Building Home Extensions with Kevin Talbot

Home Building with Kevin Talbot have a team of architects, designers, engineers, quantity surveyors, electricians, plumbers, plasterers, carpenters and landscapers required for the complete turnkey service.  We are always focused on delivering a well designed, quality product to meet your requirements.

For more than 16 years Talbot Construction has manufactured and installed over 220 structures of various styles and sizes. Our reputation is known for providing high quality living space that are separate from the house, we have applied our expertise and experience to single room house extensions such as a conservatory, sun-room or an larger kitchen / dining area. For many of the extension projects we have taken on, it included renovation of the existing home.

Building an extension to your home is a great way to create extra space and to increase the modern conditions that you always needed. Without having the expenses and hassles of selling your home and finding a new one, especially if you happen to like where you live. A house extension can ultimately transform your living space and have greater impact on your home and your lifestyle than you would expect. An individually designed house extension gives you the opportunity to create a part of your home that is unique to you and your family. You can improve the energy efficiency of your home and reduce heating costs by highly insulating the house extension. Many smart home owners are also choosing to build an extension as a way to add value to their home. Naturally for many the home is the most important asset – By choosing a company with a good reputation and strong presence, you can avoid the pitfalls and horror stories so common in building projects.

Your home is probably your single most important investment. The critical thing when undertaking building works on your property is to make sure the job is done right, because you only get one chance. Home Building with Kevin Talbot; have the technical capability and financial security to see your project through from start to finish. Our staff are made up of experienced tradesmen and qualified professionals so you can be confident that any work we undertake will be carried out to the highest standards.

Whatever house extension you may have in mind ‘Home Building with Kevin Talbot’ can work with you on developing your idea. With over 16 years of experience in the building of house extensions in the West Dublin, Kildare, Offaly, Carlow and Meath areas we can offer our invaluable expertise on design and make the process from concept to completion a pleasant one. ‘Home Building with Kevin Tablot’ uses only the very best materials and tradesmen for all of our work and our finished product speaks for itself.

Did you know that a new single story building of up to 40 square meters to the rear of your home can be built without planning permission?

Give Kevin a call to discuss / have a chat about building a new home extension.

A Guide to Building Home Extensions

Decide what you need in terms of use and space.

Planning and preparation is key in getting the most out of any house extension project. Because you only get one chance; it is important to list the goals and objectives that your new home extension is to achieve. Your most important contribution is deciding what you want from your home. Only you can do this and it is an essential starting and finishing point. Bear in mind 3 key elements when listing your objectives which are as follows

  1. Logic / Common Sense – This goes without saying, common sense and good logic is important, for instance do you want extra windows on the north facing side of the home extension, which is detrimental to saving heat in the home, along with lack of sunlight coming in from the north side.
  2. Foresight – Try and see how your lifestyle will change down the line, think 5 / 25 years down the line! For instance are the children flying the nest? Or will you be having more children? Try and maximise the new extra space to incorporate into your lifestyle down the line. Perhaps you might want a conservatory which is to be used as a playroom for toys, but down the line can be changed into a relaxation space for you to paint / read a book, to grow some tropical plants?
  3. Budget – The budget should be factored in, because the last thing you want to do is a massive large extension with a limited budget, which will cutting corners in terms of materials. We do not advise on this, we suggest getting the job done right first time, so the budget will be factored in.

We can help you with your planning, it is what we are here for. If you need help to get started, why not give us a call. Other tips are below.

Don’t forget the existing living areas

Most people think the new space gained is restricted to the footprint of the new home extension, but this is not the case; if careful consideration was applied to incorporate both the new are and the existing area together. So you can blend in the new area to work well with the existing area. For example a dividing wall between two existing rooms could be taken down to create one larger space, the existing area can be slightly refurbished to blend in with the new area such as the same flooring. Another consideration is how would the new area affect the existing area in terms of natural light. So by bearing in mind the existing areas you can transform the new area to be a perfectly blended into the existing area. Opening up the area can have a dramatic effect on the living space.

Good Design

The reality is that many house extensions are considered too small or too expensive to warrant the full services of an architect. It is amazing the difference good architectural design and consideration will make to your house extension and to your home. It is easy to tell which extensions have had design input and the ones that have little or none. Given the importance of getting it right, you can’t afford not to have design input. There are a number of big design decisions such as location of the extension, roof styles, external finishes, windows, doors, rooflights, internal finishes, integration with the existing house, relationship between the house and the garden, etc. People have become much more aware of the importance of orientation and light, so it deserves a special mention here. The detailing of the elevations (walls) and the choice and position of the windows, doors and rooflights will determine how successfully you optimise the orientation and natural light.

Future Proof Your House Extension

The term “Future-Proof” is normally associated with thermal performance, insulation specification, U-Values, sustainable materials, etc. and we certainly include that when we suggest you “Future Proof Your Home Extension”. Comprehensive Future-Proofing must also:

  1. Add value to your home in the event of a sale.
  2. Ensure the design caters for further development if required later.
  3. Be able to cater for the changing needs of the family.