House Extensions Starter Guide : Everything You Need to Know
In this post we'll be exploring all the different types of extensions that you can add to your property before deciding to go ahead with your project and transform your house into your dream home.
Picture #1: Multiple house extensions in Hammersmith including, ground floor rear, loft, POD and full basement extensions. Picture of the loft and rear mansard roof with dormer. EMR Architecture.
Most houses have the potential to be extended and knowing which types of home extensions exists can help you decide what is the best option for your needs. We all could use more space but don't usually want to move so this is the perfect way to add space and value to your current home.
In this article we'll give you an overview of the different possibilities you have and what are their advantages and disadvantages.
Contents:
Home Extension Type #1: Loft Conversion
Probably the most common and cost effective way of adding space to your house. The space under the roof is usually underused but actually full of potential. Removing the pitch of the roof and making it flat with a dormer allows for the extra head height you need to make a new habitable space. We can usually fit an additional bedroom and shower room, ensuring a significant increase on the value of your property. Whether this extra room is used for guests, as a family/play room or even transformed into the master bedroom, it is a great addition and much more affordable than other options.
Pros: It's a cheaper option, adds one more room making your house more attractive to families, less stress and hassle than moving home to get the extra space needed for your growing family, easier and quicker to build since there's less structure involved such as new foundations for example.
Cons: the floor below is reduced slightly to make room for the new staircase into the loft, you still need a party wall agreement with your neighbours, still takes 3-4 months to complete on average.
Sketch #1: Loft extensions. Residential Extension Guidelines SPD, London Borough of Hounslow
Home Extension Type #2: Side Return or Infill Extension
Lots of semidetached and detached houses have a side path connecting the front and rear gardens while lots of period terraced houses have a L shape ground floor with a small path into the garden from the rear. In both cases this space is usually small and is where households keep the bins or some kind of storage but in any case it adds very little value to the house and it's not very functional. The extension itself is not very big in terms of square metres but by increasing the overall width of the ground floor and filling the whole length of it the result can significantly impact the internal layout and transform the living experience completely. Typically we would open up the space creating a big kitchen-dining area with new rooflights to bring as much natural light inside as possible and create a big opening at the back to connect the inside with the garden.
Pros: It's an intermediate option in terms of expenses, you can live upstairs while doing the works saving some money in rent (assuming you have a full bathroom on one of the other floors), also adds value to the property as it adds few square metres to it.
Cons: doesn't add as much space in square metres as other options, although the internal layout can impact the functionality you don't gain an extra room usually unless it's a utility or some kind of service space, you still need a party wall agreement with your neighbour, although small it can take 3-4 months to complete depending on how many internal changes you need, it involves a lot of structural changes such as foundations and elements to hold the floors above in some cases.
Sketch #2: Single storey side extensions. Residential Extension Guidelines SPD, London Borough of Hounslow
Home Extension Type #3: Single Storey Rear Extension
This type of addition extends into de rear garden or patio and it's usually the width of the existing house. It adds on average15sqm to terraced houses and 20sqm to semidetached houses. They are typically used to open up the space in the ground floor and connect it with the garden by using larger opening at the back with sliding or bi-folding doors. We typically achieve a large reception room at the front, toilet and utility/pantry in the middle of the house and kitchen/dining room at the back. It is important to bear in mind that although it adds a significant amount of space it doesn't increase the number of bedrooms and therefore this is more suitable for houses with a large amount of bedrooms upstairs in need of a bigger area at ground floor level for the whole family to enjoy.
Pros: adds a significant amount of square metres to the house resulting in a good return of investment, its impact on the ground floor layout is remarkable but also on the use of the garden space making it more enjoyable, you can also live upstairs while doing the works allowing you to save some money in having to rent another place in the meantime.
Cons: reduces the size of the garden or patio which something especially important to take into account if your outdoor space is not big, you need a party wall agreement with both neighbours if it's a terraced house, it can take 6 months to complete depending on how many internal changes you need, it involves a lot of structural changes such as foundations and elements to hold the floors above when opening the rest of the space to make the most out of it.
Sketch #3: Single storey rear extensions. Residential Extension Guidelines SPD, London Borough of Hounslow
Home Extension Type #4: Double Storey Extension
Whether to position it on the side or the rear this type of extension is less common than all other types. It will have to be assessed for each project separately since some councils have more restrictive regulations for this kind of development because of it's impact on the existing building and neighbouring properties. If possible to do it will be added on top of one of the other extensions explained above which means there's an economy of scale in terms of costs. This is mostly due to the fact that the structure for the ground floor addition is already new including the foundations so the cost per square metre of this addition is reduced. It increases the space on the first floor which is usually a bit more uncommon to get.
Pros: adds a much bigger amount of square metres over 2 floors having a larger impact in both functionality and return of investment, it has the pros of all other single storey extensions too, the overall price per square metre is slightly less.
Cons: reduces the size of the garden or patio like other single storey options, it may not be well perceived or approved by the council, it may cast shadow over your own house or neighbours, you need a party wall agreement with your neighbours , it can take more than 6 months to complete depending on how many internal changes you need, requires scaffolding, it involves bigger structural changes since it involves 2 floors and will need to move out to carry out the works.
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