I just bought a double storey terrace with split level in the living room.
I'm trying to estimate the budget for my renovation.

1) Is it expensive to raise the living room to the same level as the dining area?
The living and dining area is different by 1 feet height.
The living area is about 24' x 10'.

2) How much does it cost if i were to also extend the living room for another 5 feet?

Any sifus can answer my questions here?

live with it la. you will have to spend lots of money just to raise it to the same level. imho not worth it

20k just to extend 5 feet or also include levelling the floor?

im guessing just extend.. 20k seems correct...

Why not lower the dinning area? There may be pipe underground supposed to be at least 2 feet below floor.

Don't just think about the floor. You have to remember there are doors as well, maybe other adjoining rooms like toilets, car porch? Your living room is not on it's own you know

This post has been edited by idoblu: Feb 12 2012, 05:47 PM

With the ceiling height of the Living area at 10', it is not worth reducing it further.
If you raise the living area floor, what about the entrance level? They are all tied up.
The split level is there for a reason. The land could be on a slight slope. The drop serves to demarcate the living from the dining area.

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Added on February 12, 2012, 11:42 pmIt is not a problem of underground pipes. You have to hack through the reinforced concrete ground beams just below the floor slab which is part of the building structure!


This post has been edited by tehtmc: Feb 12 2012, 11:42 PM

In choosing between raising the living to match the dining OR lowering the dining are to match the living; of course raising the living will be much cheaper that the lowering.
- To raise the living, just need to add the floor plus raising the doors and windows (assuming there is enough headroom, not other headroom obstructions, etc); while
- To lower the dining area would involve hacking off the concrete flooring which in the process may damage any underground services like water piping, cabling (if the electrical DB is within the dining area) You then have to reconstruct the concrete floor slab for the dining area (plus the tiling,etc) Bear in mind that the adjacent rooms like toilets, kitchen, etc are also effected. You don't want the toilet floor to be higher than the outside (dining area)

To cost to extend the living room by another 5' would be dependence on the site condition. But doubt would require 20k. Normally the porch/ terrace floor would already be concrete plus there is already the roof. So, basically just extend the wall (windows, door, etc) Then the floor finished to match.

As I said above, there is such a thing called 'concrete ground beams' along the edges of the floor slab.
It is part of the structure and cannot be removed.

I would have thought having diffrent height between the living room and dining room is a plus rather than a minus.

+1

if lower the dining area, the kitchen will be higher than dining & living area.

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Added on February 14, 2012, 1:43 amThe living room currently having single leaf door and sliding door. I'm already planning to change them to double leaf door and window.

And you are right on the car porch. I might need to raise the car porch or add a step at the door entrance. These are extra costs as well.

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Added on February 14, 2012, 1:50 amI'm not sure what's the height of the living area. But it should have at least 10'. Thanks for pointing this out.

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Added on February 14, 2012, 1:59 amDoes the 20k estimate include the cost of windows and door, or just extending the wall? There is already the roof and concrete floor.

This post has been edited by whitfurrows: Feb 14 2012, 01:59 AM

If you are really firm on raising the living room area to match the dining, it should not cost too much additional since you are planning to replace the existing sliding door and single leaf door anyway. As I have mentioned previously, since there is already the floor slab and roof outside the exiting living room wall, the cost for the work (incl new windows & door) should be less than RM20k. However, the actual cost will depends on what material you are planning to use. Get few contractors to quote you using the material that your want to have a better feel of the cost.
There is no need to raise the car porch. Just add the entrance step in front of the double leaf door.

The main deciding factor would be; by raising the existing living room, will it create other "problems" For this, you will need to take a good look at the site and imagine having a raised floor and what could be the problem like headroom, staircase, storeroom, etc

Guys

Between the two, which would you choose ?

A - a 10ft high ceiling at the Living area with a split level to the Dining (as existing)

B - a 9ft high ceiling at the Living area without a split level to the Dining + having to spend cost of renovation

I prefer a split level. Those were all the rage back in the 80s and 90s and imho is still a pretty darn neat design feature. Gives your house 'character'.

What I don't like would be those enforced split units. A difference of 1 foot is probably deliberate, but in some hillside developments the split is more than 3 feet!!! Those just look plain makeshift

I prefer no split - all same level but having said that, I would not do anything either if the split level already exist.
trust me, 1 ft difference would look really weird once they are on the same level

whitfurrows, is there a good reason why you want to rid the split level? aesthetic wise, split looks nicer but maybe you got folks in the house with walking disability then maybe a cheaper alternative like a ramp will greatly reduce the cost needed

This post has been edited by idoblu: Feb 14 2012, 11:00 AM

Instead of having equal levels, try renovating to have a different room, different concept. And install a divider between areas.
New tilling or wooden flooring will give a different feel i think.

I would tend to think that even in those houses that have slip levels on the ground floor, the upper floor will be on a same level. Some eg. that I have stayed in are those old houses in SS2, etc. The ground floor has split level while the upper floor are on a same.
So, the issue of having a 10ft ceiling VS a 9ft ceiling would not come into question.
Having said that, some would prefer having the ground on a same level more for easy access especially if you older folks staying in, etc.

Of course the lst floor level is the same, with only a 1ft split at the ground floor.

There is a big difference when you experience a room with 10ft ceiling ht and another with a 9ft ceiling height.
10 ft is just about the minimum I would accept for the ceiling height of a Living Room. Mind you, 10 ft does not include the beams which are lower.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Feb 14 2012, 02:32 PM

The normal standard ceiling would be between 9.5' to less than 10' (measured from the floor finish to the bottom of the 1st floor slab. So, if the dining area (which in higher than the living) is already having the that ceiling height, even if you raise the living area to match the dining, it will also give your the required ceiling height as per the dining area ....