Planning an Extension for your Home

The fact of the matter is, less and less people are moving out of their homes. The price of buying a new home is rising continuously higher, with no end in sight, and when you’re raising a family, you have to count every coin. So instead of wasting money on buying a new home, why not simply invest some of that in your current one by building an extension?

This is fast becoming a popular solution, and not just among the homeowners with growing families. The cost of selling a property has a massive list of extra costs you never see at face value, such as stamp duty, agent’s fees, preparing the house for inspection, and the one most people seem to forget, the cost of moving as well. Why bother with all that, when it’s much easier and cheaper to simply add a few extra rooms?

Here’s a short list of things that will help you on your way.

Be Practical

The first thing you need to do is make a plan, get an idea for what you want and temper it with realism. It doesn’t stop there though, depending on what you want done, you have to consider the cost involved, the potential value the work could add to your home, and most importantly, where you’re going to live while the work is being done. Have things planned out beforehand, there’s nothing wrong with taking time to make sure all the necessary arrangements have all been made.

Balancing the Budget

Once you’ve got a fair idea of what needs to be done, it’s time to take out your old calculator and tally up the total cost. The biggest portion of this is in the construction work itself, all the plans that detail the requirements for the extension. An architect or a building designer can help you with this, but if you want a more accurate total cost, you’re better off consulting a builder.

Mixing and Matching can only lead to a Miss-Match

Whether you’re adding in a few extra rooms, or a whole extra story, you need to be sure that everything matches up, not just the wallpaper. Any additional construction done to an existing building needs to be done using matching, if not the same, materials when it was originally built. This is not simply to make it look good; it’s also an integral part of the structure, as it factors in to a lot of the equations and calculations needed to construct the extension.

Consult a Professional

Building Designers and Architects are both skilled professionals that you need when you want to draw up the detailed plans for your home extension. They possess the intimate knowledge of the regulatory requirements and the structural and construction issues that will be involved, and can give you plenty of practical advice on how to best configure and construct your extension. While dimensions are important, there are a number of other factors to address, such as your existing floor plan, the amount of space that the extension will create, and even your lifestyle.

Reading the Fine Print

Before you can even lay the first brick, you first have to deal with the red tape. There is an awful lot of regulations when it comes to building, most of which can usually be handled by the architects or the builders, but there’s still quite a bit you have to oversee yourself.

To get the process started, you will first need to talk to your neighbours, especially your immediate ones as they’ll also be impacted by the construction. Apart from being polite, you can also ensure that they won’t try to stall or halt the construction, and if they have any problems, they can be sorted out beforehand.

Next on your list, you’ll need a planning permit which authorises any work done on your property. Without this, you can’t even lay down the first new brick. It may seem simple, but there are plenty of regulations which are necessary prior to receiving one which you must abide by.

If you're looking to build or renovate, find a local specialist in house planning, home improvement & renovation and/or building design and have a chat with them.

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