Possible plans - opinions please

[Nimster]

Afternoon
We're hoping to do some building work on our house. I'll give you a brief description of the house as it's fairly confusing and may help when you look at the plans. The front part of the house is Victorian. This has an extension on the back (built in stone, same as the house). In the back garden, at 90 degrees to the house, we have 2 x farmworkers cottages that have been knocked into one building. These are also built in stone and are from around 1750 (we think). The previous owners built a passageway to connect the front house to the cottages. With me so far? Good

Our plan is to open up the back wall of the extension to the Victorian house to put in french doors. We also want to change the passageway as it currently has white upvc cladding at the side and top, and a clear plastic roof. As the building is listed, we need to consider the aesthetics of any changes, as they'll impact on the view of the cottages (since the passage joins onto them). The CO has said we can do pretty much what we want inside the Victorian house, but we have to get the french doors and new passageway past him.

So, my question is, which of the following two ideas do you think best? Please bear in mind that the passageway door shown on the first plan won't be there - we've been told we have to lose that. The passage will just be a run of windows. The windows will also be 2-over-2 sashes, not 6/6. The first plan is the original and has sash windows on the passage and a higher roof line (same as we have now). The second plan (my rehash) has single pane windows to match the french doors (so the modern additions are clear) and a lower roofline to expose as much of the cottage as possible (cottages are on the left of the passage, just off plan) and to fit under the extension roof, making it look more like a porch, less like a continuation of the extension. The passage will be built in stone with a pantile roof, same as the cottages and house. Any thoughts, suggestions, etc are very welcome.

Plan 1 - the original

http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/album_photo.html?c_photo=94058684

Plan 2 - the rehash

http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/album_photo.html?c_photo=94058685

Many thanks
Nim

 

[Nemesis]

We aren't being very helpful so far are we?

Poss as it's the weekend everyone will have some thinking time.

 

[Nimster]

Yeah, call yourselves experts Guess it's a pretty trivial thing to ask, but I was after some "yes, we agree with you" type comments. Never mind, I think I've decided I want to go with the lower level-roof "porch" rather than the "passage".

All we have to work out now is where to put the cat flap and how to rig it so the local cat that is currently coming in, terrorising my cats and weeing everywhere, can't get in. Oh the joy.

 

[AMc]

All we have to work out now is where to put the cat flap and how to rig it so the local cat that is currently coming in, terrorising my cats and weeing everywhere, can't get in. Oh the joy.

The magnet activated ones did the trick for us - though not if the errant cat also has one. One cat came in carrying a teaspoon on it's collar which is almost worth the extra on it's own.

 

[Nemesis]

'm not ignoring it I just haven't had time to look too hard! Been writing long stroppy letters of objection to the demolition of historic structures etc etc and I haven't had much time for owt else... like baths, getting out of my pyjamas, that sort of thing...

Oh we have the cat wee at the moment... lovely! Thinking about one of those ones with electrickery and a cat collar for our cat with the opening device.

I like the spoon idea - is it silver?

 

[AMc]

Don't think silver is attracted to magnets or we might have encouraged the little cat burglar .
The teaspoon was a tatty steel one, but it was interesting to try and work out where he'd picked it up. Of course a cat with a tea spoon firmly stuck to it's neck is very funny to watch.

 

[Nemesis]

Especially tryng to get through a cat flap I imagine!

 

[skier-hughes]

Sticking off topic, you can buy cat flaps with adjustable magnets, so the run of the mill magnet lots of cats have won't open it.

 

[Nimster]

Hi
I'll have a look at the adjustable magnet ones I think - thanks for the suggestion.

The evil cat obviously also has a magnet as we heard the catflap clatter open last night as we were sat in the living room with both of our cats. We tried the cunning "trap it, scare it, let it go" tactic by setting the cat flap to In Only last night. Sure enough, the cat came in, found itself stuck in the passage, then proceeded to cause chaos before ramming it's way back out through the locked flap. If it's the one I've seen around, it has shoulders like a bulldog - no wonder the cats are scared of it!

We'll try and trap it again tonight while we're in. I suspect a discreet removal of its magnet and a dunking in the fish pond may put it off visiting.

 

[Nemesis]

Oh - he's only being normal! He sounds lovely really.

Lock him out for a night or two... will get the message.

 

[Nimster]

Lock him out for a night or two... will get the message.

Hmmm, you would think......

This is the same cat that terrorised ours over the whole of last summer. We ended up having to hook the garden hose up outside our bedroom window to see it off. What fun - 2am - cats fighting outside the window - me having to sneak to the window, get the hose and try and squirt the cat before it saw me. I got it a couple of times though (with the "brickwork washing" hose option, which must have hurt).

Trouble is, if we lock it out - ie lock our cats in, our cats shred the carpets if they are locked downstairs, and jump all over the bed if they have the run of the house (including the obligatory "maiow maiow, it's 6am and the sun's up, time to play" chorus).

Hopefully The Beast will come in tonight and I can wreak my revenge :twisted: mwahahahahhaha.

 

[Penners]

Nimster - It's difficult to visualise much detail from the small drawings on Photobox (I'm not a member so couldn't enlarge) but for what it's worth I like version 1 (ie: Photobox image 3) better than 2. I dislike the lower pitch on the corridor roof in v2, and I feel the v1 windows sit more comfortably with the house.

But that's just personal taste and may be completely contrary to what your CO wants!

Let us know how you get on.

 

[skier-hughes]

It's been a few years since I sold my shops, they now have infra red instead of magnetic cat flaps!

http://www.reilor.co.uk/pages/small.php

Should be looking at £60 to £70.

Graham

 

[Nimster]

Thanks Penners. I've passed my comments back to our architect/planner so I'll see what he has to say. He may tell me my ideas are rubbish (he's done that once already when I suggested a "glass box" instead of the passageway) but I might have a chat with the CO before we submit the plans to try and gauge his feelings.

Listed buildings, who'd have em :roll:

 

[Nimster]

Thanks Graham - I've had a look at those infra-red ones and the reviews aren't very comforting. Apart from the cunning cats that just lift up the flap, the flaps seem to break quite a lot and the poor cats have to wear a battery operated key around their necks! Considering we've got through 3 magnetic flaps in 8 months (cats can go through really quickly when they are scared and sometimes don't give the mechanism time to click open) I think we'll try the trapping/dunking tactic first

 

[Nemesis]

It could be worse... just be thankful this isn't yours to try to sort out :roll:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2007/03/16/castle_house_bridgwater_feature.shtml

 

[Penners]

Listed buildings, who'd have em :roll:

ME! (mostly...)

 

[Nemesis]

Some good news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/6465591.stm

 

[plumbers mate]

Except for the twee little balconies ....

 

[Anys]

About cat flaps, we manage without one as Henry would bring in so many trophies (the river and fish ladder is directly by the house) plus friends or enemies. Instead of a collar he has a microchip, under his neck fur put in by the vet, this gives his address if he gets lost and is found by someone else. He is used to being let out at certain times and just waits on the kitchen windowsill to be let in afterwards.