Are you thinking about adding a home extension to your property? This is one of the only real options if you’re interested in boosting the value of your home. With a home extension, you can increase the floor space and this will impact the price you can sell your home on the market for.
This is a far stronger option compared to changing the perceived value through changes to the exterior or new aesthetic options. While adding a home extension can be a great decision, there are a few steps that you will need to take here. This guide will ensure that you approach this decision the right way.
Start With Your Budget
First, you need to make sure that you are thinking about how much you want to spend on this home extension project. A home extension is always going to be an expensive choice. Indeed, it could cost you thousands to add a new part onto your home. It’s important that the costs don’t balloon out of control here. You don’t want to end up in a situation where your investment costs you more than you can afford.
You also need to make sure that you aren’t spending more than what you could get back on a potential sale in the future. As well as this, you need to think about whether making these changes to your home is going to outprice any buyers that would otherwise have been interested in purchasing your home.
Don’t forget, there are always options if you are interested in cutting the costs of your extension. For instance, you might want to consider using alternative materials for the interior. Laminate flooring is a great option rather than hardwood and will provide a similar aesthetic. Your contractor and designer will be able to help you with these options.
Find The Right Contractor
Next, you might want to think about how to choose the right contractor. This is going to be crucial if you want to make sure that you get a high standard of quality with your home extension. Without a quality service, your home extension is going to detract from the value of your property. Choosing the right contractor is also going to impact key factors including turnaround and of course, the initial cost.
However, it’s important to be aware that you shouldn’t simply choose a contractor based on the quote that they provide. Instead, you should contact several different contractors to get a baseline cost that you should expect to pay. You can then look at other important factors too.
For instance, any contractor that you speak to should be able to provide a portfolio of other work that they have completed. This could include direct referrals from clients. If a contractor isn’t able to provide any examples or evidence of previous work, then you should use their services with caution.
You need to be wary of cowboy traders that set up, complete jobs, get paid, shut down, and then start back up with a different brand name. These will be unlicensed and won’t be providing the service you need. That can also lead to even greater complications when it’s time to sell because it might mean that your home is unsafe.
Can You DIY?
You might be interested in handling at least some of the responsibilities and jobs connected to your home extension yourself and that’s understandable. After all, it can be great fun to make changes to your home and then look with pride at all the work that you have completed. However, there are certainly issues with completing an entire renovation without support.
You’ll need to start with the excavation process. For this, you will require special tools and equipment. The good news is that these can be purchased or even rented from companies online. However, you will need a certain level of knowledge to operate them the correct way.
There are also certain elements of completing a home extension that is considerably more dangerous than others. For instance, you need to think about wiring. For this, you should invest in the skill of an electrician. If you don’t use an electrician there is the possibility that things go wrong and this can make your extension dangerous. It could even open up the possibility of a fire hazard on your property and that’s the last thing that you want.
Do be aware that attempting to DIY without the right level of skill or experience can also cause the cost of your extension to balloon can grow beyond what you might expect. This is due to the fact that you may have to pay for multiple services to fix the damage that you left behind.
Getting Permission
Finally, before you start work, you need to think about getting the right permission for your home extension. Planning permission isn’t always straightforward and it can take a few months before you are provided with the option to build. You might also need to think about whether there are issues in your home contract that prevent you from making changes like this to your home. Certain neighborhoods and councils are very protective and wary about changes that will alter the aesthetic of the local area.
Depending on the contractor you choose, they may be able to help you with planning permissions and ensure that you do take the right steps here. This can save you from large delays to your planned extension.
We hope this helps you understand the right ways to add a new extension to your home. This is a great decision regardless of whether you are planning to sell in the near future. It provides you with the opportunity to add a wonderful new part to your home. It could be a conservatory, utility room, or guest area. The choice is entirely up to you. You just need to make sure that you are working with the right contractor. If you don’t get a quality result, it can have the opposite impact that you were hoping for.
