An overcrowded house is a real pain. With limited storage and too many people running about it can start to feel like you’re living in a cave.
The obvious answer is to buy a new house, but with prices rising all of the time, you might not want to spend that much money. You might also be reluctant to move out of your home because you’ve become attached to it.
Just because you’re running low on space, that doesn’t mean you’ve fallen out of love with your house. So, what do you do? Why not think about extending? Adding an extension to the house will give you all of the space you’re lacking but an outbuilding might be better instead.
If you’ve got children that are getting older, giving them their own space separate from the house could do wonders for your relationship. If that doesn’t suit you, why not turn it into an outdoor entertaining space complete with inside kitchen and bbq for some great summer parties.
Whatever you decide to do with it, building an outbuilding in the backyard adds value to the house and gives you the extra utility that you need. Here are a few tips to help you build your new backyard extension.
Material
What you build your outbuilding from completely depends on what you’re going to use it for. If somebody is going to be living in there, it needs to be warm enough during winter. That means you should build a proper brick building with insulation in.
However, there are plenty of uses that don’t need such an expensive building. Any kind of outdoor entertaining area is going to get most of its use during the summer months. There’s no need to spend as much money on an outbuilding that’s suitable for sleeping in.
So, if you’re building an outside bar/bbq area, you can get away with building a wooden structure. It will be far cheaper and it will look great.
Location
Choosing where to put your new addition is key. Once it’s built, there’s no going back. If you get it wrong, you could ruin the whole garden. When you’re looking for places to put it, you should be looking for areas of the garden that aren’t that great.
If you’re building a residence for somebody to live in, choosing an area of the garden that doesn’t get much sun. It’s wasted space that you aren’t going to be relaxing in. But that rule doesn’t work for an entertainment space. You need as much sun as you can get, so take note of how much light each area in the garden gets and choose accordingly.
You should also remember to consider the shadow that your building is going to cast. If it is going to cast shade over your flowerbeds or your patio furniture then you may need to reconsider.
It’s likely that you’ll need to do a lot of rearranging in the garden to find the perfect space so be prepared to put a little money into redoing the garden at the same time.
Size
Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to outbuildings. Obviously, you’re going to want a good amount of space but don’t forget, you’re sacrificing a portion of your garden so balance is vital. Try to be conservative with your space and use clever storage to maximise what you do have.
Using furniture with storage inside is a brilliant way to double up on functionality. If you’re building a residence, try to use as much space as possible for the bedroom and living areas and be frugal with the space in your bathroom. Entertaining areas can be much smaller.
You’ll be using them mainly as storage and cooking areas during the summer so there’s no need to build enough space for everybody to sit inside.
Utilities
Deciding what kinds of utilities to put into your outbuilding is important because it can massively affect the cost. A residence is clearly going to need running water and electricity in it if somebody is to live there full time. Hooking it up with electricity and water is going to affect the location of the outbuilding as well because you could run into difficulty if you’re too far away from the main house.
When it comes to putting hot water in, you should go for a [amazon_textlink asin=’B0058J54G8′ text=’tankless water heater’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’mygardening411-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’fad15a35-9281-11e7-a375-bd5cf937f636′] from somewhere like Academy Air. They take up far less space than a traditional water heater and they’re more economical because they only heat what you need. An entertainment area would benefit from having electricity and hot water, but if you want to reduce costs, it isn’t absolutely necessary. Instead of using a fridge to cool drinks, you can just put a big ice bucket in instead, and you can always take any washing up back into the house.
By choosing not to put electricity and hot water in, you’ll make it far cheaper and you won’t have to bother with the hassle of digging up the garden.
Planning Permission
Before you start thinking about any of this stuff, you need to make sure that you can actually build the thing in the first place. Depending on the building and the state that you live in, the zoning codes vary a lot.
In general, if you’re building a fairly small wooden building without electricity and running water, you might be able to get away with doing it without permission. But as you get more ambitious, things will start to get a bit trickier. Usually, the height of a building and how close it is to the main house affect whether you need permission or not.
Once you start putting running water and electricity in, you’re pretty much guaranteed to need permission. Before you get the ball rolling, speak to your local authorities and see what you can and can’t do.
Before you dive into buying a new house, why not look into the possibility of extending your house with a new outbuilding?
