Room to not move: When an extension is better than selling up

In the past year, homeowners have invested more than €11 billion in home improvements, making better use of space or creating more space, for a home office, gym or playroom among other things. The business of building extensions has been booming as families spend more time together at home due to pandemic restrictions.

But the classic reason for wanting more space hasn’t gone away. As children grow, every parent knows what it feels like when the family home suddenly becomes far too small to accommodate everyone. The options faced are to move somewhere larger or extend.

Killian and Maureen Byrne, who moved into their two-bedroom dream home in Rathfarnham two decades ago, have faced that dilemma. It was the perfect place for the then young couple, but after having two children, whose need for space grew at the same rate as they did, it wasn’t long before the house felt cramped.

“With two and a half bedrooms, two reception rooms and a small kitchen, our house was always reasonably small but it suited Maureen and I in the beginning and we really liked the location,” says Byrne. “But once Keith and Katie, who are now in their teens, arrived, things began to feel a little smaller.”

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The family was in a quandary because they loved where they lived.

“And the estate itself, which is small and made up of similar houses built in the 1970s, was full of other families with a very low turnover of residents – so we liked this fact also.”

It wasn’t until 2019 that the couple had the means to decide whether to sell up and buy a bigger house or spend what money they had on renovating and expanding the home they loved. They chose the latter and used savings and a gift of money from a parent to finance it.

We didn't have a design theme at all and decided to spend the bulk of the money on bricks and mortar and essentials and just allocate a smaller amount for soft furnishings and carpets

“We knew we needed some space where the kids could get away from their parents and hang out with their friends and I also wanted some extra room in the kitchen for my bigger oven. Then once we started talking, we said we should do the hallway and if we were doing that, we should do the landing and so it went on.”

Thanks to their unexpected windfall, the couple now had the budget to refurbish the house as well as extending it. They redid the plumbing and the wiring, added new bathrooms, a gym, breakout rooms for both the kids and their parents, improved insulation and heating, expanded the kitchen, added another bedroom, and modernised the whole building, gaining 35 per cent more floorspace.

It was a mammoth task and, once the decisions were made, the family moved into a rented house nearby for the duration of the job.

“We always liked the design of our house and, as it is in an estate, we didn’t want to make it too different from everyone else’s, so we spent our money on practical changes rather than aesthetics,” says Byrne, who works as an event manager.

“The kitchen and living room became one large room and we also got an extra utility room and a large deck out the back. We are still in the process of putting in an outdoor kitchen with pizza oven and barbecue, but that can come in time.”

Upstairs there was a new bedroom added so their teenage son could have extra space, an en suite bathroom was installed in the master bedroom and the attic room was expanded and totally renovated. And they managed to get the job done on time and within their €290,000 budget.

“We are a very practical family and, because of my job, I am used to working with deadlines and budgets, so I was able to keep a tight rein on things to ensure we didn’t run over,” says Byrne. “We didn’t have a design theme at all and decided to spend the bulk of the money on bricks and mortar and essentials and just allocate a smaller amount for soft furnishings and carpets.”

They went to Ikea for furniture and bought a few couches, chairs and bits and pieces.

“We had been planning on getting wardrobes from there also but because we had kept so within budget, we had money left over to get built-in ones, which are really great. Everything has worked out really well and although we didn’t spend too much time thinking about the furnishings or furniture, everything is of good quality, and I don’t see us changing any of it in the future.”

The Byrne housing project began on August 8th, 2019, and thanks to a “great relationship” with their builder, they were in their newly renovated house four days before Christmas and managed to avoid all of the hassle they would potentially have had if the project had run into the new year and, subsequently, the pandemic.

“We were so lucky that we weren’t affected by all the lockdowns brought about by Covid,” says Byrne.

He was amazed by how builders “can transform a house from something totally unlivable into the finished job in days”.

People should realise when they start a job that the builder isn't at their beck and call

“And we didn’t do anything at all to help – we didn’t even pick up a paintbrush. But our builder was brilliant, and we started off on the right foot from the start, so when we told him that we had to be in before Christmas, he made sure it happened.”

He says people should realise when they start a job that the builder “isn’t at their beck and call”.

“He has a job to do, and it makes his life so much easier if people are on the same page and are prepared,” Byrne says. “So, for example, if you are asked what colour you want the rooms painted or where you would like sockets to go, don’t say that you will have a think and come back to them, make sure you know that in advance. Because although these things only seem like small issues, they can come back to bite you if you don’t put a little thought into it beforehand.”

Callout: Show us your extension

Are you proud of your home extension? Does it fill you with delight when you wake up in the morning? Do you invite neighbours round just to show it off? Was it a spur of the moment build during lockdown or a long-planned project to create much-needed extra space? If you've got a lovely extension, we'd like to hear about it – and see photos. Tell us what you use it for: working, reading, an open-plan kitchen? Why did you build it? How did you go about the work? What does it mean to you now? Tell us about it in the form in the this article, and your extension may appear in the paper or online. If you are reading this in the Irish Times App, please click here.