Old building renovation (1966): Two-family house - floor plan sketch

Hello everyone,

we are currently planning a renovation of an old building, a house from 1966. Over the years, the house has been repeatedly extended and remodeled. In the past, it was a two-generation house. We are now taking over the house and do not want "strange" tenants in the house. This means we want/need to live in the house within one generation over the next 1-2 decades at the latest.

So now we have the problem/luxury of being able to plan a lot of space.

You can find our first draft in the attachment.

Basement:
We do not want to change anything here for the most part. We only need to remove the electricity meter etc. from the stairwell as part of the electrical renovation. For this, we have discussed with the electrician about creating an "electricity room" in the workshop. Everything else remains as is and should stay that way.

Ground Floor:
On the ground floor, we plan to remove three walls to create a large living and dining area including a kitchen. The pantry will be prepared as a potential bathroom (water supply and drainage will be renewed). Maybe in 10 years we want to add a bathroom here. A complete guest room is essential for us due to family circumstances. The office is a home or teleworking space for both of us. The "home cinema" will probably remain an unused room at first until some money comes in again.

Upper Floor:
On the upper floor, we plan to move the door to the terrace (currently in the "children's room") and to "move" the wall of the wardrobe so that we can create a new hallway with access to the terrace. In the bedroom, we will add a wall to realize a second bathroom on the upper floor (currently there is a kitchen).

Attic:
Will become an unheated area and remain unused, or used as an attic.

This is roughly our current plan. A structural engineer has already been here and looked at the walls regarding the planned changes. Most of the work will be done by ourselves. But here, it should be about the floor plan.

We are still open to all ideas. Please give some constructive input.

Thanks & regards

It's a bit hard to imagine here. It's not just missing the north arrow, but I suspect this is a hillside house, right? The ground floor has a balcony, the upper floor a terrace...

The ground floor is doable, but I don't find the upper floor optimal yet. But you don't know which walls are load-bearing here, what could be moved or not. Where is south, where is north. I find the narrow bathroom awful, better to assign it completely to the children's bathroom and remove the wall in between to make an acceptable bathroom out of it. What about the exterior views? Are windows allowed to be enlarged/moved? What is the family situation? Do you already have three children? Could the terrace be enlarged across the entire front? Etc. pp.

I find the information too sparse to be able to guess anything here.

Really cool. Now that's what I call a basement.

If you expect meaningful answers, you absolutely have to provide the current status. Then the planning. Also the property, paths and driveways, outbuildings, special features, possibly pipes, wishes and above all the budget. :)

Thank you already – I will now address your questions and comments.

It’s a bit hard to imagine here. Not only is the north arrow missing, but I assume this is a hillside house, right?

How is a hillside house defined? I would say very easily yes. The basement is about 1.80m below the street level on the west side. On the east side, it is completely free-standing. That’s right – I forgot to draw in a north arrow. I will add that later. The sketch needs to be revised anyway. Roughly, north is "bottom left" if you have the plans on the screen.

The ground floor has a balcony, the upper floor a terrace...

Both the ground floor and the upper floor have balconies. The terrace was added afterwards. In the basement as well as on the ground floor, there are rooms (laundry room and home cinema). Therefore, the terrace cannot be expanded. But it is big enough.

The ground floor is doable, but I don’t find the upper floor optimal yet. But you don’t know which walls are load-bearing, which could be moved or not. Where is south, where is north? I find the tube-shaped WC terrible, better assign it completely to the children’s bathroom, remove the wall in between, and make an acceptable bathroom out of it.

The bathroom and toilet on the upper floor were completely renovated 4 years ago – it would be a shame to redo everything.

What about the exterior views? Are windows allowed to be enlarged/moved? What is the family situation? Do you already have three children? Could the terrace be enlarged across the entire front? Etc. pp.

We want to leave the windows as they are for now, as they do not necessarily need to be renewed.

I will upload a few old plans shortly – I think that will make it easier to understand. We will also remove the glass blocks in the stairwell and rebuild it up (including the window between ground floor and upper floor).

We do not have children yet – currently, there are two of us. Children are planned.

Really cool. Now that's what I call a basement.

If you expect meaningful answers, you absolutely have to provide the current state. Then the planning. Also the property, paths and driveways, outbuildings, special features, possibly utilities, wishes and above all the budget. :)

Yes, it has become clear to me now. I have uploaded the old plans. I hope they are recognizable. I am still looking for the site plan among all the documents. The plans have not been implemented 100% as planned either. I am still searching for the most recent plan.

We have many wishes, but overall everything is in the above plan. We are still calculating the budget. Currently, we are at just under €200,000 for the renovation work (mostly own work), but we should discuss that elsewhere. Here, it was primarily about the floor plan and layout.

At first glance, I find the matter quite well planned. Where I would really reflect deeply is the question of the 3rd children's room. If there should actually be 3, okay. But if 2 children's rooms are enough, then I would completely remove the currently planned "Schrankzimmer" and plan a spacious living gallery there. The bedroom will go into the planned Child 3 room, and the dressing room into the currently planned bedroom. Access to the balcony may be relocated.