ᐅ Plan for the possibility of a future extension from the beginning
Created on: 5 Mar 2018 22:34
L
Lina80
Hello!
We are currently planning the construction of our single-family home with a general contractor. The building permit / planning permission application has already been submitted to the authorities.
After submitting the application, friends suggested the idea of adding an extension to the entrance area to create significantly more space. The reason behind this is that our eldest daughter has a severe disability, and it would be very practical for us to have a large entrance mat for her wheelchair and more space for storage and maneuvering. We designed our house with a general contractor; the floor plan is a standard design and fits quite well overall, but unfortunately, the entrance area is small.
In theory, our friends’ idea seems fairly easy to implement, provided the authorities give their approval. Unfortunately, our builder estimates the costs at around 14,000 euros, which is currently too expensive for us. Now we are wondering if it would make sense to prepare for a future extension and, if so, what kind of preparations. For example, would it be sensible to have a foundation slab laid at the location already during the new build phase? What we would probably definitely do is relocate the basement window to the south and replace the planned window in the storage room with a floor-to-ceiling window, so that the opening for a future access from the extension is already fully prepared.
Do you have any more or better ideas?
Best regards, Lina80
PS: Something is not working with uploading the pictures right now – I will try again tomorrow from a different device!
We are currently planning the construction of our single-family home with a general contractor. The building permit / planning permission application has already been submitted to the authorities.
After submitting the application, friends suggested the idea of adding an extension to the entrance area to create significantly more space. The reason behind this is that our eldest daughter has a severe disability, and it would be very practical for us to have a large entrance mat for her wheelchair and more space for storage and maneuvering. We designed our house with a general contractor; the floor plan is a standard design and fits quite well overall, but unfortunately, the entrance area is small.
In theory, our friends’ idea seems fairly easy to implement, provided the authorities give their approval. Unfortunately, our builder estimates the costs at around 14,000 euros, which is currently too expensive for us. Now we are wondering if it would make sense to prepare for a future extension and, if so, what kind of preparations. For example, would it be sensible to have a foundation slab laid at the location already during the new build phase? What we would probably definitely do is relocate the basement window to the south and replace the planned window in the storage room with a floor-to-ceiling window, so that the opening for a future access from the extension is already fully prepared.
Do you have any more or better ideas?
Best regards, Lina80
PS: Something is not working with uploading the pictures right now – I will try again tomorrow from a different device!
Good morning!
I just skimmed through it and didn’t quite understand why you want access through the utility room? Since it has a 77 cm (30 inches) door – if I read that correctly – it probably won’t work long-term with a wheelchair. Besides, the room is likely going to be used for storage as well, right?
From my own experience, a standard wheelchair can get through narrow doors, but if possible, I would make ALL the doors on the ground floor, including those to the living areas, 1 meter (39 inches) wide.
I just skimmed through it and didn’t quite understand why you want access through the utility room? Since it has a 77 cm (30 inches) door – if I read that correctly – it probably won’t work long-term with a wheelchair. Besides, the room is likely going to be used for storage as well, right?
From my own experience, a standard wheelchair can get through narrow doors, but if possible, I would make ALL the doors on the ground floor, including those to the living areas, 1 meter (39 inches) wide.
Access to the house will still be through the current front door location – only the entrance to the storage room will be from the extension, so it can be used more efficiently. The current storage room door would then need to be bricked up.
We had lengthy discussions with our builder about the door to the living room – options ranged from an open doorway to a sliding door. A wide hinged door would reduce the size of the bathroom because the frame would be wider than the hallway. A sliding door recessed into the wall would reduce the kitchen space in our construction method, as it would require an additional drywall partition. We didn’t want a sliding door mounted on the wall due to its poor sound insulation, since my husband often works night shifts and needs to sleep during the day, and I frequently get stressed in our current rental trying to keep noise down with the children (which is almost impossible). In the end, we chose a standard sized hinged door again. One advantage is that when opening the door from the hallway, you don’t have to maneuver – you just walk straight through. Best regards
We had lengthy discussions with our builder about the door to the living room – options ranged from an open doorway to a sliding door. A wide hinged door would reduce the size of the bathroom because the frame would be wider than the hallway. A sliding door recessed into the wall would reduce the kitchen space in our construction method, as it would require an additional drywall partition. We didn’t want a sliding door mounted on the wall due to its poor sound insulation, since my husband often works night shifts and needs to sleep during the day, and I frequently get stressed in our current rental trying to keep noise down with the children (which is almost impossible). In the end, we chose a standard sized hinged door again. One advantage is that when opening the door from the hallway, you don’t have to maneuver – you just walk straight through. Best regards
Lina80 schrieb:
In the end, only the standard-sized hinged door remained.... which presents a threshold for participation in family life when using an electric wheelchair. You might be able to get through, but it requires a lot of patience. Where is the transfer into the folding wheelchair supposed to take place, and where should the parking and loading area be?You can also take a look at Anitra’s thread to learn about the challenges of making builders aware of the needs of a severely disabled child: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissplanung-mit-einigen-anforderungen-ideen.26335/ – as well as the original thread: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/viele-raeume-im-eg.24085/ or also in zizzi’s thread: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundriss-eines-barrierefreien-bungalow.25596/
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