If you have a low budget and you would still like to improve or extend your house, here are a couple of points that may come handy to make the project happen.
The tips to make your house extension or loft conversion more affordable:
Consider appointing a small and local architects’ firm.
Large companies dealing with small projects often overcharge clients. It is also a common practice that they would assign the design to a less experienced stuff that may not be familiar with the Council’s Policies or may not be experienced enough to think of all the aspects of the design from inception to completion.
Our office employs max. three people at any time , all of which are RIBA architects and have worked in the area for 15+ years. We have in depth knowledge of local planning policies and permitted development rights which means that we are effectively acting also as town planners and as such an involvement of a planning consultant will not be necessary.
If a local architect is appointed, then he will most likely not charge for an initial visit and the fees for site inspections at a later stage will be much lower.
Retain existing structure
Usually, the most cost effective solution is retaining the existing structure as much as possible.
An exception may be removal of a chimney breast. If it is proposed to be only partially removed then most likely a beam will have to be introduced, sometimes even with two post each side of the beam with a deep pad foundation. In order to avoid it, it would best to remove a chimney breast together with a stack all the way up as this will not require any costly steel support.
This can be done provided the chimney breast being fully removed doesn’t have a shared chimney flue or where the full removal would not destabilise the chimney breast in the adjoining property.
Also lowering the ground floor level may be a costly undertaking as if the existing foundations are not low enough the proposed lower level slab may affect them in which case an underpinning might be required.
Substantial demolition will also affect the entire construction cost in densely urbanised areas and town centres where very often special licences for skips or scaffolding area required.
Reducing the site waste will also contribute to reduce the total construction quote.
Removal of existing staircase may also prove to be pricey.
Material selection
If you have to choose a facing brick to match existing wall brickwork due to the planning requirements you cannot do much about it, but if can, choose render, it would be definitely more considerate and practical decision.
A wall with external render can be built as a solid wall insulated eternally. This is a much cheaper solution than the use of a cavity wall system requiring skilled brick layer and pricey facing brick.
If you have to choose brickwork perhaps a good idea would be to specify the insulation of the cavity wall as full fill mineral wool e.g., Rockwool or Knauf.
Most Private Building control providers still allow to use mineral wool if it is filling the entire cavity of the wall and this sort of soft insulation is more affordable than rigid PIR or Phenolic insulation boards.
As much as idea of UPVc windows and doors may not seem to you very appealing I would strongly advise to use them if the budget is of great importance. There is a vast choice of manufacturers and suppliers, and the quality does not have to be compromised.
Openings sizes
The smaller the openings the more affordable windows and doors will be.
Perhaps you could consider subdividing your large bi-folding doors into a pair of double doors.
Also, it has to be noted that very slim frame windows and external doors or lantern skylights come really pricey these days.If you want to further keep the cost down, bear in mind that keeping the doors and windows at a standard height will be of great help
Furniture Selection
It would be advisable to avoid fitted or built-in wardrobes and use free standing wardrobes available off the shelf.
Furthermore, selection of kitchens will also greatly affect your total construction cost and many builders would not even include it in the quote, so you have to choose smartly.
Prices of some kitchen units at Howdens, Magnet or Wren start from £2,700 but the higher range prices can easily exceed £30,000.
Bathrooms
Number of bathrooms and size of tiles also considerably affect the price.
A standard size of wall and floor tiles (not too large or small) will keep the budget within a reasonable price range.
Sundries and internal decoration
Try to go for standard coving and skirting boards or do not use coving at all if the space is designed in a modern style.
Reduce the amount of plastered or re-plastered areas and keep the colour scheme of the paint as standard, best if it is white or off white mat emulsion like Dulux.
Avoid variations to original plans
It has to be mentioned that meticulous planning of all the services and electrical points will also help sticking to the original budget. Any latest amendments may be dearly charged, and this might include the labour and material cost as well as contractor’s penalties for staying longer on site (called Loss and Expense in the construction industry jargon)
Conclusions
All of the above tips are strongly recommended for a householder with a limited budget but if you employ skilled and talented architects like Atelier 41 Architects you can be sure the price will not affect or compromise the design or quality of living.