HOW MUCH DOES A HOME EXTENSION ACTUALLY COST IN SYDNEY? You've lived in your first home for years and now you and your family feel like you've outgrown it. What are your options? Should you sell and relocate, or should you take on an extensive home improvement project to accommodate your needs as a growing family? Adding a home extension can add substantial value to your property but the question is, how much is it going to cost? It's actually really difficult to give an accurate answer because there are just too many variables involved to give you a dollar figure. In order to provide an accurate figure, your builder (hopefully us! 😉) will need to know the type of construction (plan & design) and the quality of inclusions for the home improvement build. In this article we will break down the pros & cons of a home extension, out-of-the-box design solutions, general costs of kitchens & bathrooms AND a very handy Home Extension Costings Checklist to help you get started! TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• ✔ What Are The Benefits Of A Home Extension?
• ✔ How Much Does A Home Extension Cost?
• ✔ Comparing The Costs Between A Ground Floor Extension & A First Floor Extension
• ✔ How Much Does A Kitchen Cost?
• ✔ How Much Does A Bathroom Cost?
• ✔ Why Is My Home Extension So Expensive?
• ✔ Your Home Extension Costings Checklist
• ✔ What Questions Should I Have For My Builder?

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A HOME EXTENSION? Why should you consider a house extension when you could "simply" sell your current home and move into a larger one? Haha, simply?! You might be thinking, "What?! There's no way that buying a new home is simple!" – and you'd be correct! It's never easy and it's always exciting and/or stressful. Why should you think about building a home extension instead of moving you ask?

• If you're happy & settled in your local area, you don't have to relocate
• You can make the changes you want and not settle for something that's just "alright"
• You may be surprised but a home extension to your current dwelling may be a more affordable option than moving to a larger home
• Lastly, you may find yourself being attached to your current residence and just not want to leave it!

You must also remember that relocating involves quite a number of expenses, and a great deal of effort. Let's be honest, a house extension is not inexpensive, but moving to a larger house can be even more expensive. The house will usually cost more (particularly if you're staying in the same area) and you will have other expenses to consider which include:

• Real estate agent's commission
• Stamp Duty
• Bank charges
• Marketing the home for sale
• Conveyancing your current/new home
• Cleaning and/or styling your home
• Potential repairs or renovations for added value before the sale
• Moving costs

After adding up all the costs in relocating to a new, bigger home compared to a home extension, the latter could potentially be significantly less. Here at Elite Additions, we work with you in terms of living in the dwelling at the time of adding an extension to your home, so you could potentially not have to leave your home during the construction, and go about your daily business as usual. One major benefit that many people surprisingly do not consider is the fact that you're adding distinct value to your property. Think about it, you're now selling a 5-bedroom, two-storey home and before it was a single-storey 3-bedder – it will be valued significantly higher. Home extensions with Elite Additions make perfect economic sense! HOW MUCH DOES A HOME EXTENSION COST? How long is a piece of string? What's the price of cheese? You can't possibly know the answer without knowing what type of cheese, the amount, where it is made, who made it, for example. So why do people always ask "how much does a home extension cost?" Well, the answer is simple, you want to know an approximate price so you can plan and budget. It is a fair question but we do need to know much more from your situation to give you an accurate quote so we can all move forward together. Basically, we can give you a very approximate quote but without any drawn-up plans, we won't be able to give you an exact cost. As a rough (a very rough) guide: Project A: Ground Floor Extension – Single timber wall construction with cladding, including two bedrooms & a bathroom & a flat metal roof 32m2 of additional space will set you back $150,000 This equates to $4,800 per m2 Project B: Ground Floor & First Floor Extension – including a brand new kitchen, ensuite, bathroom, high-end hardwood stairs with a contemporary glass balustrade, hardwood flooring throughout the original house, outdoor alfresco area and polished concrete ledger with a Jetmaster fire place (wow! 😮) 60m2 of additional space will set you back $450,000 This equates to $7,500 per m2 As you can see from the above two completely different hypothetical situations, it's (almost!) impossible to give an upfront price estimate to you as a client without design plans, engineering plans, council approval as well as detailed specifications. Here's a red-hot tip: if your builder gives you an exact price without any plans, you aren't getting good value. You heard it here first! We have vast experience in a wide range of home modifications, we estimate that an 80m2 ground floor extension costs between $260,000 and $400,000 (depending on the quality of inclusions) which equates to approximately $3250 to $5000 per m2. Again, the main two differences that come into play are type of construction and the quality of the inclusions. To be honest, this is a rough figure which takes into account "dodgy builders" or "budget builders" who tend to cut corners wherever they can. We price our work so it matches our proud high-quality craft (and increasing demand for our home improvement services) as required by our Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle clients. You won't know the exact cost of a home extension until you've made plans which include details of the size of the extension and what inclusions are covered in the project. As a general rule, an 80 square metre ground floor extension costs between $260,000 and $400,000. That works out to between $3250m2 to $5000m2. Again, the difference is in the type of construction and the quality of the inclusions. Article: "Is Building A Granny Flat Worthwhile?" Article: "The Handover Process - Explained!" COMPARING THE COSTS BETWEEN A GROUND FLOOR EXTENSION & A FIRST FLOOR EXTENSION If you're adding a ground floor extension, the cost will be about 30% more than a first-floor addition. The reason for this is because a first-floor addition doesn't require the expensive foundation work and other major expenses associated with a ground floor extension. However, with going up a level you generally loose a bedroom or space in a living room for the stair well, which ends up evening out the equation of cost per square metre for extra space added to the house for liveable area. Just remember that if you need a second storey, it will be cheaper than making a larger ground floor extension and less land will be needed for the extension. HOW MUCH DOES A KITCHEN COST? As a general guide, a standard kitchen renovation can cost anywhere between $15,000 and $35,000+. The main difference between the more affordable number and the elite number is purely the quality of materials and the inclusions for the kitchen. If your home extension doesn't include a kitchen, then odds are that it will be substantially cheaper. However, a number of our clients have updated their plans after consulting with us to add a new kitchen, bathroom or laundry so they renovate everything in one go, as opposed to us constructing these functional areas at a later date. To give you a more specific range, a budget kitchen renovation would be considered $12,500 to approximately $22,000 which would include the basics. A typical kitchen renovation can cost:

• ✔ $10,000 to $22,000 for a budget renovation
• ✔ $22,000 to $35,000 for a mid-range kitchen
• ✔ $35,000+ for a high-end kitchen

Our project cost will include the demolition of your old kitchen and it will include new plumbing and electrical circuits. Unfortunately, we won't know how much a new kitchen will cost until we go through the finer details together bit by bit but be rest assured that it will be the most affordable, elite level kitchen in Sydney. If you feel your current kitchen is too small, what else would you use the space for? Think about ways to make it feel more spacious. You could potentially add larger windows or, if you don't have an open plan kitchen, knock out a wall to make the kitchen feel larger and much more open. Here at Elite Additions, we would never advise you to do something unnecessarily. If we can help reduce costs, we will be smart about it – you can trust us! HOW MUCH DOES A BATHROOM COST? Again, just a general guide, a bathroom renovation can cost between $5000 and $25,000+. Again, the primary difference between the more affordable cost and the high-end bathroom is simply the quality of products used and the bathroom inclusions. You may opt for a guest bathroom which includes just a toilet and hand-washing basin for when guests visit? Or, you may want something a little more extravagant to accommodate a busy and stressful lifestyle which may include a large bath, heated towel rack and his & her basins? A typical bathroom renovation can cost:

• ✔ $5000 to $15,000 for a budget bathroom
• ✔ $15,000 to $25,000 for an average sized bathroom with mid-range fittings
• ✔ $25,000+ for a high-end bathroom

If you are adding a home extension, then you most likely won't have to worry about ripping out old fittings but you will face other expenses such as the installation of new plumbing for sewerage, or having an electrician to install new wiring, lighting and outlets across all of the new spaces. Due to expenses like the ones above, a brand new bathroom may cost something above $15,000 but we are happy to work with you do make it as affordable as possible (without cutting into our elite quality of course!). We have worked with people for over 10 years to create practical solutions for improving their homes. For example, we had a client who wasn't sure what size their bathroom needed to be, they just knew that they wanted one included in their ground floor home extension. You may need a bathroom in a house extension, but how large does it need to be? If you already have a larger bathroom, an ensuite bathroom may be all you need. It will cost less than a large bathroom and may be perfect for the extension. A number of our clients absolutely love the functionality that a guest bathroom has to offer, particularly while hosting dinner parties, which includes at the very least a toilet & basin. WHY IS MY HOME EXTENSION SO EXPENSIVE? These are the basic costs for a home extension, but depending on what needs to be done, a home extension can be more affordable or more expensive. As an example, with your new home build you may need some excavation work to be done. This will obviously add to the cost. You may also be up for the cost of the knocking down of a wall or parts of the existing roof or slight renovations to allow the new part of the house to be constructed – these costs all add up. The basic cost of a house extension should include all of the basics, such as:

• Roofing
• Cladding
• Interior cladding
• Insulation
• Windows & Doors

However, it may not include items which would most definitely bump up the cost of the home extension, such as: Air Conditioning and/or heating

• Bathroom
• Kitchen
• Quality inclusions
• Plans or council fees
• Furnishing the new space

Think of a house extension as basically a waterproof membrane or shell. It will be ready to move in when complete but will not include any furnishings, lighting fixtures, blinds or curtains or other items which fall into the interior design of the home. For example, if a kitchen or bathroom is required, the cost of plumbing the kitchen or bathroom fit outs has to be factored into the cost. After doing some research, you've probably discovered that kitchens & bathrooms will be a greater expense than most other additional costs. YOUR HOME EXTENSION COSTINGS CHECKLIST What you need to remind yourself is that a house extension costs more than the cost of the extension itself. Yes, this may seem confusing but you do need to consider ALL costs before you commit to an extension. Fortunately, us at Elite Additions ensure that all of our costings are as transparent as possible. Of course, there are going to be unforeseen costs but we communicate that with you as soon as it pops up. We've heard of horror stories where dodgy builders hide numbers, or just add on a ridiculous builder's margin on variations which amount to a tear-jerking amount! We don't do that here, you're safe with us. Our 'Home Extension Costings Checklist' is thorough and detailed so that you don't get ripped off!Feel free to download our Costings Checklist and print it off for your convenience for now or later down the track. Make sure you do all of your costings first and don't leave anything out. YOUR HOME EXTENSION COSTINGS CHECKLIST:

• ☐ Furnishings
• ☐ Moving costs (if you have to move out during the build)
• ☐ Internal/external doors
• ☐ Lighting
• ☐ Windows (for example a 1800mm wide sliding door can be $1,000 & a bi-fold door costs roughly $3,000. This adds up when you have 5 new windows in your extension)
• ☐ Curtains/blinds
• ☐ Heating & air conditioning
• ☐ Flooring
• ☐ Garage door
• ☐ Skylights (to allow natural light into your home)
• ☐ Painting
• ☐ Exterior painting if needed
• ☐ Excavation work
• ☐ Spoil Removal
• ☐ Rubbish removal costs
• ☐ Asbestos removal

WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD I HAVE FOR MY BUILDER? It probably goes against business practice but we want you to feel comfortable that you're getting the best "bang for buck". We would encourage you to look over builders' quotes thoroughly BEFORE signing anything. It's amazing to hear stories of contracts being signed by friends of friends where they've been stung by a dodgy builder because they didn't examine the builders contract thoroughly enough. "A 42% margin on variations?!" is something we've actually heard from a friend believe it or not after they trusted the builder and didn't read the fine print! It might be easier to just ask your builder flat out, "what is included in your quote and what is not included?" Ideally a quote lists everything but it's always best to check with them regardless. If the quote doesn't list everything, then they may be undercutting other quotes you may have received just to win the job, only to add these costs on later on, like our friend above! If you want to get into more details, after asking your builder 'what is included, and what's not included?", you can ask the following questions:

• Do you include the knocking down of interior walls?
• Do you include any excavation work in your quote?
• Is scaffolding covered in your builder's quote for the duration of the project?

We want to remove as much confusion as possible, so we are likely to include many optional extras because we value you as a client. It's easy to throw lots of jargon down in a quote to impress you with out knowledge but we want you to fully understand the entire building process with us at Elite Additions, which is why we always go that extra yard! REACH OUT TODAY Choosing the right builder to add value to your home is challenging at the best of times. Let us make the process that little bit easier and more convenient for you. Visit our Home Extensions page for a more detailed explanation of what solutions we can bring to your situation. Our carefully-selected, expert trades have had over 15 years of experience in delivering the highest quality finishes for homes in the Sydney region. We can even schedule a free consultation to get you started in your exciting home improvement journey. Let Elite Additions help you add value to your home.