Expanding your home out, even just a little bit, is a big thing to consider and plan for. After all, you’re going to be knocking through walls and removing doors and flattening out bits of grass on the plot surrounding you, and that’s all got to be done properly! One wrong move and a wall could collapse, or a door might not fit its frame, or that bit of grass could be a destroyed habitat of the surrounding wildlife. You’ve got to be sure you know where you’re putting your extension, how this new structure is going to affect the old one, and whether or not you’ve got the room to build how you want.
All that means you’ve got some work to do right now, before you get to work hiring on a designer and crafting out your budget, all excited and ready to go. Of course, you’re never going to go into any kind of renovation work with your eyes closed, but there’s a good chance you’ve forgotten a few things that really need a second look at! So let’s make sure you’re thinking about them with the questions we’ve listed down below.
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Where Exactly is Your House?
Depending on the land your property is built on, you might not be able to move significantly in any direction. You might just have a small plot to your name, or you might have a large plot that you could do anything your like with! Only thing is, it’s bordered by a national park or a national forest, and you absolutely cannot infringe on those.
Similarly, if you have a standard sized plot of land on your hands, you might have just a few feet of space to work with, but enough to get another room or a large conservatory fitted on! You can’t wait to get to work on choosing glass panels to look out of as you sit in a cool and airy space during the summer! But in all that excitement, you’ve forgotten the sewer that’s near your house, or the storm drain that winds around your street – you have to keep these underground installations in mind as well. If they’re within 3 or so meters from your house, you’ve got to make the drainage companies aware of your plans, and sign a whole bunch of documents to make sure you’re allowed to work on top of these points.
So before you do make plans to add an extension onto any part of your home, be sure to survey your landscape first. It’ll save you a lot of headaches down the line!
What if You Haven’t Got the Land Available?
Similar to the point above, you can’t build an extension to your house if there’s simply no room to do so! Sure, you can knock through some interior walls to free up the space inside a little bit more, but you can’t really do anything about the actual size of your home, can you? Well, let’s make sure you’re measuring properly, and that you’re thinking about your options here.
There’s a lot of small extensions out there, and whilst you might be trawling through the web to see if there’s a freehold condo for sale nearby (which you’d actually be able to work on, and it might be better worth your money!), you still have the chance to work on your own home for the time being.
Maybe you could put a porch on the front of your house, if you don’t have one already? If you do, think about extending it to fit the entire front wall, to give yourself more room to set up chairs and benches on for the summer time. If you’ve got a basement that has room for you to dig out a little bit of the earth in front of it, or if the basement itself is at ground level, you could open that up very easily with a light wall. Instead of having a cramped and dark space down there, you can instead allow all of the outside weather into it – you could even turn it into a patio space, with an added door. All in all, there’s a lot of ways you can extend your house, even if only by a few inches, or by letting a little more light and air in.
Can Your House Hold Up a New Room?
Speaking of extensions that don’t jut outwards, why not put an extension on the top of your house? It’s an easier way to add room to a property that’s a little cramped, and there’s a good chance you already have an attic that’s just holding a bunch of storage you don’t need anymore. Re-purpose the space, and add to it – a loft extension has a lot of value to it these days!
Before you go all out in adding a more swanky and fancy designer loft room to your house, make sure the walls below it can support the additional weight and use. Load bearing walls can be few and far between within a structure, and you’ll have to pad out your other walls if you’re looking to increase the weight by building a third story.
So first thing’s first, make sure you can identify your load bearing walls. Once you have, determine if the wall is capable of carrying more weight on it, to spread out along the rest of the house until it reaches the foundation. You might need to strengthen the structure you already have, if you’re planning to put a whole games room up in what was once the attic, or if you want to make the new room a bedroom for guests. You might want to call in a professional here, as you don’t want any of your house to come down around you, and there’s always a chance you’ve misidentified a wall.
A house can very easily collapse once one of its supporting walls have been removed, or when it has not modified correctly to hold more weight. Of course, it won’t be as dramatic as it looks on the TV, but there will be warning signs down the line that you can’t ignore.
Are You Talking to the Right Extension Designer?
Speaking of professionals, you need to get the right designer on your side, once you’ve assessed your house and the land it’s on. For an extension that’s going to add some space and class and value to your home, you need to work with someone who shares your visions. You also need someone who shares your concerns, and knows how to plan around and for them!
So before you go all out and hire on someone who looks good and has a very nice reputation, make sure they specialise in what it is you want done. Have they ever worked on a loft addition before? Do they know how to add a box dormer to the roof, correctly and safely? Make sure they can show you examples of their work before you let them loose in the house you call a home!
Ready to Expand Your Home?
If you’re reading this, then you’re definitely thinking about getting it done! But you’re either just not sure if it’d be worth it, or you’re worried you’ve forgotten something in the whole planning process. Don’t worry, when you’re working with the right people, and when you know your own home and the area it’s built in, you’re never going to get it wrong.