ᐅ Renovation of an Older Building (1966): Two-Family House – Floor Plan Sketch
Created on: 30 Jul 2018 13:39
H
HappyDee45
Hello everyone,
We are currently planning a renovation of an older house built in 1966. Over the years, the house has been extended and remodeled several times. It has previously served as a two-family home. We are taking over the house now and do not want any "stranger" tenants living in it. This means we want/need to live in the house ourselves as a single-family home for the next 1-2 decades at least.
So, we have the challenge—or luxury—of being able to plan a lot of space.
You can find our first draft attached.
Basement:
We do not want to make any changes here for the most part. Only the electricity meter and related equipment need to be removed from the stairwell as part of the electrical upgrade. We have discussed with the electrician to create an “electrical room” in the workshop for this purpose. Everything else will remain as is.
Ground Floor:
On the ground floor, we plan to remove three walls to create a large open living and dining area including the kitchen. The pantry will be prepared as a potential bathroom (water supply and drainage will be renewed). We might want to add a bathroom there in about 10 years. A full guest bedroom is essential for us, due to family circumstances. The office will serve as a home or remote work space for both of us. The “home theater” will probably remain an unused room for now until we have more budget to invest there.
Upper Floor:
On the upper floor, we plan to move the door to the terrace (currently located in the "children’s room") and relocate the wardrobe wall to create a new hallway with access to the terrace. In the bedroom, we will add a wall to create a second bathroom on the upper floor (currently, there is a kitchen in that space).
Attic:
The attic will remain an unheated area and will remain unused or serve as an attic storage space.
This is roughly our current plan. A structural engineer has already reviewed the walls. Most of the work will be done by ourselves. But here, we want to focus on the floor plan.
We are open to all ideas. Please share any constructive feedback.
Thanks and best regards
We are currently planning a renovation of an older house built in 1966. Over the years, the house has been extended and remodeled several times. It has previously served as a two-family home. We are taking over the house now and do not want any "stranger" tenants living in it. This means we want/need to live in the house ourselves as a single-family home for the next 1-2 decades at least.
So, we have the challenge—or luxury—of being able to plan a lot of space.
You can find our first draft attached.
Basement:
We do not want to make any changes here for the most part. Only the electricity meter and related equipment need to be removed from the stairwell as part of the electrical upgrade. We have discussed with the electrician to create an “electrical room” in the workshop for this purpose. Everything else will remain as is.
Ground Floor:
On the ground floor, we plan to remove three walls to create a large open living and dining area including the kitchen. The pantry will be prepared as a potential bathroom (water supply and drainage will be renewed). We might want to add a bathroom there in about 10 years. A full guest bedroom is essential for us, due to family circumstances. The office will serve as a home or remote work space for both of us. The “home theater” will probably remain an unused room for now until we have more budget to invest there.
Upper Floor:
On the upper floor, we plan to move the door to the terrace (currently located in the "children’s room") and relocate the wardrobe wall to create a new hallway with access to the terrace. In the bedroom, we will add a wall to create a second bathroom on the upper floor (currently, there is a kitchen in that space).
Attic:
The attic will remain an unheated area and will remain unused or serve as an attic storage space.
This is roughly our current plan. A structural engineer has already reviewed the walls. Most of the work will be done by ourselves. But here, we want to focus on the floor plan.
We are open to all ideas. Please share any constructive feedback.
Thanks and best regards
H
HappyDee4531 Jul 2018 09:46No, that still needs to be built! Good idea!
HappyDee45 schrieb:
In total, we now have 285 m² (3,067 sq ft) of living space. Yes, it’s a lot, but for the planned 5 occupants (luxuriously) it’s reasonable, isn’t it? However, there are totals that are rarely achieved at the same time: three children and two full-time earners, for example.
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The stairwell will probably need to be remodeled as well, right? It’s most likely the typical stairwell with terrazzo flooring and a steel railing, but nothing you’d want in a living area, is it?
It will also take up quite a bit of floor space.
To be honest, I’m not sure if I’d want to live like that... (well, actually, I do know: probably not). The house is designed to have one residential unit per floor. Converting that into a comfortable overall living concept isn’t easy. It’s not just a matter of having a plan. A stairwell like that needs to be turned into a living area. At least for me, I wouldn’t want to always feel like I’m walking through a public stairwell on my way to the bedroom.
It will also take up quite a bit of floor space.
To be honest, I’m not sure if I’d want to live like that... (well, actually, I do know: probably not). The house is designed to have one residential unit per floor. Converting that into a comfortable overall living concept isn’t easy. It’s not just a matter of having a plan. A stairwell like that needs to be turned into a living area. At least for me, I wouldn’t want to always feel like I’m walking through a public stairwell on my way to the bedroom.
Climbee schrieb:
Personally, I wouldn’t want to constantly feel like I’m walking through a public stairwell to get to my bedroom. Hehe, I get that, but from the other side: a former landlord of mine once decorated the shared stairwell of a multi-family house in such a way that it felt like you were walking through her living room. Unfortunately, taste wasn’t her strong suit :-(
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Additional costs have already been a topic here...
I see it this way: if I want to turn an old house, originally designed for multiple units, into a comfortable single-family home that meets today’s standards, I have to invest a lot of money. And with nearly 300sqm (3,229 sq ft), that’s simply more expenses than with 150sqm (1,615 sq ft). At some point, I would definitely wonder if it’s still worth it for me.
How is the basement? In the house I lived in (about the same year built; you might remember: similar bathroom layout), the basement was soaking wet. It would have needed proper drainage and waterproofing. We had the pleasure of living on the ground floor. That gave us a nice garden but always freezing cold feet because the slab between the basement and ground floor wasn’t insulated as well as we’re used to nowadays, or where the basement would be considered part of the heated area. And when the basement got damp, the moisture would rise all the way up to our walls. In one year, we used 4,000 liters (1,057 gallons) of heating oil. For a 70sqm (750 sq ft) apartment, mind you! Plus a wood-burning stove in the living room. Cold feet were still normal.
The same applies upwards if the attic is planned as an unheated space. If it was previously used as living space, I imagine there probably isn’t much insulation there either – so that needs to be done as well.
It’s hard to judge from here how it is in your case, but you can tell I’m skeptical...
Is it worth it? Especially when the additional costs are so high? And there are obviously already restrictions. In my view, a facade renovation would be one of the first things I’d do. Then upgrade the heating system to the latest standards, as well as the electrical system and possibly the plumbing. And that already costs quite a bit, even before you make the interior nice. Only then would you likely have the additional costs reduced to a normal level.
We also have relatives with old houses, lovingly renovated over the years with a lot of dedication. They wanted to sell recently, but with energy efficiency rated F, they were surprised they couldn’t find a buyer.
Instead of sensible renovation (like insulation, heating, etc.), another old place was bought and "fixed up" (= painted, made pretty, but energy efficiency still at F).
Well...
I see it this way: if I want to turn an old house, originally designed for multiple units, into a comfortable single-family home that meets today’s standards, I have to invest a lot of money. And with nearly 300sqm (3,229 sq ft), that’s simply more expenses than with 150sqm (1,615 sq ft). At some point, I would definitely wonder if it’s still worth it for me.
How is the basement? In the house I lived in (about the same year built; you might remember: similar bathroom layout), the basement was soaking wet. It would have needed proper drainage and waterproofing. We had the pleasure of living on the ground floor. That gave us a nice garden but always freezing cold feet because the slab between the basement and ground floor wasn’t insulated as well as we’re used to nowadays, or where the basement would be considered part of the heated area. And when the basement got damp, the moisture would rise all the way up to our walls. In one year, we used 4,000 liters (1,057 gallons) of heating oil. For a 70sqm (750 sq ft) apartment, mind you! Plus a wood-burning stove in the living room. Cold feet were still normal.
The same applies upwards if the attic is planned as an unheated space. If it was previously used as living space, I imagine there probably isn’t much insulation there either – so that needs to be done as well.
It’s hard to judge from here how it is in your case, but you can tell I’m skeptical...
Is it worth it? Especially when the additional costs are so high? And there are obviously already restrictions. In my view, a facade renovation would be one of the first things I’d do. Then upgrade the heating system to the latest standards, as well as the electrical system and possibly the plumbing. And that already costs quite a bit, even before you make the interior nice. Only then would you likely have the additional costs reduced to a normal level.
We also have relatives with old houses, lovingly renovated over the years with a lot of dedication. They wanted to sell recently, but with energy efficiency rated F, they were surprised they couldn’t find a buyer.
Instead of sensible renovation (like insulation, heating, etc.), another old place was bought and "fixed up" (= painted, made pretty, but energy efficiency still at F).
Well...
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