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After many years, changes in family dynamics and needs your home might not be working for you any more. Although moving house might seem like the obvious choice, there are other things you can consider such as a home extension. By doing this, you can create the space you need and have control over it. However, there are some things that you should consider when extending your home.
Day to day disruptions
Whichever way you do it, extending your home will cause a big disruption to your day to day life. Your home will be in chaos for at least a few months and it’s really important to take this into consideration when planning your extension. If you work from home will you still be able to do this with everything going on? Trades people usually start early; will this get in the way of your routine for taking the kids to school? It might be an idea to think about how you will get around these kinds of issues.
Cooking options
When people tend to have their home extended it’s usually either adding onto the first floor or making the ground floor bigger. A larger kitchen is usually high on the wish list of things that people want in their new space and kitchen storage can be something people really need more of. This can mean being without the old one for quite some time. Will you be able to cook or make food in alternative ways for the duration of the extension build? What solutions will you put in place to make sure you don’t live on takeaways for the whole time?
Where will everything go?
Although you will having your house extended this will mean building work going on for months and changes to the rooms you already have. You won’t want your belongings getting ruined and no amount of dust sheets will help. Instead of worrying about where things will go or what will happen to them, consider putting your items somewhere like Now Storage self storage in Reading. Self storage is a fantastic option for keeping everything safe and allowing you to get it back when you’re ready.
Additional costs
If you’re planning a home extension then hopefully you’ve crunched the numbers and come up with a budget for the project. With most things to do with the home problems can crop up anywhere and when we’re talking about an extension this can mean a lot of additional costs. It would be wise to set aside an emergency fund just in case you end up with extra expenditure. Another factor to consider is your current boiler size, it may need to be upgraded to a larger kW to handle heating any additional radiators.
The timescale
Aside from money one of the most important things to think about is how long your home extension could take. You will get an initial idea based on the planning and what your builder says but of course like anything this could end up being longer depending on how things go. Being prepared for a long and messy extension will help you to manage your expectations and plan for any changes you might need to make during this time.
Have you had your home extended? What advice would you give to someone who is considering it at the moment?