ᐅ House Planning – Considering the Possibility of a Third Child
Created on: 23 Sep 2015 11:23
T
Tego12
Hello!
Since we will be building in the near future and are currently considering the general framework to approach an architect/designer, the following question has come up for us:
We need an additional room (besides the standard ones – master bedroom, child 1, child 2, living area) for a possible third child (which is rather unlikely, but it’s hard to completely rule it out). If no third child arrives, this room would be used as a guest room/office. The size should be roughly 10-12 sqm (107-129 sq ft), since the chance of a third child is quite low.
Now, there seem to be three main options (house around 140-150 sqm (1,507-1,615 sq ft), pitched roof up to 45 degrees, no basement):
1) Room on the ground floor -> reduces the large open living/dining/kitchen area (there also needs to be space for a utility room and a small shower bathroom)
2) Room on the upper floor -> reduces the overall size of the bedrooms and children’s rooms (so far, I haven’t seen a really good floor plan here, especially since a house with a pitched roof up to 45 degrees effectively offers less space on the upper floor than on the ground floor)
3) Expandable attic -> at first, apart from possible additional costs (which I cannot estimate yet), I don’t see any major issues, except that a second staircase is needed, which also takes up space.
My question: Which option would you generally prefer? What are the advantages and disadvantages? The room is not immediately needed; an attic could also be converted a few years later.
Thanks and regards
Since we will be building in the near future and are currently considering the general framework to approach an architect/designer, the following question has come up for us:
We need an additional room (besides the standard ones – master bedroom, child 1, child 2, living area) for a possible third child (which is rather unlikely, but it’s hard to completely rule it out). If no third child arrives, this room would be used as a guest room/office. The size should be roughly 10-12 sqm (107-129 sq ft), since the chance of a third child is quite low.
Now, there seem to be three main options (house around 140-150 sqm (1,507-1,615 sq ft), pitched roof up to 45 degrees, no basement):
1) Room on the ground floor -> reduces the large open living/dining/kitchen area (there also needs to be space for a utility room and a small shower bathroom)
2) Room on the upper floor -> reduces the overall size of the bedrooms and children’s rooms (so far, I haven’t seen a really good floor plan here, especially since a house with a pitched roof up to 45 degrees effectively offers less space on the upper floor than on the ground floor)
3) Expandable attic -> at first, apart from possible additional costs (which I cannot estimate yet), I don’t see any major issues, except that a second staircase is needed, which also takes up space.
My question: Which option would you generally prefer? What are the advantages and disadvantages? The room is not immediately needed; an attic could also be converted a few years later.
Thanks and regards
That really depends on what you want to store in the utility room and how you plan to use it.
We have 7.8 m² (84 sq ft) on the ground floor and 4.3 m² (46 sq ft) upstairs.
Our kitchen isn’t very large, so we also use the utility room as a pantry. In addition, we store tools, a ladder, and a cat’s food bowl and litter box there. Some people also want to store a stroller, ride-on toy car, etc. In that case, 6 m² (65 sq ft) would be too small.
Upstairs in the utility room, we have the washing machine stacked on top of the dryer. Above or next to them, we have two large shelving units for items that can’t be stored in the attic or garage. There’s also space needed for a vacuum cleaner, ironing board, and drying rack, which together take up about 2 m² (22 sq ft). The drying rack can just about be set up in an emergency, but the space is too tight for folding and ironing laundry. It could easily have done with another 4 m² (43 sq ft).
Since we have a guest room right next to it and overnight guests normally give advance notice, we can set up the drying rack and ironing board there. That’s why we didn’t plan for a larger utility room.
I’ve also seen utility rooms of around 14 m² (150 sq ft) mentioned. That’s definitely quite luxurious.
We have 7.8 m² (84 sq ft) on the ground floor and 4.3 m² (46 sq ft) upstairs.
Our kitchen isn’t very large, so we also use the utility room as a pantry. In addition, we store tools, a ladder, and a cat’s food bowl and litter box there. Some people also want to store a stroller, ride-on toy car, etc. In that case, 6 m² (65 sq ft) would be too small.
Upstairs in the utility room, we have the washing machine stacked on top of the dryer. Above or next to them, we have two large shelving units for items that can’t be stored in the attic or garage. There’s also space needed for a vacuum cleaner, ironing board, and drying rack, which together take up about 2 m² (22 sq ft). The drying rack can just about be set up in an emergency, but the space is too tight for folding and ironing laundry. It could easily have done with another 4 m² (43 sq ft).
Since we have a guest room right next to it and overnight guests normally give advance notice, we can set up the drying rack and ironing board there. That’s why we didn’t plan for a larger utility room.
I’ve also seen utility rooms of around 14 m² (150 sq ft) mentioned. That’s definitely quite luxurious.
Never say never ;-)
We built our first house with just the option of "maybe a third child" in mind and planned two rather basic spare rooms. One was a tiny room on the ground floor and the other a larger room in the basement, which you could only reach by going through the cold, unheated basement hallway just to use the bathroom. Well, as life goes, after the arrival of our second child, we consciously decided to have a third child and eventually realized that our original plan just wasn’t working. So, we built again.
What I want to say is: plan a third bedroom from the start. The other two kids will definitely appreciate having a great playroom or a separate living room if you don’t end up having a third child.
Regarding possible uses: if you build with a high knee wall and a steep roof, you can really make good use of the attic space, which is perfect for a cozy children’s room.
I also like the idea of having two utility rooms or a utility room plus a mechanical/technical room. You can also plan storage space for supplies under the stairs on the ground floor.
Most houses with three gables offer good possibilities for fitting four bedrooms on the upper floor: two rooms on each side of the third gable, and then the bathroom in the gable itself.
You already have the link to our floor plan ;-)
We built our first house with just the option of "maybe a third child" in mind and planned two rather basic spare rooms. One was a tiny room on the ground floor and the other a larger room in the basement, which you could only reach by going through the cold, unheated basement hallway just to use the bathroom. Well, as life goes, after the arrival of our second child, we consciously decided to have a third child and eventually realized that our original plan just wasn’t working. So, we built again.
What I want to say is: plan a third bedroom from the start. The other two kids will definitely appreciate having a great playroom or a separate living room if you don’t end up having a third child.
Regarding possible uses: if you build with a high knee wall and a steep roof, you can really make good use of the attic space, which is perfect for a cozy children’s room.
I also like the idea of having two utility rooms or a utility room plus a mechanical/technical room. You can also plan storage space for supplies under the stairs on the ground floor.
Most houses with three gables offer good possibilities for fitting four bedrooms on the upper floor: two rooms on each side of the third gable, and then the bathroom in the gable itself.
You already have the link to our floor plan ;-)
B
Bauexperte24 Sep 2015 00:13Good evening,
A convertible attic also has the advantage that you can comfortably access it for storage. If unexpected children arrive, it doesn’t take much to convert the attic into living space. Provided that from the start you ensure sufficient lighting (also considering emergency exit routes) and adapt the heating system to the possibility of an attic conversion.
It all depends on the building plot; if it is roughly 11 x 11.00/12.00 m (36 x 36/39 ft), a study or children’s room can also be comfortably accommodated on the ground floor without reducing the openness of the living/dining area. However, higher construction costs would then occur, as the total area would be around 200 sqm (2153 sq ft) 😉
Regards, Bauexperte
Tego12 schrieb:Perhaps you could explain how large the building plot is?
An additional room is needed… There are basically three options for now (house around 140-150 sqm (1507-1615 sq ft), pitched roof up to 45 degrees, no basement):
Tego12 schrieb:Even at 150 sqm (1615 sq ft) this will be tight, but of course that is a subjective impression.
1) Room on the ground floor -> reduces the large open living/dining/kitchen area (a utility room and a small shower bathroom also need to fit)
Tego12 schrieb:Then the children’s rooms would be roughly 12.00 to 13.00 sqm (129-140 sq ft) floor area; although the living area would be smaller accordingly, the children will still play around the 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) wall line 😉
2) Room on the upper floor -> reduces the overall size of the bedrooms and children’s rooms (I have not really seen a suitable floor plan for this yet, especially since a house with a pitched roof up to 45 degrees has effectively less usable space upstairs than on the ground floor…)
Tego12 schrieb:No, the staircase does not really take up extra space, since you already have a stairwell in the attic anyway. If you want to keep the house at 150 sqm (1615 sq ft), I see this as the most feasible option.
3) Convertible attic -> at first glance, apart from possible additional costs (which I cannot yet estimate), I don’t see any major issues except that a second staircase is needed, which of course also takes up space.
A convertible attic also has the advantage that you can comfortably access it for storage. If unexpected children arrive, it doesn’t take much to convert the attic into living space. Provided that from the start you ensure sufficient lighting (also considering emergency exit routes) and adapt the heating system to the possibility of an attic conversion.
It all depends on the building plot; if it is roughly 11 x 11.00/12.00 m (36 x 36/39 ft), a study or children’s room can also be comfortably accommodated on the ground floor without reducing the openness of the living/dining area. However, higher construction costs would then occur, as the total area would be around 200 sqm (2153 sq ft) 😉
Regards, Bauexperte
Hello again,
Thank you very much for your answers. I can’t say anything specific about the plot yet, as we have several different options on the list—one of those will be the final choice 😉
I will take the various ideas from this discussion into the planning process with the companies and will post the corresponding floor plans here again to get some feedback. I really like both the idea of a separate utility room and the expandable attic.
I’m slowly moving away from the idea of an additional room on the upper floor... a 12 sqm (130 sq ft) children’s room is already quite small by today’s standards.
200 sqm (2,150 sq ft) will almost certainly exceed our budget, I’m pretty sure about that. For the house alone, a maximum of €240,000 (roughly $260,000) is planned (probably about €10,000 less), excluding the plot (€140,000), landscaping (€20,000), and additional costs (€45,000), of course.
@Bauexperte: Roughly speaking, what should be budgeted for the preparations of an expandable attic? Additional staircase, extra utility lines, reinforced flooring... I imagine quite a bit adds up. Can you give a rough estimate?
Thanks again for all the suggestions!
Thank you very much for your answers. I can’t say anything specific about the plot yet, as we have several different options on the list—one of those will be the final choice 😉
I will take the various ideas from this discussion into the planning process with the companies and will post the corresponding floor plans here again to get some feedback. I really like both the idea of a separate utility room and the expandable attic.
I’m slowly moving away from the idea of an additional room on the upper floor... a 12 sqm (130 sq ft) children’s room is already quite small by today’s standards.
200 sqm (2,150 sq ft) will almost certainly exceed our budget, I’m pretty sure about that. For the house alone, a maximum of €240,000 (roughly $260,000) is planned (probably about €10,000 less), excluding the plot (€140,000), landscaping (€20,000), and additional costs (€45,000), of course.
@Bauexperte: Roughly speaking, what should be budgeted for the preparations of an expandable attic? Additional staircase, extra utility lines, reinforced flooring... I imagine quite a bit adds up. Can you give a rough estimate?
Thanks again for all the suggestions!
Tego12 schrieb:
What should you roughly budget for the preparations to make an attic space convertible? I’m not a building expert, but our attic conversion, including everything, cost about 15,000 euros. That covered the staircase (we used a so-called space-saving staircase from a hardware store), insulation, floor reinforcement, the knee walls (also called side walls), as well as one roof window and two gable windows.