5 things to consider before building your oak framed extension
Would you love to add just one more room to your home?
Would you love to add just one more room to your home?
A place for laughter and supper with friends…
A place for you to pursue your hobby in peace…
A place for your family to snuggle up and relax…
Oak framed extensions provide the perfect solution for many clients who dream of creating additional living space.
If you’d like to do the same, in this blog we’ve shared five factors to consider before you design and build your oak frame orangery, sunroom extension, conservatory or oak frame garden room:
1. Your budget
1. Your budget
The first stage of planning your project involves benchmarking your budget.
We recommend determining a wish list for the design of your oak extension and estimating what you can and would like to spend on it, taking interior finishes and any additional exterior landscaping you may like to undertake around it also into account.
Once you have this information, you’re ready to approach an oak frame specialist, like our teams here at Oakwrights, who can then work closely with you to tailor a concept to your exact requirements and budget.
2. Its purpose and function
2. Its purpose and function
It may sound simple, however knowing how you and your family will utilise your new space now and beyond will heavily influence its overarching design.
Oak has many characteristics – from its natural beauty and charm to its versatility, allowing you to transform your new extension in the future with ease. However, determining where to position sockets and lights is an example of a decision that needs to be made correctly the first time before construction.
Read how our clients Julian and Phillipa approached us with aspirations to extend their Shropshire home with an oak frame orangery to specifically house their grand piano and offer them a sunny, warm sanctuary to enjoy indoor-outdoor living.
3. Integration with your existing home
3. Integration with your existing home
When you picture your sunroom extension, do you see it seamlessly transitioning from your kitchen into your garden thanks to interior finishes, such as laying the same porcelain flooring throughout to link both spaces?
Perhaps you’d love to position your new conservatory to the rear of your property to maximise your south-facing views while encasing it with similar exterior materials, so it appears it has always been there?
The design of your extension should look and feel unique to you and harmonise with your home how you’d like it to. In this blog, you’ll find future inspiration about designing an oak frame extension to complement your home.
4. Planning permission and Building Regulations
4. Planning permission and Building Regulations
While some can fall under permitted development rights, many extensions require planning permission, and you’ll also need to meet modern Building Regulation requirements based on factors such as location, height and size, as explained by the Planning Portal.
Here at Oakwrights, we offer a full design and planning service to take any unnecessary confusion or stress away from the excitement of your new build and ensure its construction is as streamlined as possible.
5. Sustainability and environmental influences
5. Sustainability and environmental influences
Now more than ever, we’re thinking about our futures and the footprints we’re leaving on the world around us. We can imagine that’s one of the reasons you’d love to build your extension with oak, given its intrinsic properties and being an extremely environmentally friendly and renewable construction material, in addition to its aesthetical characteristics of course!
An oak frame will last a lifetime, and when complemented by insulating high-performance technologies such as our face glazing system, you can rest assured your new home addition will care for your family and the planet for years to come.
Learn how Colin and Alison designed their award-winning timber extension with energy efficiency in mind, so they’ll always remain cosy and comfortable whatever the Scottish weather.
Ready to get started?
Ready to get started?
Whether you have already sketched out the style of your extension, or you’re toying with a few initial ideas, call 01432 353353 to arrange an appointment with your local Oakwrights design consultant and begin your oak frame journey.
