The garage stands 1 meter (3 feet) outside the building plot, so I wouldn’t be able to build over the entire area. Still, this would create a floor space of about 8 x 6 meters (26 x 20 feet). Then everyone would have their space in the house...
My questions on this are:
1. Would something like this be possible, or would such a construction project be prohibited due to building regulations / planning permission?
2. Could the garage/carport be retained, or would this also be impossible due to structural engineering reasons? The concrete ceiling would need to be supported on the existing brick garage.
3. The bathroom and a new room would only have lighting through (large) roof windows—is this allowed?
4. What would be sensible or feasible regarding heating? The utility room is located right next to the carport... we have a gas boiler installed.
5. The current “parents’” bedroom would then become a large hallway—what could be done with that space?
I know there are no 100% certain answers here... I’m mostly interested in the key issues I might have missed that could turn this into a bad idea...
M
Matthew039 Jan 2019 13:58@halmi’s question makes sense, please show the ground floor plan 😉 Also, to answer properly, it would be helpful to know: How old are the other two children? There might be alternative solutions.
M
Matthew039 Jan 2019 14:07Oh, I missed that, thanks.
Then a question about the age differences between the children. If one is already older, I would consider toughing it out for a few years here... until the eldest moves out for university, it might not be that long after all?
Then a question about the age differences between the children. If one is already older, I would consider toughing it out for a few years here... until the eldest moves out for university, it might not be that long after all?
chand1986 schrieb:
@Basti2709
Since you like the area, the infrastructure clearly works well, and the neighborhood fits, option 3—the move—is simply not an option for me.
My statement was clearly in favor of option 1. By the way, what is the age range of your children?
In my personal opinion, what you gain through the extension is not remotely proportional to the price.They are 2.4 and 10 years old...
Before you invest a lot of money: would it be an option to temporarily separate the living area to use as a bedroom for yourselves?
This is certainly not an ideal solution, but ideally, the two younger children would share one room for another four or five years, and the oldest could get their own space at 18 or 19. That way, this arrangement would only last a few years.
Alternatively, if technically feasible, I would also consider enlarging the storage room on the upper floor at the expense of the existing children’s rooms. Then the rooms wouldn’t be 15 m² (160 sq ft) anymore, but at least all rooms would be located in the same section of the house.
This is certainly not an ideal solution, but ideally, the two younger children would share one room for another four or five years, and the oldest could get their own space at 18 or 19. That way, this arrangement would only last a few years.
Alternatively, if technically feasible, I would also consider enlarging the storage room on the upper floor at the expense of the existing children’s rooms. Then the rooms wouldn’t be 15 m² (160 sq ft) anymore, but at least all rooms would be located in the same section of the house.