Planning An Extension To Your Property? Tips and Advice You Cannot Afford To Ignore!
More and more Americans throughout the United States are opting to add an extension to their homes rather than putting themselves and their family through the stress and upheaval that moving home inevitably and unavoidably involves.
Continue reading to discover some helpful tips and advice when planning a home extension that you simply cannot afford to ignore.
1. Use External Storage
To maintain your daily routine as much as possible throughout the entirety of the building work, instead of piling your furniture and possessions in an unused and dust-covered corner of a room, it is far more sensible to hire a space at a public storage warehouse. This way, you are safe in the knowledge that your cherished belongings are safe, secure and protected and are at no risk of getting damaged.
2. Be Sure To Have Your Boiler Surveyed
Inevitably, with the addition of a large extension to your home, a substantial amount of increased stress and workload will be put on your home boiler. It is for this reason that it is strongly advisable to book a full boiler survey prior to commencing any building work. As with any internal system, boilers need regular maintenance and even more so when the building is growing in size. You may need to consider changing it to something more suitable for a larger home, particularly if you are adding bathrooms.
3. Current And Future Access Requirements
If you or a member of your family have any access needs or disabilities that may increase in time, it is vital to add such needs into your renovation considerations and blueprints and to not overlook possible future developments. Additionally, during the renovation process itself, if a member of your household has specific access requirements you must ensure they are still able to fully access and move around the home as normal. Ensure there are a suitable number of ramps, remove any unnecessary
obstructions (there will probably be some avoidable temporary building obstacles) and strive to keep the floors, stairs and rooms as decluttered and simplistic as possible.
4. Include Additional Extension Costs In Your Budget
There is a plethora of additional costs that it is strongly advisable you include when initially planning your budget for the building work. These include, but are in no way limited to:
o Property control charges
o A lawful development certificate
o Flood risk assessment
o Archaeological reports
o Painting and decorating costs
o Surveyor’s fees
5. Flair And Design
Essentially, the sooner you begin to design your vision and put pen to paper to visually plan your extension the better and will give you a good idea of the space you have to work with and any furniture or other home design elements you need to purchase and which ones you can repurpose from other rooms. When working with your principal architect and builder, the clearer and more specific you are in your vision and your dealbreakers, the more likely the vision you have of the completed project will be created in real life.