Kitchen extension in Victorian house. Your experience?

[poppet27]

Hi

I'd really love to know the pains, pitfalls and prices of extending a kitchen in a Victorian terraced house. If anyone here has had it done, I'd be super grateful to know how you went about it and how much it cost (feel free to PM if you'd rather not mention money on the forum).

Ideally we'd like to go from the skinny awkward space to a wider kitchen diner. Considering the 3m that's within planning, versus a longer space that would require planning.

Thanks!

[motorbird83]

It wasn't too bad. We did an extension as part of a bigger renovation. Budget circa 1,500 psm for the main building work. The cost of flooring, the new kitchen, sky lights, bifolding doors, lighting fixtures, underfloor heating (if you want it) come on top of this as do all your design fees (architect, planning/ certificate of lawfulness, building control, measurement survey, engineering drawings, Thames Water build over agreement if needed). A lot of people also end up needing to move their boiler and decide to install a downstairs loo if they don't already have one.

A typical extension like this with mid-range everything is about 55-65k. It can vary widely though depending on your spec, how deep your foundations need to be, if you need any levelling work, etc etc.

Good luck, the space you create is well worth the hassle.

Main thing is to spend a lot of time planning and budgeting before you start. Changing your mind mid-way is costly and the entire thing is a lot less stressful if you've made most of your decisions regarding fixtures etc ahead of time. A good builder is usually booked a least 3 months in advance and typically the summer is the best time to do the work as you are less likely to experience weather delays and its easier to get by without a kitchen / have a hole at the back of your house!