How To Add Value To Your Home With A House Extension

Some homes require a renovation due to a growing family or the home is ready to be rejuvenated or given a refresh. In some cases the only option to add more room is to extend. Either way, adding more space will add value to your home.

The team at Style Plus | Renovations | Auckland look at 5 key design aspects of building a house extension:

• Planning your extension.
• Open plan living & indoor | outdoor flow.
• Which extension style suits my house?
• Windows & doors.
• Cladding & painting.

• Is your new extension going to be a single or double storey extension?
• What type of cladding are you thinking of using? Weatherboards?
• Will your extension have sliding or bi-fold external doors?
• Are you looking at timber or aluminium joinery?
• What about installing Velux skylights to bring in more natural light?
• Will the extension include an additional bathroom or will it just extend your current living space?
• Do you have a copy of your council property file?

For older homes that are weatherboard clad and have timber joinery, there are pros and cons whether to install timber or aluminium joinery.

For timber joinery, there is the aesthetic appeal of the weatherboard and timber joinery combination. Timber can also be energy efficient as it can be an excellent natural thermal dampener. However, maintenance is higher for timber joinery.

With aluminium joinery, the overall maintenance is low and it can be powder coated to many colours to highlight the feature of the windows | doors. Aluminium is also structurally stronger especially if your home is located in a high wind zone.

• For more information regarding aluminium joinery check out Fletcher Aluminium.
• For timber joinery, check out Dando.

Radiata pine is the most commonly available timber in New Zealand. It is used for a wide variety of purposes because of its affordability and quick maturity. A pale coloured timber with wide distinguishable growth rings. The timber is generally quite uniform in grain structure. This timber is not naturally durable. However, with preservative treatment the timber can be as durable as most durable hardwoods.

The cost of pre-primed pine weatherboard, 150mm X 25mm bevel back linear meter, is around $10. However, building companies often use a square metre rate to attract customers. This estimation method can provide a high level cost. However, this method can also be misleading as it does not take into consideration, for example, the shape of the house or access to the house. To obtain a better cost estimate, the job would require a detailed take-off from the plans and specifications designed for the project. Estimators can also complete take-offs by visiting existing buildings and construction sites.

Accoya wood is comparable or better than the durability of hardwoods such as Jarrah, Rosewood, and Teak. Recent tests show that Accoya wood is perfect for coated cladding where reduced maintenance is required, even with wood stains and dark colours. The acetylation process makes pine super durable, super stable and retains all the strength of pine.

The cost of Accoya weatherboard, 150mm X 25mm bevel back per linear meter, is around $32.

Western red cedar is a light timber with a distinctive odour. It is non-resinous and straight-grained, with obvious growth rings. This timber adopts a uniform reddish-brown colour once dried. However, after long exposure wood becomes silver grey. This timber stains and paints well.

The cost of cedar weatherboard – vertical shiplap 150mm X 22mm per linear meter, is around $21.

A number of companies supply pre-primed timber weatherboards. Primers range from water-based, solvent-based, dual coats and some are applied with UV curing technology.

Tip: Weatherboards should only be painted when dry and the board is near equilibrium moisture content. As a minimum two top coats of premium low gloss acrylic should be applied.

• Resene Paint Systems

• Dulux Paint Systems