Talk to me about extensions...

[ShreddedHoops]

We have a 2-bed semi in an ok area and can't afford to move. With DC2 on the way we've started looking into the possibility of extending to get a third bedroom and a kitchen you could actually swing a cat in. So a 2 storey job, going out where our garage currently is on the side of our house iyswim.

What's a ballpark cost for this sort of thing, and how disruptive is it? Can we still live here while it's being done? Also, the plan would be to add value to the house, so say investing 30k to extend but increase value by double that, allowing us to move in the future.

Any words of wisdom gratefully received

Ball park figure is from £1000 per square metre of floor area. More if it's a posh finish/you go mad on granite, solid oak, etc. Probably slightly less for 2 storey but you have the cost of the kitchen too.

Whether you can stay in the house depends on if your bathroom/kitchen/heating/drive is going to be put out of action, how much work is on reconfiguring the existing rooms, how much "camping" you are prepared to do and how much suffering you can put up with!

We stayed in but we bent over backwards to avoid obstructing the builders and also we were all out at work/school all day. I would NOT do it at home with any babies/toddlers unless the existing house is practically untouched. You could maybe stay in whilst they build the extension structure, and move out when they break through and refit the kitchen/services (perhaps a month).

We're doing something similar. Are staying for now, but will have no fecking kitchen for two months. I won't lie, it's not fun. But it is manageable and we cannot afford to rent elsewhere, so stuck with it. Ours is adding a large kitchen diner, a utility, an en suite bedroom and a new bathroom and shower room and is costing (with VAT but not kitchens and bathrooms) £80k. If we had stuck with the original dinky extension to the side to add a kitchen, a downstairs loo, a small bedroom and an extra bathroom, and not gone mad, it would have been about £40k without kitchens etc.