Expanding your home: how to increase space

Expanding your home is a necessity for those who need more space in their home. Whether the family is growing, needs are changing or new space is needed for an office or other necessities, these are just some of the reasons why people decide to extend their home.

In this article, you will find some important information about extending your living space, a desire that very often arises spontaneously. Here is everything you need to know about this topic.

Is it possible to extend your house without a permit?

A house extension is not just about increasing the volume of your living space. To enlarge a house is not only to be understood in terms of a percentage increase: this intervention must be understood as part of a wider renovation project, often involving also the structural and architectural aspect of the building.

Sometimes the need is to combine the kitchen and living room into a single space, to give the home a younger, more contemporary look. Or again, the need may be to create a large living room with a fireplace, or to set up a bathroom inside your bedroom. Expanding your home also means the need to combine living spaces with professional ones, or the desire to create a gymnasium inside your home, or for a variety of uses. The problem lies in translating our ambitions into reality, without violating building regulations. In this regard, it should be emphasised that each house is in fact unique and different from every other. As far as the legal aspect is concerned, the issue varies from case to case, depending on the intervention we intend to carry out and whether we need to create new masonry works - for example, the extension of the house with an external extension. In some cases it is necessary to have building permits or authorisation of the project from the offices of the municipality concerned.

Expanding your home: solutions and ideas

There are many solutions and measures that can be taken to extend the space in your home. Depending on the different types of houses, however, it is possible to make some preliminary distinctions:

• If you want to renovate a villa or single house, and you have a large garden or outdoor space, you can make an external extension of the structure, creating a new volume, horizontally and in connection with the existing structure;
• if you do not have a garden or outdoor space to use for the extension of the volume of the house and if the house is on the top floor of a building, you can decide to extend the structure vertically, with the help of a superelevation - creation of an additional horizontal floor;
• If you own a house with a large terrace, you can decide to extend the house by closing off the terrace.

If you have a house with a large terrace, you may decide to extend the house by closing off the terrace. In the case of a vertical extension and closing off a terrace, our advice is to build the new structure in wood. By using wood, it will be possible to avoid the aggravation of creating load-bearing structures, thus reducing the construction time in an already inhabited environment.

By using wood, there are now many solutions that allow you to create extremely comfortable spaces, which really have nothing to envy to a classic masonry structure.

How to extend your home with a veranda

Another solution that will allow you to increase the space available in your home is to build a veranda. A veranda is a fully glazed room that is directly connected to the house.

Verandas are generally built with a connection to the living room and are the ideal solution for creating a winter garden. Alternatively, a veranda can be the ideal solution for creating a kitchen, equipped with all amenities - even an island kitchen.

Since this structure is only built with the use of glass, the room will tend to heat up quickly and it will therefore be necessary to provide internal and external shading solutions: it is possible to simply use common curtains.

Expanding your home by creating a mezzanine floor

Another solution for enlarging home spaces, particularly suitable for houses with high ceilings, is the construction of a loft structure. The limitation of this solution is that it can only be used in spaces with considerable heights. If your house allows it, you can increase the volume of your rooms with a loft: this is a truly unique opportunity, both from an aesthetic and economic point of view.

Using the attic to create a loft space

One of the most ingenious solutions for enlarging your home is to use an attic to create a habitable attic space. In these circumstances, it is essential to carefully check the current building regulations beforehand to find out whether your attic space meets the requirements for becoming a living space. Regional and municipal regulations usually set minimum heights that must be respected.

If the regulations allow it, creating an attic is the ideal solution to have an additional space that can become a second flat.

Other ideas and tips for extending a house

Another solution for enlarging a house could be the purchase of a small one-room apartment adjacent to your home, in the context of a condominium building. In this way you can enjoy an important increase in volume, with minimal and rapid interventions, such as the simple demolition of a wall.

Finally, we would like to emphasise an important aspect that should never be underestimated by people who want to enlarge their living space. Enlarging a house is undoubtedly an intervention that can be really useful and important. However, it is often a very complex operation, which can involve significant expenses and sometimes risks. This is why our advice is to entrust a renovation project for enlarging the volume of a house to a professional or specialist company. By doing so, you will avoid surprises and the professional will be able to suggest all the bureaucratic formalities necessary to comply with the law and not risk incurring penalties.