Future Plans – How To Plan An Extension

Mr B and I are always planning for our future. We talk about things like saving up to go to Disneyland, getting a bigger car, places we want to go and things we want to see. Well, one of the things we want to do is to have an extension built onto our 3 bed detached house. We have a rather large front and back garden, so an extension on the back won’t take away too much of my garden space. Extending can be cheaper than moving, plus for us we are in our forever home. Unless we win the lottery and I may rethingk that! But where do you start on how to plan an extension?

So far all we’ve done is chat about it. We are avid fans of Grand Designs so houses, buildings, and extensions is a hobby of ours. Depending on finances we would either like 2 storey extension or a conservatory.

The conservatory or extension would help to extend our kitchen space. When we moved to this house, the area and with it being a detached house played the part and won. I had to sacrifice a large kitchen, which I had in my old house. The extension would also give us another bedroom. The girls share a large bedroom at the moment and I use the smaller spare bedroom as the home office come junk room! So having another bedroom built on would mean they have a large bedroom each when they are older.

Of course, with an extension, you have to think about the double glazed windows, block work, interior and exteriors. Which is all a considerable cost. Erecting a conservatory is more cost-effective for gaining room space downstairs. You might only need to budget for replacement windows over time. Of course, having a conservatory means we have lost the extra bedroom. But Mr B and I have discussed that we could board out the loft and convert that. We always have a plan or two up our sleeves!

Anyway going back to the topic of this post.

How to plan an extension

Where do you start?

There is lots to think about. From building costs, planning regulations. finding a builder that’s not going to rip you off and not forgetting the neighbours.

Things to consider

• Permitted development and planning permission. – You can find more information here on whether you need planning permission. It’s all very complex so you would need to look into it further yourself.
• Building regulations
• House insurance
• Neighbours

Designing an extension

• Find an architect
• Structural Engineering checks and calculations
• Finding a reputable builder

Costs

• Quotes
• Budget available

So as you can see from the list, there is a lot to think about when you plan an extension. But if you have detailed plans and good tradespeople around you, your dream extension could come true with no hassle.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have enjoyed this post.

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