Creating New Spaces From Old

The way we live in our homes has changed considerably over the years. Where once each room had a particular function and was designed with this use in mind, we now see rooms as multifunctional, often sociable spaces, and many homeowners like the idea of open plan layouts, with just one or two private rooms.

Thankfully, there are many ways to sympathetically alter old houses to suit our modern lifestyles and to add even further to their appeal.

REMOVING WALLS

One of the biggest fears of renovators is that they will knock down a wall, only to find it was holding up the house. Whether you want to knock down a dividing wall to create an open plan space, or move walls around to rearrange the layout, it is crucial to be aware of the role that any walls on your hit list play in the structural integrity of the house before going anywhere near a sledgehammer.

Load-bearing walls are to be approached with caution, whilst stud-bearing walls are usually thought of as being safe to remove. However, the danger lies in the fact that not all houses are constructed in the same way, so finding out whether a wall is load bearing will require some investigation.

If you want to remove a ground floor wall, first check to see whether there is another wall in the same position on the floor above. If there is, then this wall is likely to be supported by the wall below hence it should be left alone, or the upper wall will need to be supported in some other way.

If you find that there is no wall above the ground floor wall, take a look at the direction of the floorboards on the floor above. The floor joists that support them should span in the opposite direction. If, however, the joists span onto the wall that you are intending to remove, once again, it is likely that this wall is load bearing.

If the wall in question is directly below the roof, check in the roof space to see if any joists or walls are supported by it if they are then you can assume it is load bearing. If your property is timber framed, then you should assume that all the internal walls are load bearing.

With regard to the Building Regulations covering this area, Building Regulations consent is required for all work carried out to the external walls, and to all internal walls, unless the wall concerned is not load bearing. If it is necessary for you to remove a loadbearing wall in order to create your new desired space, then the load that the wall was supporting must instead be carried on suitable beams usually rolled steel joists (RSJs) that are set on adequate supports at either end.

A load-bearing wall does much more than simply take the weight of a load above, however. It also acts as a transverse brace between the walls either end of it so removing it could affect the stability of these walls. On top of this, transferring this load to an RSJ may well affect the wall foundations, which may then need strengthening. For this reason it is imperative to seek the services of an architect, surveyor or qualified builder.

OPEN PLAN SPACES

According to the latest research, six million people in Britain have already removed at least one wall in their home in the bid for open plan living, with hundreds more currently considering following suit.

Whilst some old buildings in particular those originally intended for a purpose other than housing people, for example barns and warehouses readily lend themselves to an open plan layout, many period properties will require a degree of tweaking in order to achieve this highly popular and practical way of living. Bear in mind that, for most properties, internal alterations of this kind will not require any planning permission, but if your home is listed, it is important that you seek full permission before carrying out any work to the house.

The layout of most period houses, even Georgian and early Victorian properties with their high ceilings and generous room sizes, kept rooms separate from one another, favouring each room to serve a particular purpose. Now, it seems, we want something different from our homes and are more than happy for them to serve as multifunctional, sociable spaces.

At present, the most popular option is to create an open plan kitchen diner, by removing the wall that originally divided these two rooms. This is a fantastic arrangement that suits most lifestyles, allowing parents of young children to keep an eye on them whilst they prepare meals, and presenting a more sociable space for entertaining.

Once you have made the decision to combine your cooking and eating areas, remember that cooking smells travel, so adequate ventilation will be required to prevent your dining area from becoming engulfed in cooking smells and steam. Fit a powerful extractor fan above your cooker and, to meet the Building Regulations, ensure that the new room has windows with an openable area of at least five per cent of the rooms floor area, although if each original room already had a window, this is unlikely to be a problem.

With the decline of the formal dining room, another common option now is to remove the wall between the dining and living rooms to create a large sociable space.

If you are thinking of removing the wall between your hallway and sitting room, ensure that you retain or build in an enclosed porch or lobby, to provide an area between your living space and the outside world, and also to provide somewhere for muddy shoes to be deposited.

BUILDING A NEW LAYOUT

Removing walls is not the only way to create new spaces within an old property building new walls is also an option. Perhaps your house has large rooms that are not getting used to their full potential, or maybe you need an additional room for a home office, en suite or childs bedroom. In this case it makes sense to divide larger areas into smaller ones.

The best way to divide rooms is through constructing a stud partition wall. Non-loadbearing stud partitions are constructed using plasterboard fixed to either side of a timber frame, comprised of uprights (studs) fitted between top and bottom rails (head and sole plates) and strengthened with a short length of timber in between (noggings). This is a simple job to carry out on a DIY basis.

Bear in mind that to create suitable access to these new rooms, there may be some loss of floor space from elsewhere. Bedrooms, for example, should have individual access.

Once again, planning permission will not be required (unless your house is listed); some Building Regulations requirements will need to be met. Each new room must have a window with an openable area equal to five per cent of its floor area. If one of the new rooms does not need a window, for example a new bathroom, mechanical ventilation must be created, usually by an extractor fan.

CREATING A NEW KITCHEN OR BATHROOM

It is not unusual in older properties to have to reposition the bathroom, as many period properties, in particular terraced houses, have ground floor bathrooms, which is not only an inconvenient layout for many, but one that can also lower the value of your home.

Replacing an old bathroom or kitchen with a new one will not require planning permission or Building Regulations approval unless you need to make alterations to the existing methods of water disposal or are installing a new heating appliance where there was not one before.

Approval will also be required if you want to create a new WC or a washbasin or shower cubicle in a bedroom, as once again you will need to provide new pipework and adequate ventilation.

ROOM DIVIDERS

Stud partition walls do not have to be full height or run the full width of a room semi-partition walls are also an option. Whilst they will not offer the same level of privacy as full walls, they are a fantastic way to create a visual divide without making rooms appear smaller.

Walls that finish before they reach the ceiling work well in bedrooms where they can act as a divide between the sleeping space and an en suite, whilst half-width walls are a great way of defining kitchens and dining rooms without completely separating them from one another.
Consider other useful ways of dividing up spaces too, such as fitting an island unit, not only to provide extra worktop space and storage, but also to act as a visual divide in an open plan kitchen diner. Likewise, incorporating deep stud walls that double up as cupboard space is a fantastic way to get more storage at the same time as defining spaces.

LOFT CONVERSIONS

Converting the roof space of a property is a popular way of creating more living space, most commonly for an extra bedroom or home office. Converting your loft could provide you with up to 30 per cent of usable floor area, will add to the value of your home and will cost less than a new extension of the same floor area.

Planning permission is not usually required in England and Wales unless you want to include a dormer window on the side of the roof that faces the road. However, if you live in a Conservation Area, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or in a listed property, there will be additional restrictions.

Before you can ascertain whether a loft conversion is viable, you need to determine how your roof was constructed. If your property was constructed before 1960, it is likely to have been built from a framework of rafters supporting the roof covering, with purlins to tie these rafters together and struts to brace the purlins against the floor joists and any load-bearing walls. In this instance the space should be able to be converted. However, if your home was constructed after 1960, is it likely to have been built using prefabricated roof trusses that span the external walls of the house and do away with the need for load-bearing walls. For this reason, you cannot alter or remove any of the components, making a loft conversion near to impossible.

The type of access you provide depends on what the room will be used for. If the loft is to be a non-habitable space, such as a playroom, a space-saver staircase or loft ladder will suffice. If, on the other hand, you will be creating a habitable space, such as a new bedroom, home office or bathroom, not only will the new space have to comply with all relevant Building Regulations, but it will also require a suitable staircase; a dormer window may be required to provide adequate headroom and the floor will almost certainly need to be strengthened to take the increased load. The room will also require adequate ventilation and natural light, thermal, sound and fire insulation, wiring, plumbing and heating.

CREATING DOUBLE-HEIGHT SPACES

Double-height spaces can really inject some drama in your home, opening up the space and making for an impressive entrance hall or main living space, particularly when combined with double-height glazing. Old agricultural buildings, such as barns, naturally lend themselves to double-height spaces and so too can period properties. They are created by removing a section of the first floor to open up the space below, which means you will lose some floor area so if you are already struggling for space, this may not be the way to go.

They will also require some serious structural work to be carried out and some people find the vast spaces leave them feeling rather exposed.