Extending your home outwards, sideways or upward can be a fantastic way to massively increase your living space, construct new rooms or a large-scale kitchen or dining room, or make great use of unused space along your side return or the rear of your property.

Pinnacle Works extension builders often deal with clients who have found the process of designing and planning a house extension daunting or who have invested time and money into technical plans and permission – only to find that their original ideas aren’t practical or won’t achieve the outcomes they’d hoped for.

We always recommend speaking with our experienced, local house extension team as a first port of call. Our knowledge and real-world expertise can avoid a whole host of problems and unnecessary expenses later on.

Here we’re looking at ways a builder or extension specialist can assist with your plans and the build itself, the areas where we can provide support or recommendations, and why an experienced builder can provide invaluable advice as you develop the designs for your dream home extension.

Designing a House Extension – Where to Begin

The first step in building house extensions is often to set a maximum budget or research the type of extension you’d like. We’ll run through some of the popular options shortly, but at this stage, we suggest you speak with a local extension builder to request their input.

Common issues arise when homeowners have planned an extension based on rough averages, ballpark figures, or online price calculators, which, unfortunately, are far from reliable. During a no-obligation visit, a good builder will look at factors such as:

• The style, period, and construction of your home, as well as the materials we believe are most suitable to achieve the appearance you want. This might also depend on the location, drainage and size of the extension, with costs such as building foundations or reinforcing existing walls built into any quotations or indicative pricing.
• How large you’d like your extension to be, and whether there are considerations around permitted development, planning permissionor building regulations that you need to know about before proceeding any further.
• Additional services you’ll need to ensure your extension is ready to use – that could include landscaping, electrical, plumbing, plastering, flooring, decorating and several other services that the reputable builders in our multi-skilled team will organise and plan in-house.

Experienced builders can help you set a fair price for your new  property extension without overlooking any elements that could greatly impact your budget. We can also show you previous work and examples of local extensions we’ve completed as inspiration or showcase how other property owners with similar-sized homes have extended.

Picking the Right Size and Type of House Extension

Another conundrum we often encounter is when a homeowner has set their heart on an enormous kitchen extension or spent time planning a loft conversion but hasn’t yet been advised that this extension type may not be ideal.

Again, a lot depends on the size and position of your property, but an initial meeting and a walk around your property can help to establish the practicalities before you start work. Below, we’ve put together a quick list of some of the most-used extension projects:

• Rear single-storey extensions can add extra space to your ground floor, possibly as a larger kitchen, an additional dining room or play area, or a conservatory or garden room.
• Two-storey extensions rise from ground level to the second storey of your home, allowing you to build new bedrooms or bathrooms upstairs and add to the living space downstairs.
• Loft extensions use empty space in the attic to construct extra living space, whether a dormer loft conversion adding a higher-height window or a simple conversion without structural work. Note that specific rules apply that determine whether a loft conversion is considered habitable and can be advertised as an additional bedroom.

You might also wish to compare different options, particularly if the original extension ideas will use up so much of your outdoor space that it could possibly reduce your property value rather than increase it.

Full wraparound extensions are dramatic and develop a new layout and property size. However, if you’re losing your side return and most of your garden, a smaller double-storey extension coupled with a loft conversion might be preferable.

An experienced extension builder can explain all of these solutions in greater detail and help you compare the costs of each extension type, enabling you to make informed decisions from the outset.

Researching Materials and Construction Techniques

Once you’ve chosen the extension project that meets your requirements and have a good idea of the costs of the work, it’s time to consider materials. As with all aspects of designing an extension, this can make a considerable difference to your budget, and we can:

• Suggest locally sourced materials and stone or brickwork for sustainable extension projects that are consistent with the exterior of the rest of your property.
• Advise on insulation solutions to prevent heat loss and retain good energy efficiency—this is especially important during loft conversions.
• Look at the types of foundations you may need for a rear extension or larger extension projects extending two storeys upward.

Professional extension builders prefer to consult with each homeowner in detail before construction work starts because this allows us to create comprehensive plans where every specific part of the build has been discussed and agreed upon.

As a homeowner, you have the peace of mind that your extension will be built to your specifications, you know precisely how the finished work will look, and you have been given the information you need to make decisions about textures, décor, layouts and all the materials used within your extension.

Comprehensive Extension Builders Project Management

Finally, our local team of extension builders can project manage your build instead of working based on technical drawings or picking up one aspect of the extension and relying on other trades to complete their work to the high standard we hold ourselves to.

Rather than depending on multiple tradespeople, we offer an end-to-end service, meeting rigorous industry standards from initial design through to second fixes and walking around the completed build to address the tiniest of details.

This communication is key and means that if you want to make a change at short notice, you’ll have one point of contact, giving you regular updates on all the work carried out and a clear picture of timeframes and schedules.

If you would like more information about designing and building a house extension or to see some of our recently completed extension projects, you are welcome to contact Pinnacle Works at any time.

Extending your home by constructing a bright, airy, modern extension can be a fantastic opportunity to add value to your property, incorporate additional space to accommodate a growing family, or replace the small, dark kitchens typical of a Victorian home or period property.

Homeowners increasingly look for ways to build a rear extension or construct upwards with a two-storey addition in favour of moving – since revitalising and improving your current home is often significantly more affordable.

Let the construction experts at Pinnacle Works explain how modern extension construction works, and share some ideas and inspiration to breathe fresh life into your home and include subtle design details that embrace the style of your property whilst feeling contemporary.

Understanding Modern Extensions

While most homeowners think of sliding glass doors, ultra-modern brushed concrete, and open-plan living when they consider a modern extension, the reality is that your house extension is entirely up to your preferences, tastes, and the way you live in your home.

The differentiating factor between a conventional and a modern extension is the way your additional space is designed, often including:

• • Locally sourced, eco-friendly materials that offer superb performance – think next-gen insulation and glazing, underfloor heating and long-lasting, toxin-free paints.
  • Excellent energy conservation, with heat retention, solar panelling, low-carbon appliances, and central heating a key priority for many.
  • Extension designs that mimic the style of a period home yet use more efficient techniques to achieve the same aesthetic; particularly important in conservation areas where the local authority will only grant planning permission for an extension that retains the look of the original structure.

Contemporary extensions might include a larger dining space, adding French doors that open into your garden, a beautiful kitchen/diner with a sleek glass link corridor, or a rear extension with plenty of glazing to flood the room with natural light – but the design principles and focus on durable materials are fundamental.

Planning Your Modern Extension

We often consult with homeowners with great initial extension ideas, whether you’re keen on building classic bay windows to make the most of panoramic views, want to use charred timber cladding on the exterior of your rear façade or have your heart set on an elegant, covered balcony to create a focal point on a two-storey extension to revamp your family home.

The design process itself should be approached methodically, with assistance from a capable team of contractors with plenty of experience completing contemporary extensions. The steps may include:

• • Putting together your main deliverables and design ideas, considering how you’d like your new modern extension to work with your existing property.
  • Defining your budget, and collating estimates and quotations to ensure you have full knowledge of the total anticipated pricing – including the installation cost for a new kitchen, bathroom or other appliances.
  • Reviewing your extension plans to ensure they are viable and structurally achievable and then submitting technical drawings to the local authority planning permission department.

Collaborating with a knowledgeable construction team, alongside architects and designers with ample expertise in modern extension design, is essential – we can suggest materials, shapes, structures and approaches to achieve your planned contemporary extension while remaining within budget and adherent to local planning limitations.

Popular Types of Modern Extensions

One of the primary objectives when designing a modern extension is to ensure it will work well with the current property – whether as a contrasting extension with bright, white walls to lighten a dark brick exterior or in keeping with the original structure.

You might, for instance, inject the wow factor into a two-storey addition by using alternatively coloured grouting or render, match the colour and style of brickwork with the existing house, or go for a completely different material – from an extended dining space with an extensive glass roof to a rear extension that looks as if it has always been there.

Glass extensions and orangeries remain hugely popular, as modern, well-insulated garden rooms that extend the sense of bringing the outdoors in. Other high-demand modern extensions include loft conversions, making better use of your upper storeys, or creating a side return extension around a semi-detached house to utilise empty space to extend your living areas.

Each extension project will differ, and we’d always suggest getting in touch to ensure your chosen extension design will work with the layout of your property and budget.

The most common snags include a lack of contingency planning, under-budgeting for variable costs, and making assumptions about the underlying structure of older period properties. Putting sufficient time and detail into the planning process is a great way to ensure your build runs on time and budget and meets your expectations.

Why Choose Pinnacle Works for Your Modern Extension?

Constructing a modern extension necessarily takes time, and it’s paramount you discuss time frames before work begins – acknowledging that high-quality work may be completed efficiently, but a contemporary extension build shouldn’t be rushed. Cut corners inevitably cost more later on, and don’t deliver the same impact.

Pinnacle Works is a full-service contractor with teams of multi-skilled professionals, allowing us to project manage complete extension design and builds in-house. From initial consultation through to the final snagging list, we focus on quality and communication as a family-run business with over 25 years of expertise.

We can steer you through your extension build, handling every aspect from planning permission applications, recommending locally sourced materials and brickwork for consistency, creating technical specifications and drawings, and helping you make decisions about how your completed modern extension will look, feel and flow.

Our commitment to exacting standards is borne out by our countless five-star customer reviews, and we welcome you to access independent testimonials to see how our previous valued clients feel about our services. The Pinnacle Works project gallery is also a great resource, showing you how other contemporary extensions look and providing stimulus for your own extension design.

Please get in touch at any time to discuss your extension plans, arrange a site visit, or drop into our Chichester head office for a chat about the type of extension you’d like to achieve and any concerns or complexities in terms of planning consent or budget, and we’ll get to work.