A home extension can provide you with an array of benefits, from extra storage space and more room for living, especially if you’ve added to your family recently, and also somewhat increases your property’s value. The downside to this is that it can be quite costly and generally takes a lot of time to complete, as is to be expected. But once you’ve committed to a project like this and are happy with your materials and labor budgets, an extension can be a very positive addition to your home. To help you with this process, we created this handy, in-depth guide to provide you with some inspiration and keep you on track to ensure your home extension project goes to plan.
Create Your Plan
Your first step during this process is to create a plan for the whole project. This should include a number of different things, such as expected costs of materials and labor to timescales and any identifiable roadblocks along the way. The more detail you put into your plan, the more chance you have of avoiding any unexpected problems while creating your home extension. Understanding how to plan and manage your extension project is very important, and this step should be given adequate time and consideration to ensure things go smoothly. It’s also worth running these plans by anyone you’re working alongside, whether it’s builders, other contractors, or even a designer for the extension.
Set Out Your Budgets
Alongside your plan for the project, you’ll also have to decide on an overall budget. This should be as in-depth as possible to account for all of the possible costs when building your home extension. You’ll have to account for the amount you’ll spend on materials and how much you can afford to pay for labor and decide on an emergency budget to handle any unexpected price rises between now and your expected end date. Unfortunately, it’s very common for these things to end up going over budget, and this is why it’s highly recommended that you severely overestimate how much you’ll have to spend while also striving to save as much money as possible to avoid running out of funds. You’ll be much happier to have a substantial amount left over by the end of the project than you will be if you have to figure out how to acquire extra funding for the project.
Decide On A Style
There are so many different types of extensions you could create for your home, ranging from small side returns which expand the current space of one of your rooms, a ground floor extension, a two-story extension, or even an entirely new house, practically doubling your space. Of course, each of these is going to cost progressively more, on average, and you’ll have to decide which is possible based on your budget. For a more expensive project, however, you might consider getting a loan from a trusted provider like a bank. For the smaller projects, you can do this, too, with many banks providing home improvement loans. The style of extension you choose will also depend on a few other factors, such as if you require planning permission or even if you don’t have enough space to fulfill your vision.
Pick A Theme
Style is one thing, but the overall aesthetic theme is entirely separate from this. An extension to your home doesn’t have to follow any particular theme at all, and it’s not uncommon to see a more contemporary design of extension attached to a more rustic or traditional existing home. This all depends on personal preference but remember that it may not be entirely possible to match the look of the existing property exactly. Instead, it may be worth merely trying to complement the existing design rather than trying to copy it or choosing something wildly different. Consider matching textures and color schemes or using a similarly rustic material. For example, if the existing property is made of old local stonework, you could choose woods that come from local tree species.
Choose Your Materials
When it comes to deciding on which materials to use, aesthetics aren’t the only thing that matters: the sturdiness of the materials and how much maintenance and care they require will also play a part in your decision. For example, thick, durable stone can essentially be left alone for decades before it starts to lose any integrity, whereas woods and metals may require a bit more care and regular treatment. Depending on what you’re constructing, you could also consider durable plastics. A corrapol PVC installation for roofing can be a reliable and affordable choice of material for something like a lean-to or outdoor storage shed attached to your new extension, for example. Or perhaps you want to create an outdoor seating area as part of your new project and want protection from the rain without making the space too shady with an opaque awning covering the area. Whatever you decide, make sure you think about more than how these materials look so you can be certain you’re making the correct choice.
Think About Your Current Space
People often forget to consider the existing space in their property once the extension is created. If your extension is open plan, extending one of your rooms like your kitchen, you’re likely going to have to reconfigure the layout of the space. Sometimes you might struggle to get the aesthetics to match up, for example, but in this case, it may be better to be brazen with the contrast and to just own it. You’ll also want to think about pathways through the space, as prior to your extension, you might not have had any reason to walk through that area, whereas now, your furniture in the original space may be blocking the path to your extension space. You may have to make some significant changes to this area, so things definitely feel intentional and not poorly planned.
Consider A Detached Structure
A popular choice when it comes to projects like this is to not have an adjoining extension to the property and to instead extend the living space of the property via an entirely detached structure. Of course, this isn’t necessarily the same as a genuine extension, but it provides you with an entirely new room or two for your property. This could be in the form of external living space, perfect for getting away from a busy household. More often than not, these are created with the intention of becoming an office spaces for professionals who work from home regularly. This can provide a professional workspace away from your family and other distractions, helping you separate your professional life from your personal life.
Extend Upwards
While there are a few hurdles to jump over when it comes to building upwards, such as the potential requirements for planning permission, building a vertical extension could be the way to go. Of course, there are limits on how tall you can be, but many houses around the country are able to have an extension built on top of the existing structure, but there are still lots of rules and regulations for this. In some cases, you could also build a two-story extension to your property, but you may need to get planning permission and check what the restrictions are for building this in your area. Often, the thing that prevents you from doing this is if you are interfering with the views of your neighbors and blocking out the sun.