Make your house magnificent with a two-storey extension

If you are finding that your home is too cramped for your lifestyle and are considering selling up to move to a larger property, stop and think first whether extending your home could be the answer to your problems, before putting your house on the market!

The final result with a new two-storey extension

There are many costs associated with moving to a new house and these can sometimes make a huge impact on your hard-earned savings! Depending on the size of home you need, Stamp Duty will take a nice chunk from your account, as will estate agency and legal fees, searches, surveyor fees and the deposit for your new home.

Instead of jumping on the “let’s move” bang wagon, why not consider your options with an extension first. The big bonus of extending is that it adds value to your property. A two-bedroomed house that has been extended into a three-bedroom house is worth considerably more!

To give you a better idea of what you can achieve with a house extension, here’s a simple, yet very effective example of a house extension we completed recently:

Our client wanted to extend their home as it was becoming impractical for their lifestyle. However, rather than move they decided to extend and opted for a two-storey extension to replace their ground floor garage. This meant that they could remain in the area they love, stay close to their family and friends and everything they know.

The property before the house extension was built

We suggested adding two bedrooms to the first floor and have a much larger garage to the ground floor which was very well received. So that the house looked aesthetically pleasing, the new extension would match the existing left-hand side bay to create a harmonising double bay dwelling.

Because the extension would be wider and deeper than the existing garage, it did mean the current side access would be impinged. However, it was important for our clients that they had access to the back of the house and garden, which we still managed to achieve using the existing one. Access ended up being a little narrower than before, but still wide enough for easy entry.

What if your property is in a Conservation Area?

Introduced in the late 1960s, there are now almost 10,000 Conservation Areas in the UK!

When looking to improve an existing home that is in a Conservation Area, you will almost certainly come across obstacles when trying to get planning permission. However, your architect will be able to help with this; at KDR, we know what will be required to get the permission, especially if it ends up being a massive improvement to the design of your home.

As this particular property was in a Conservation Area, it was important to provide an extension that fitted into the landscape. This ultimately satisfied the conservation officer and the planning department, allowing our client to move swiftly ahead with the proposed plans.

The proposed matching bay was exactly the same dimensions as the existing bay, ensuring that the finished result looked as though it had been built that way in the beginning. We also made sure the materials used on the new extension would match the existing building to seamlessly join onto the existing dwelling.

Our client was delighted with our proposal, which included new security gates and an altered landscape to the front and side, adjacent to the extension.

I think you’ll agree that the finished result provides a much larger dwelling and one that is far more visually attractive than before.

Elevations and floor plans for the new two-storey house extension