Rear extension question

[JudgesRuth]

We’ve had plans drawn up for a lovely single storey rear extension and the first builder came round last week to quote. He said that it might be difficult to dig the foundations because access to the garden is via a narrow passage and they won’t be able to get a digger down there.

I’ve seen lots of terraced houses with extensions so how do they do it? Anyone have any experience?

Some will have back lanes, with others it may have to be hand dug and carried ourmt through the house.

We did a side return in our old house, which was a mid-terrace, with no rear access. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-img with wheelsbarrows. None of the builders who quoted suggested it wouldn't be doable, though.

We have a narrow passageway at the side of our house leading to the rear of the house and our builders got a small digger down there without any trouble when we had our extension built. It was never even flagged as a problem. I guess it depends how narrow your access is but ours is pretty slim!

That’s really interesting thank you. I felt as though if the builder was saying it was a problem so he could charge more! The passageway is pretty standard - slim but has a standard size gate on it.

He did mention something about a floating floor so that they didn’t have to dig foundations but wouldn’t explain anything else.

Our garden was too small for a digger. They dug the foundations by hand. Well one guy did, he is my hero. We have horrible thick clay soil and it was winter. Nobody ever flagged it as an issue.

If the have to be dug out without a digger it will take longer so the cost may well be a bit higher. They will factor the extra days labour into the quote.

Perfectly doable though.

You can get a digger that is narrower than a doorway so shouldn’t be a problem. He may just not have the equipment.

If you can get a barrow down your passage then the digger will for. As for a narrow gate. Pop it off.

I’d look at another builder.

If there is any awkwardness to building an extension (access, moving drains etc) it probably will affect the cost - more labour = higher price. Also it depends how much the builders want the job - they may try to price themselves out as they don't want the difficulty because they can get plenty of simpler work. If all the builders do this, it will definitely be more expensive.

We had a rear extension built 4 years ago and are semi detached with a narrow alleyway measuring 1m wide. They got the digger down ok (the builders just hired a suitable one). Our friends are terraced and their extension doc have to be hand dug and was more expensive (and more messy as everything had to come through the house) as a result.