Cost cutting tips for your rear extension

Who hasn’t switched on Grand Designs and thought: I would love to do something like that, if I had the money.

Well, we’re here to tell you that a high ending looking, contemporary extension might still be in your budget, if you know how to get your money working harder.

We’ve helped over 1000 homeowners get the most out of their budgets, and now we’re revealing some of our top money saving tips. After all, great style doesn’t always have to break the bank!

Save on fittings

One of the biggest ways to get the most out of your budget is knowing where to invest the big bucks and where to hold back.

This is especially true for your fittings. If you’re redoing your kitchen, make sure you don’t lose too much of your money towards bespoke taps from Germany, or cabinets handcrafted in Sweden. These are the things that will depreciate in value the quickest.

Take this property…

The owner of this extension opted to invest the bulk of their budget into classic features - a exposed brick wall and glass ceiling. These kind of investments tend to pay off when it comes to selling in the future, and rarely lose value. To afford this, they bought their kitchen from Ikea. Opting for a stylish, yet simple, black model that could be jazzed up later with some interior design touches.

Don’t forget, you don’t want to cut corners on everything in your extension and harm your future resale profits.

Stay structure savvy

Keeping your layout simple, and the size reasonable, can save you a lot money, especially when it comes to structural costs.

Long or large extensions require additional structural support, involving the use of steel beams. The bigger your extension, the bigger these beams become, and costs can quickly start to add up, adding thousands to your budget.

At Resi, we always make sure our customers understand the resulting structural costs when we put together their proposed designs. Ask your architect to do the same, and double check the price tag with your structural engineer when it comes to sorting out your building regulations.

Clever concrete

One of the biggest trends in the kitchen has been the rise of the concrete floor. But, while this is certainly stylish, having concrete poured into your home is both a labour and expensive.

That’s why we love these concrete tiles. They perfectly mimic the look of concrete, while coming in at half the price, thanks to their easy assembly. You could even go a step further and install these yourself.

While tiles and laminate flooring have gotten a bad reputation in recent years, good quality materials often have the ability to mimic their more expensive counterparts. Such as laminate replacing hardwood floors, or marble like tiles.

Fake that crittal

These steel-framed windows were created in 1860 by an ironmonger in Essex called… you guessed it, Francis Henry Crittall. They’ve had a resurgence of popularity, thanks to their ability to create stylish glass structures, that perfectly blends metalwork and a glazed aesthetic, which is currently on trend.

However, as only one company produces this style of window, there’s a waiting list to join and quite a large fee to pay.

Instead, why not look at one of the aluminium alternatives? Because there’s no trademark involved, the aluminium versions are more widely produced, meaning you can expect a much quicker turnaround. They’re also significantly cheaper, with results most people won’t be able to differentiate between the real deal.

Skylights over glass ceiling

Finally, if you love the look of glass ceilings, but don’t have the budget, consider their cheaper alternative - skylights.

Dotting your skylights in a row is a simple design alternative for the ever popular glass ceiling. This is, again, to do with structure. As large glass features typically require structural glass, a costly material. Skylights have cheaper material options, and so can save you a lot of money. They also don’t require as much structural support in the walls, like steel beams, or underpinning.

And just because the glass isn’t continual, doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy lots of natural light flooding. As the above example shows, skylights provide the same light benefits. Plus, you might opt to use the money saved here to invest in other glazed favourites - large sliding doors, or even bi-fold ones!

Want more ideas for your extension? Book in a free consultation with our experts for the very best in home advice.