Ultimate guide to extending your home

Why do you want to extend your home?

It’s important to think about why you want to extend your home: perhaps your family has outgrown your current home? Or your new lifestyle demands a bigger space? Either way, it is often the most time and cost-effective option to extend your existing property, rather than purchasing and moving to a new home.

It is also important to narrow down the motivations and objectives for your extension as this can fuel the vital planning process to ensure we can provide a bespoke design specific to your individual needs.

Some homeowners choose to extend a home is to add value to your property and increase its market appeal, others do so to make their space more comfortable to live. At Refresh, we like to think “Why not both?”

What are your options when it comes to extending a home?

The possibilities are almost limitless and are most likely going to be unique to match your specific needs, but here are a few potential ideas:

Open-plan living

‍‍Whether you are looking to extend to create a light-filled, open-plan kitchen or to add an extra bedroom, study or sunroom onto your current home, same-level extensions are the perfect starting point.

Bedroom extension

If you’re unsatisfied with its current size, you can extend your bedroom and en-suite or choose to add a walk-in wardrobe.

Kitchen extension

A popular choice is to expand the heart of the home: your kitchen!

Attic or loft extension

If you have an underutilized attic, why not extend it into a full second storey?

Extending up

Consider a Lean-to extension—which is where a single-storey structure is constructed to enable the roof to lean against an outer wall of the existing property. Most common lean-to extensions are sunrooms, as part of an open-plan dining or living area, or as a tranquil space for reading or pondering. These are time efficient, create a lot of space and are relatively cost-effective.

Extending down

If you can’t extend your home outwards or upwards, you can always go downwards! Using the ground beneath your home can help you gain some extra valuable space and increase your property’s appeal.

How much will it cost to extend your home?

The cost of your extension is going to depend on the scope of your renovation. Whether you planning to install a new garage, transform your kitchen into an open-plan design, or extend your bedroom and en-suite, here is a rough price guide for home extension renovations.

When thinking about your extension, it’s easy to obsess over the cost, but it’s often better to shift your focus away from the individual price of each element and onto the holistic value it will bring to your home overall. Remember, you’re not just extending your home to add long-term value to your property, but to improve your quality of life.

How to save money during a home extension?

The least expensive way to complete your home renovation is to continue living on-site while the extension is in progress. However, it can be hard to endure the potential dust and noise. Another option is to stay with family or accommodating friends. If you decide to stay on-site, our home extension renovation specialist will make sure the construction crew seals up rooms whenever they can in order to reduce the spread of debris.

Inspirational Home Extensions

If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out these home extensions recently completed by Refresh:

• Granny-flatting in Style Beside the Family in Takanini, Auckland
• A family home extension in Grey Lynn
• A bedroom extension in Wanaka
• From derelict to mint condition: a garage conversion in Lyall Bay, Wellington
• Subdividing, renovating and extending a property in Orewa: Part Two

Council Approval

As extending a home can be an extensive renovation project, it may require Council Approval. Your Refresh renovation specialist will take care of everything for you, however, you can take a look at what classes as a permitted development and some tips for planning permission approval.

Hiring a Professional vs DIY Extension?

Do you have the knowledge and experience to do the extension yourself? It may sound appealing to do it yourself because of what looks like potential cost savings, but often times, you won’t end up with your ideal result, and it’ll most likely end up costing much more when you have to call a specialist to fix all the mistakes…

If you’re looking for a stress-free renovation, the best option is to hire an expansion specialist company that will take care of the entire project in a professional manner. Doing so will save you time and money as you don’t have to deal with managing the project and the specialist can get significant discounts on products compared to what you would pay at a retailer. All you have to do is tell us what you want, and we’ll take care of the rest, getting the project finished on-time and on-budget!

What are some things to consider when planning your home extension?

Consider your materials

Most extensions require building consent, so it’s critical to think about the materials you want to use to ease this process. The design phase will ensure your chosen materials complement your existing architectural style and make sure your choices will be long-lasting instead of quickly becoming outdated.

Check your measurements

When it comes to extending, you want to make sure a new extension isn’t dwarfed by the current building, but you also don’t want it to overwhelm the original structure. You want the extension to seamlessly combine with the existing home to create a fresh yet coherent feel. Therefore it is important to take your time with the measurements as even a few millimetres can have a drastic impact on your expansion.

Think about your neighbours

Sometimes it’s easy to become preoccupied with your home and forget about the neighbours. It is advisable to evaluate whether your planned extension is of a reasonable size, avoids overlooking others, and maintains some element of privacy. Although you can extend your property as close to the edge as you want, we wouldn’t recommend being wall to wall with your neighbouring homes!

Ready to get started?

If you want to find out exactly how much your home extension is going to cost, get in touch with one of your renovation specialists today!