Five Ways a Double Storey Extension Goes Wrong (and How to Avoid Each One)
A double storey extension is one of the most efficient ways to add real space to a home, but it's also one of the easiest to get badly wrong. The projects that run into trouble almost always trip over the same handful of mistakes, and every one of them is avoidable if you know what to watch for. Here are the five that cause the most grief, drawn from how double storey schemes actually play out. If you'd rather see the thinking in action, the Guildford architects video is a useful watch, but the mistakes below apply wherever your home is. Mistake one: assuming permitted development covers it The most expensive error happens before anything is even drawn. People assume their double storey extension falls under permitted development, and they're often wrong. Only a narrow category of two storey rear extensions qualifies as permitted development, and the conditions are strict. Most genuinely worthwhile double storey projects exceed t...