House planning: adding extensions to your home

Building an extension is a big commitment for any home owner to take on. An extension that has been done well can increase the value of your home quite dramatically, but to ensure you get a good result it's important to do your research.

Building an extension is an entirely different prospect from building a new home, so make sure you enlist the services of a builder who is experienced in the area. It's important that any extension is in harmony with the rest of the house. 

Investing in durability when house planning

A cheap, poorly executed extension is a bad investment and can actually decrease the value of your home. The same can be said of an extension that dates badly. 

"We're all familiar with the 'hat box on the roof', the flat-roof 1950s add-on and primitive sunrooms that have different floor levels to the existing home," says Colin of The Extension Factory. 

"For budget constraints it may have been necessary to do this, but when it comes to marketing that home the agent is going to realise that had it been done in a professional way, the home would have had a greater market value. The extended works shouldn't be able to be detected." 

Extensions to suit the family

Any extension should truly represent a family's needs. Family rooms should interconnect with other living spaces, formal spaces should be zoned, casual spaces should be located immediately adjacent to the kitchen to make serving meals convenient and outdoor areas should come off the casual living spaces. 

"This is what's generally expected by the consumer who buys a home today," says Colin. "If the home's been developed without those expectations being addressed, it will be quickly detected by the consumer. The consumer's very well informed these days." 

Given that most families continue to live in the house while an extension is being done, it's important to find contractors who are mindful that water systems and kitchens need to be in working order while the building works are going on. 

An experienced company can also look into things like council building regulations – there are often rules that home owners are unaware of, particularly when it comes to issues like building extensions onto heritage homes.

Understanding the value of your home

Finally, don't be too afraid that your extension is going to overcapitalise your home, especially if it's a home built around the 1940s or 50s.

"What people have to realise is that if a home is of that era and they upgrade it they are just bringing it up to 2007 expectations," says Colin. "The home is actually undercapitalised if you don't do this. It's very difficult to overcapitalise a home these days; an extension helps you to realise the full potential of the home."

Talk to a building contractor today to find out how you can begin house planning with extensions in mind: