The Insider's Guide to Building an Extension

The Insider's Guide to Building an Extension

I've spent 42 years laying bricks. I've worked on hundreds of sites, built countless extensions, and seen every way a building project can go right — and every way it can go wrong.

Most of what's written about extensions online comes from people who've never stood in a trench, never argued with a planning officer, never had to tell a homeowner their foundations need to go down another metre because of what's actually in the ground. This guide is different. It's not a technical manual on how to lay bricks. It's everything I'd want a homeowner to know before they spend a penny — written from the trade side of the conversation, not the sales side.

What's inside:

• Whether the extension's even worth building, and the property value mistake that catches people out
• Why talking to your neighbours before anyone else is the single most overlooked step in the whole process
• How to find out if you need planning permission with one free phone call, before you pay for a single drawing
• When you actually need an architect, and when you don't
• How to find a builder you can trust, and what a proper fixed-price quote should look like
• The five things a proper contract must cover, so a one-page estimate never catches you out
• The hidden cost most builders won't mention until you're mid-build
• The correct order trades should work in, and why getting it wrong costs you money
• How to protect yourself with retention, and how to close the job out properly with a snagging list

Every bit of this comes from real jobs, not theory. No padding, no filler chapters. Just what I'd tell you myself if you were stood on site asking.

If you're planning an extension and want to go into it knowing what you're actually dealing with, this is for you.