Let’s face it: moving is a huge hassle. Even once you manage to find a real estate agent, list your current home for sale, show it to an endless parade of potential buyers, negotiate a contract, and then finally close. The kicker here is you still have to pack up all of your belongings and uproot your life, not to mention finding a new home in a location that you love as much.
Why not skip all of that hassle by choosing a home addition or home extension instead? Adding onto your current home saves you time, money, and lots and lots of headaches.
First, though, you need to grasp the difference between the two to determine which one is right for your home. Then, you can begin to look for housebuilders and get your extension underway.
In this article, we will explain the difference between an addition and an extension. We will compare the benefits of each so that you will be able to make an informed decision. Finally, we’ll provide some tips for finding a reputable and thorough home builder for your extension.
🤔 Up or Out?
A simple way to tell the difference between an addition and an extension is asking yourself: am I adding on by building up or going out?
Home additions entail building up, meaning that you add another floor or storey onto your home. In contrast, home extensions involve building out, in most cases, adding onto your home’s ground level.
In the former, you remove the roof and replace it with a floor; in the latter, you remove a wall and replace it with a room.
One essential item to note is that neither home additions nor home extensions are the same as home renovations. A renovation involves existing remodelling space in your home, such as a bathroom or kitchen. It does not increase the square meterage.
🏘️ The Benefits of Home Additions and Home Extensions
There are some benefits of expanding your home that is the same or similar to additions and extensions, so we’ll cover them together first.
The first and most obvious plus is the extra space you get, significantly if that space also increases your home’s square meterage (not all expansions of living spaces contribute to a home’s square meterage. Extending sometimes means removing the roof, reframing, and creating an open-plan space or mezzanine floor to roof voids. Whilst this adds light, ventilation and creates a beautiful open plan living, it may not increase your habitable or useable space.
Expanding your home’s square meterage increases its value, which is another benefit of the added space. In many cases, the additional bedrooms, living area, or whatever else you add on ends up paying for itself. In other words, the amount of value-added onto the home is greater than the cost of the addition or extension.
Gaining extra space in your home will also improve you and your family’s quality of life. Whether you welcome a new baby (or two or three!), have kids in desperate need of a playroom, or are starting your own business and need a home office, the added space from either a house addition or house extension will have a daily impact on how you live, work, and play.
Finally, there is no need to move if you expand your current house’s size, as we indicated above. Not only will you avoid the hassle of the real estate market, but you also get to stay in your neighbourhood.
🏡 Compare and Contrast: The Benefits of Home Additions
One of the most significant benefits of a home addition is that you will not have to give up any of your outdoor space or yard. With an extension, you need to make sure you have the land to expand in the first place, and then you will lose a large chunk of your additional living space.
Another benefit of an addition is that often, it can add more space to your home than an extension. Typically, extensions add one or possibly two rooms at the most, but an addition has the potential to double your space. What’s more, if you move bedrooms from the ground floor to your new second story, you gain that main level space to use for something else.
Finally, while home extensions and home additions are better for the environment than building a new home, a home addition is definitely the more eco-friendly option. Since you’re building up, it’s doubtful that you will need to destroy any trees or other vegetation, and more land will remain undisturbed.
🏘️ Compare and Contrast: The Benefits of Home Extensions
Very often, house extensions are less disruptive than house additions, and that’s one of their biggest pluses. Rather than removing your whole roof and building on top of you, it’s likely that a home extension will only necessitate the destruction of a single wall.
Good home builders will do whatever they can to block off the construction zone from the rest of the house, as it’s much harder to do with an addition.
Prices will vary depending on the size and complexity of your project. That said, a home extension is usually the less expensive option of the two since it is a less drastic change to your home. This also means that it is likely to take a house builder less time to complete an extension rather than an addition.
Finally, while it isn’t as eco-friendly, a home extension will cut down on your yard care. Most people don’t love mowing lawns, watering the gardens, or dealing with other outdoor maintenance issues. With a more prominent home footprint, you have less land to worry about.
👷 How to Find a House Builder
A house extension or addition is a major type of construction project; therefore, you must find the home builder that is right for your particular project.
An online search is the fastest way to gather a list of home builders in your region. Ask your friends and neighbours who have had construction at their homes about their experiences.
It’s a good idea to make sure that whoever you hire is fully licensed and insured. With ALL reputable building contractors, you’ll be covered by your homeowner’s warranty they have taken out as part of your contractual agreement. This is backed by Queensland law, and yes, it never hurts to ask them for referrals as well.
💲 You may be interested in reading further on Home Renovation and How much does it cost? A great article worth an 8-minute read 🙂
Your home addition and home extension company on the Gold Coast is only a click or call away, so please reach out to us today at 0404 REN OV8
