What do you need when planning an extension?

Spring time comes along and our minds turn to home improvement tasks and how we can make our update our property look fresh and summery.  It’s been a long winter, with lots shut down and a lot of places unable to take on larger projects – so the big trend in 2020/21 has been for upcycling and minor DIY projects that we’ve been able to do at home..

There are many simple tasks that you can do in and around the house – spruce up your front garden, paint some garden furniture or window frames and even create some basic structures such as bedding areas, ponds or pagodas.  The simplest of changes can make a big impact on the aesthetics of the property….giving it a fresher feeling.

However if you are wanting to make any more significant changes to your property you will need to secure yourself a building permit. It is vital that you check your local regulations as there are many different approaches county to county – if you would like to check the building permit Richmond Hill area for example – that would be easy to do.

Some of the most common types of jobs needing permits would be Kitchen extensions, garage conversions and deck installations – but there are other things on the “permit required” list that would surprise you.  Underground additions perhaps?  Maybe you want to convert a boring basement area into a games room or utility area and need plumbing and such to go in place as well as the structural and load baring aspects.

It’s important you are clear on the project at hand so in order to give the right information regarding what kind of permit you would need.  It would be best to sketch out a few ideas, cost them up roughly to avoid any rookie mistakes or incompatibility and then make a decision before you embark on securing the permit.

Whatever your plans to improve the internal or external aesthetics of your property, planning and preparation are essential – get yourself a project management tool to keep you on track and ensure you don’t get ahead of yourself in the planning stages.  Depending on the size of the project it may make sense to hire a project manager to pull together all the various aspects of the work required, including when to apply for the permit and which one would be necessary.