House Extension Types - which sort of extension should you be selecting?

The type of house extension you select will very much depend upon what you are trying to achieve & the layout of the existing property.  Therefore whether you have a single storey rear extension or a two storey side extension will be very much dependent upon where all the existing rooms are located both at ground & first floor.

What you are trying to achieve should always be your first priority & then erecting the type of house extension that best achieves this aspiration.  Simply extending within a location and then deciding what use the added room or space will become is not the correct way for extending a home unless you are able to accommodate and afford extensive internal remodelling at the same time that may be required.

Obviously there will be times and situations where the location or type of house extension fits precisely with what the house needs or what the home owner requires.  However, in most instances it should always be requirements first and location or type of house extension second.

To hammer home this point, some properties are only able to extend into the roof void but this would not be suitable for a kitchen extension - only added bedroom space in most situations.  Therefore it can often be difficult to 'reverse engineer' a house extension type into a desired use.

Most two storey rear extensions will usually propose to extend the kitchen an add extra bedroom or bathroom facilities space over. The same applies to two storey side extension but the ground floor space could be utilised as garaging or another reception room for a stud for example.

A combine 'wrap around' two & single storey side and rear extension usually provide the best scope for maximising a sites potential and for massive improvement but can raise planning issues of 'over development' or out of scale development.

Front extensions are types of home improvements that are becoming more common these days as the taboo of adding a front extension is slowly becoming less onerous as the Planners become more open minded and flexible in design concepts.  Provided the front extension is not too radical and could set an undesirable precedent for the road or street then formal planning permission can usually be easily obtained.

Obviously a well experienced house extension designer or architect will be able to advise you on which type of house extension will be suitable for your property and personal requirements and this should perhaps be your first port of call in seeking good professional advise.