extend house

[Manny]

Hi everyone,

We are having interest in a house we've seen, however it should be extended, so before making an offer we should know cost of extension. Does anyone have an idea of prices to extend a house per m2? It doesn't really matter in what material, can be wood or brick, the only condition is good insulation and double glazing.

Thanks!
Manny

[Smiler]

Manny

I haven't a clue how much, but if you are considering buying the house then surely it would be worth getting a proper builders quote in.

[jess]

Manny, there's a good 4 page article on home renovations and additions in NZ online here.

I don't remember it having m2 costs, but it does talk about pricing and resource consents needed from council. Remember that council consents will cost you quite a bit on top of the actual building costs, and check to see what the wait is for builders in your area. Here in Kapiti they are in demand, and it can be months or even up to two years depending on who you want to hire to do the renovation.

[Charlosparky]

On a similar theme, we are looking for a 4 bed house in Whangarei, but have noticed that they are alot dearer than similar 3 beds, about $40000 dearer, so we have the idea that we may look for a 3bed with internal garage, then convert it to a bedroom, which shoulod be easy enough (remove door and install wall, insulate, gib and decorate)

has anyone had experience of this or know of any pitfalls?

[pieeater]

New house builds generally cost in the region of $1000 to $1300 per square metre,and extending can be a little trickier so maybe ad a bit on to the for unforseeables and you shouldn't be too far off I shouldn't think.

[Manny]

Thanks to all for your replies. That article was an interesting read Jess, thanks for that.

$1300 seems reasonable, we'd like to add an extra 50 m2 to the house. I am actually wondering if the builder's hours of work would also be included in that $1300, because we would try to do a lot of the work ourselves because it is just about extending living area and bedrooms, so there is no plumbing involved or anything, no kitchen or bathroom. I would think kitchens and bathrooms are the most expensive part of a house. The most expensive part of our extension would be the roof I guess.

Oh dear, I sometimes wish I was back home where I knew all prices, builders and people to ask my stupid questions. We have been looking for a nice house in the Bay of Plenty for a couple of months now and find that it is really hard. Or the house is too ugly, too cold, too small, too big, too pricey, in a bad area, tucked away in the back of all new subdivisions, etc...... We have looked at bare land as well, but those seem to be hard to find. Most land for sale are new subdivisions where nobody has built yet. I don't like the fact that you never know what can pop up the next day in front of your beautiful views. Does anyone have the same feeling? What is it with this country???

Anyway, don't give up I say to myself, I think the time has come to contact a builder for a quote, because we did find a beautiful house in a beautiful area, except....it is too small . Any people know of good but reasonably priced builders in the Tauranga area?

Thanks mates,
Manny