Thinking about an extension - any advice/thoughts?

[Littlemissjojo]

DH & I have been thinking about possibly extending our house. When I say thinking, I mean literally just scribbling drawings on bits of paper! We really dont know the first thing about how to go about it - in what order you do things, regarding planning regs etc etc.

Also, we would be looking to get money on the mortgage to cover it, our mortgage however was taken out about 5 years ago so was based on the house value at that time. The value now is higher, do the mortgage companies generally take that into account? And would they take into account the new value that the house would be once the work was finished, iyswim?

I've heard so many horror stories about people being conned by builders, or ending up with a shoddy job. Can anyone share experiences??

Thanks in advance xx

[Littlemissjojo]

Just giving this a gentle bump...

[dune]

I have an extention and the only thing i would have done different is have a sloped tile roof rather than a flat one

[kerryo]

dont know to much but I know that they would arrange for your home to be valued, also would assume depending on the size of the extension you would need to get planning permission first which takes about 8 weeks. Usually if the houses around you have had similar extension there should be no probs:)

[kerryo]

I have an extention and the only thing i would have done different is have a sloped tile roof rather than a flat one

i would agree, defo have a tiled roof:)

[jackie_k_uk]

I have an extention and the only thing i would have done different is have a sloped tile roof rather than a flat one

Hate flat roofs,and they cost a fortune to repair,having ours done wenesday and costing £1000..Jeez thats a holiday :D
Thank god its not all flat roof!!!

[mhoc]

Its a long time since we had ours but from what I can gather it can take at least 8 weeks to get planning permission so you need to make a fast decision if you want it done over the summer, then there is finding the architech and finding a plumber, buider etc etc

Flat roofs are very much out now and all windows have to be opening out at the bottom so in a fire you can hurl yourself out of the window :confused:

[scrumpyjane]

We had a wet room extention a few years ago and the first thing we did was to get lots of builders round to tell them basically what we wanted and to get quotes. They varied upto £10,000 :eek:.

We went in the end with builders we had been recommended and were reasonably priced.

Then we got someone round to draw up proper plans ( can't recall at the min what they are professionally called :der:).

From memory he drew up the plans then submitted them to the council and we got the ok to start only a few weeks later. Someone from the council came round at different stages to check everything was going to the submitted plans.

Good luck!

[jackie_k_uk]

We had a wet room extention a few years ago and the first thing we did was to get lots of builders round to tell them basically what we wanted and to get quotes. They varied upto £10,000 :eek:.

We went in the end with builders we had been recommended and were reasonably priced.

Then we got someone round to draw up proper plans ( can't recall at the min what they are professionally called :der:).

From memory he drew up the plans then submitted them to the council and we got the ok to start only a few weeks later. Someone from the council came round at different stages to check everything was going to the submitted plans.

Good luck!

Had mine 20 years ago..A 4 room extension but thats how I remember it happening too.
We were lucky,Our builders were brilliant,even got a big bouquet of flowers after thanking me for tea juice biccies and cakes etc ohh and patience :)

[Littlemissjojo]

Thank you all, I think thats about as I imagined it, we are quite excited about it, will make a real difference to the house! First stop with the mortgage company, will ring them this week!

[Deedee]

how "big" an extension are you thiinking of lmjj?

[coupon queen]

Before you spend any money, make a appointment to see your local planning officer at the council, they will tell you what you can and cannot have and can be very helpfull.

CQ

[kerryo]

Thank you all, I think thats about as I imagined it, we are quite excited about it, will make a real difference to the house! First stop with the mortgage company, will ring them this week!

It will make such a difference,keep us updated :)

[Littlemissjojo]

how "big" an extension are you thiinking of lmjj?

Right, at present our garage is next to the house, but set back. So what we would like to do is knock down garage and build new garage onto side of house, which would have utility room at the back, connecting side on to the kitchen. Also hopefully room for loo and shower room. Then upstairs would be a new bedroom and bathroom - as the existing bathroom would disappear to make a passageway to the new rooms, iyswim.

The house is currently a 2 bed semi, with nice big conservatory on the back. So downstairs, space is ok, but upstairs, the DDs share the bigger of the bedrooms, with me & DH in the smaller one, & the DDs REALLY want their own space! They are 9 & 6.

Phoned the mort co yesterday - just a quick enquiry as to what we need to do - need to call back & go thru 20 min appl, then take it from there.

So am in a slight quandry - as really have no idea how much we need, I wanted to find out first if we could get the money, but now I think I will need a ballpark figure of how much!!

I think I have a very very vague thought of perhaps £30k?? Does that sound anywhere near correct for what I have outlined above??!!

[mhoc]

I dont think its the same now, planning regualtions change all of the time but when we did our planning application we had to make sure that we had enough parking spaces on the drive , there had to be at least one space for each bedroom so we had to convince them there was at least three spaces :confused:

[Darkangel709]

Work out the square footage first then ask for quotes before you get it done....then at least you will have an idea before you start.....and find a reputable builder ask around to see who had done jobs for other people and ask what they were like ....

[Suffjester]

When we got planing permission a couple of years ago, we had to make sure that there was enough room left on the drive to park the car in front of the garage and still open the garage door. You say you are a semi; how close are you to the next house? If the extension is close to the boundary, you'll be subject to the "party wall act" . They were also a bit sensitive to what they called "terracing" - where houses with side extensions in a row don't look like semis anymore - so they wanted some extensions set back a bit.

If you are anywhere near Birmingham, it's the homebuiding and renovating show next weekend at the NEC - link below for free tickets.

https://www.showdata.com/register/1028/delegate.asp?eventid=event1144&afcode=BuildstoreEmail

[mhoc]

Yes on location last night the chap was saying something about planning regulations when you build extensions that there has to be a metre to the boundry fence.

I am not sure how this works, we have all seen new builds with a path down the side one flag stone wide, just enought to get the wheely bin from the back of the house to the front

[mariacl0]

Not quite the same, but we want our garage (attached to house) converted into another room. Whilst we're not extending or anything similar, we have had to apply for planning permission because a) it's at the front of the house and so affects the look of the street! and b) to ensure we have enough parking spaces without it.

We're using a very reputable builder who is literally doing everything and its going to cost in the region of £8500. We did negotiate this down from a higher figure, so bear this in mind when you get your quotes. In the current credit crunch climate, people are willing to shave margins or negotiate in turn with their suppliers in order to secure the work.