House Extensions

House Extensions in Auckland

When your home in Auckland requires an extension to the ground floor, you’ll need to consider these issues:

• Budget– at the beginning of the project, discuss this matter in detail with an architect.
• Property features– eg. slope of the land and orientation:
  • Property that is flat is suitable for a ground floor extension. Steep or sloping properties may be better suited to an upwards extension.
  • Orientation , eg. House extensions on the southern side may require skylights to provide light to the interior..
• Auckland Council Regulations and Building Code Requirements– Property boundaries and having enough land area under the council zoning/planning regulations are major Auckland Council considerations when consenting for extensions are granted.
• Height to Boundary. What impact will your extension have on your neighbours. Will it block any of their daylight?
• Building Coverage. Each zone in Auckland has different rules, so knowing how much space you can use for an extension is critical.
• Impervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces are anything that stops or significantly slows water soaking into the ground, like roof area, concrete paths, driveways. Each Council zone has its own allowances for impervious surfaces which may restrict the footprint of an extension.

What is your house extensions budget?

 If you don’t know your budget, then start building something that’s not within it, your project may come to a complete halt.

Budget is a critical item to know before the project physically begins. You’ll want to ensure that extension is within your budget. Otherwise, you may end up with your project not progressing beyond the consent stage.

Modern Home Designs Fix Old Home Problems

A house extension provides the ideal chance to modernize parts of an existing home that may not flow as well as it should.

In many ways the home extension design process is similar to a renovation, however you need to thinks about a few things:

• What are the problems of the old home the new extension will fix – What are the reasons behind the extension or addition
• The property’s location – Will the council allow an extension on your land or within the space you have
• Will it add value to your home, or is it a project that is unique to your circumstances. For example – Adding a bedroom will add significant longer term value. Adding a second kitchen has limited resale appeal.
• House extension cost. Adding space comes at a cost, what can you afford to build?

In most cases, it’s also important that the transition between new and existing flows smoothly to create a holistic feel for the home. You do not want to have them feeling like two separate elements.

Advantages of a House Extension 

Enjoy the extra Space. Ideal for growing families, friend & entertainment.

Cheaper than moving. Moving can cost thousands, and don’t forget the expense of list your home with Real Estate agents ad their marketing fees.

Enjoy added property value. There should be benefits of increased capital gains with an increase in house value.

Specialist building areas such as character and heritage home renovations, second storey additions and ground floor house extensions require a level of expertise you will find in few Auckland building companies. Auckland Builders & Renovations Ltd has the skill and experience to undertake all areas of home renovation and House Extensions.

So you are thinking about creating a house extension and wondering where to start?

Adding more living space is more popular than ever in the kiwi housing market, but many people start their extension project without knowing enough about design, the council consents & the building or construction process.

We help guide you through the process below. 

HOW TO BUILD A HOUSE EXTENSION OR ADDITION

What do you need to consider before building house extensions in Auckland. How does a house extension cost? Here is a House extension guide for getting started.

Whilst it can be a little overwhelming with all the information required in order to get that extension out of the ground, the very first step would be to go through the basics.

Ask yourself
1) Why do you want to extend your home?
2) How will it affect the flow of the original home?
3) Do you have room to extend outwards or is building upwards the only way?
4) Do you think it will add value to your home?
5) What is access like? How will you get heavy equipment/ rubbish etc in and out of the area being extended?
6) What do you want to invest in the project? Note- The most simple straight forward small outwards house extension starts at $65,000
7) Will you be going to the bank for finance?

COST OF BUILDING A HOUSE EXTENSION

Costs for house extensions in Auckland vary widely depending on their size, style, location and specifications. You will really want builders advice to tell you specifically what you can get for your maximum budget, however this is very hard to do as you have no plans or specifications. So at this stage the best guide would be a square meter average (Remember that the standard of specification you choose will have an enormous influence on the build cost)

Single storey house extension price guide (Minimums)
Basic Quality House Extension – $2200 – $3300 per square meter
Good Quality House Extension $3300 – $4500 per square meter
Excellent Quality House Extension $4500 upwards.

Once you have a good idea of why you want to extend and what you want to invest, you can dive into the details a little more. Obtain your property file from Council. More information can be found here- https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/buying-property/order-property-report/Pages/order-property-file.aspx . The property file will show all the existing information about your property including the original construction drawings, boundaries and services. Its the document that is crucial to getting your project started as it’s the baseline of what we will need to draw and plan your project. The things we need to consider from the property file are things like:

• conditions on the existing site;
  • services;
  • boundary lines;
  • height to boundary issues;
  • flooding;
  • surface coverage;
  • rights of way;
  • engineering or geotech requirements

GETTING STARTED

Now you have everything in place, its time to get the ball rolling and get in contact with us to have a chat. Free phone us on 0800 BUILT NZ

Remember, house extensions are planned and built to budget, so be specific of what you want and what you wish to spend. We will organise to come out to look at the current home and discuss your ideas. Keep in mind, the design of any extension is an integral part of your existing home’s structure. This means it should blend in, making use of the same materials to maintain the same look or flow as the existing dwelling. If you are considering a second storey addition be aware that this is significantly more expensive and complicated from a construction point of view.

You’ll need to  give us an idea of your budget (Include a 10% buffer for any additional ‘surprises’ may be unforeseen) ; we can assess what is possible and discuss it as a team – we may even be able to do a job for less, in which case you could have more to spend on other things.

If you are happy with us and want to move forward after meeting, we will organise drawings to be done.

HOUSE EXTENSION PLANS & COUNCIL CONSENT

Drawings are required for all house extensions. They are the working drawings that are used by the builders and need to be approved by Auckland City Council before we can lift a hammer. In many extensions, there are requirements for engineering and other planning/resource consents – We’ll draw up all the paperwork for you. We have an intimate knowledge of the design & structural issues involved as well as the council requirements. Our task is to make your home extension process as straightforward as possible.

Once you approve the design, we can provide some ideas of provisional pricing and send it to council for your house extension Consent.

When the Council has approved the plans, we provide firm pricing & contract, then we start building!

We can work with your architect or designer, or we can help put you in touch with some we work with on a regular basis. We can even help guide you through the Auckland Council Consent process if a consent is required. Why not get in touch and tell us about your project? We would welcome talking to you.