Matching red brick for an extension

leekat21

avenida wrote: »

sounds good, where you glad you did the extension?

What was it like living in the house while the building work was going on?

Did you stay within budget?

Re these - I am delighted that we're doing the extension, we're not losing much garden by doing it but gaining so much more space

We agreed a fixed price with our contractor so there will be no extras unless we change the spec.

rosalie-lavender

avenida wrote: »

Forgot to mention the top half of our house is multicoloured brick, you can see from the pic, architect says to render top half of house on the front only, do you agree?

I like the multi coloured brick effect at the top of the house, it gives it a bit of interest and character.

We had a two storey extension done about 14 years ago.

The worst bit for us was the dust when they started removing bricks to link the two. Our house was a similar design to yours and our stairs went/go up the side where the extension was to be built. Rather than lose the use of a bedroom by having access to the extension through there, we just put another short set of stairs from the existing square half way point/landing of the existing stairs. Like you we had a window on the side and that is where the new stairs go. It works brilliantly but the mess when they removed the bricks was awful because it was right in the centre of the house and was walked everywhere! If you go ahead get plenty of dust sheets to cover your furniture when the dust starts flying. It is easier to protect things than clean them up after.


Our house is yellowy brick but because it had weathered so much the reddish bricks were actually a better match for texture and colour.

The extension was well worth doing and worked out cheaper than moving even if at the time it was an inconvenience while the work was done.

cally1_2

We love our extension. It stayed within budget for the original quote but we did add some extras; built in cupboards and a patio. But that was our choice and we agreed the price with the builder before they started.

It was well worth doing. We did a two storey on the side and one storey around the back, so a L shape. Added a huge kitchen/family room. office. utility room, integral garage and cloakroom downstairs and an extra bedroom with ensuite upstairs.

cally1_2

Oh and about 7 weeks into the build I had a baby! TBH it was all fine and not too much disruption - apart from the 2 weeks without a kitchen. But the builders make sure i had a sink and cooker every evening when they left!

27col

There should be no problem matching the existing bricks or getting a similar looking brick. The main thing is to get a brick with the same texture if possible. It might be necessary to find somewhere with a brick library or a local specialist brick supplier who will have a good idea of what the bricks are called. If you can remove a brick or part of one it will be much easier to find a match. However, you need to bear in mind that even if you locate exactly the same bricks as you have now. it will be unlikely that the mortar will match exactly. It is unlikely that the sand will have come from the same source as the original sand.

avenida

:beer: Cheers guys some good imput there, I know a guy who is the building control officer in my area, Im gonna ask him if he could call in and chat to him about my chances of getting planning permission etc. and if he can recommend any builders (after all he goes out and witnesses all the builders work during and after its finished)!

I think I should get it okay as you can see we are an end house and not blocking anyones view.

I would like to hopefully getting building started July/August but maybe thats being a bit too hopeful

avenida

Just wondering roughly how much do you reckon I would add on cost wise to a shell extension ie. for kitchen, downstairs loo, 4 piece bathroom suite?

How much are you guys all paying for a two storey extension

thanks:beer:

Avoriaz

avenida wrote: »

Just dont want it looking like 2 house stuck together and silly looking

You need to match your roof tiles too.

Extensions with matching bricks but mismatched roof tiles can look awful.

Matching roof tiles is difficult as sloping tiled roofs show weathering far more than vertical brick walls.

If the tiles on the roof at the rear look much the same as those at the front, you can remove enough of them for the new roof at the front and use new tiles at the rear only. This limits the mismatch to the rear only.

Or you can remove all the tiles from either front or rear and use all old tiles on one side and all new tiles on the other.

Or you can remove all the tiles and retile with a mixture of old and new.

All this costs more but is probably worth it as it avoids a roof that screams “extension”.

A quick google:

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&source=hp&q=extension+roof+tile+matching&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr%3DcountryUK|countryGB&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=extension+roof+tile+matching&gs_rfai=&fp=22911715a928b061