Excellent Advice For Making Improvements To Your Home
So here, produced with the advantage of over 25 years of ongoing experience in the business of planning and running property extensions, is the 10 Point Guide to what you must know before hiring a builder in Liverpool to build your new house extension:
- 1 - What’s your budget?
This is probably one of the most fundamental questions - and it’s unquestionably the initial thing we must ask our customers.
So prior to deciding to do anything (and ideally prior to deciding to get in touch with your architect) take a moment and decide exactly - or if you can’t be exact, think of a good idea - of how much you have to spend.
Don’t forget to include extras like your architect’s fees and the costs of your planning application if required. Also most architects and many builders will quote net of VAT, so don’t neglect to add the 20% on if necessary.
Once you’ve given yourself a budget, adhere to it - it’s way too easy to let fees sneak up on that house extension.
- 2 - What do you want to achieve with your property extension?
Are you seeking a new liveable space which the whole family can enjoy, a further bedroom for a new arrival or a office at home?
What you want to use your extension for and what you need to do in it will determine what sort of alteration you make to your property.
- 3 - How long will it take?
House extensions don’t happen over night - and even obtaining planning permission and building regulations acceptance will often take months. So be patient, and expect some upheaval and interruption to regular family life while the building is taking place.
You may want to think about the time of year, factor in things like holidays, family events and other events for which you will want full use of your property without the builders in.
Once you do decide the best time window for you home extension to be built, the secret is to plan it ahead as far as attainable.
- 4 - Are you needing planning permission?
Do you share a party wall with your neighbours, and will your alterations likely damage their home?
There's also the social component - your plans may well impact on their well being during the development period, so it’s wise to keep your neighbours completely informed of your goals from the very beginning.
- 7 - Are you in a conservation area?
If your home is in a specified conservation area or is a listed building, there may be very strict controls concerning what adjustments you may and cannot make.
You may not know if you’re in a conservation area, so verify with your local council - or use your architect’s local comprehension - for additional details.
- 8 - Up, down, or out to the side?
Where you place your house extension is definitely the next decision. Loft conversions are more popular than ever - so if you have the option of converting your loft space into a new room without any external signs of extending the property it’s well worth considering.
The most common choice for only gaining extra space either is either a single storey or two storey extension, for which you may like to build out to the side of your home.
