An extension is the hardest building project for a homeowner to picture. You are not choosing tiles for a room that exists, you are adding a room that does not. We build home additions and the structural alterations around them across Cape Town: one accountable team from the first site visit to the day the new space is handed over, finished and matched to the rest of the house.
What we build
- Room additions, extending the house where you need the space
- Structural alterations, removing walls and forming openings between the old structure and the new
- Conversions, turning garages and under-used spaces into rooms that work, like the garage we converted into a laundry and living quarters at Townsend Estate
- The finishing, plaster, flooring, ceilings and paint matched to the existing house, so the addition does not look like an addition
Plans come first, and we are straight about it
An extension needs approved plans. Those are arranged by you: you appoint a draughtsman or architect to draw them and submit to the City, and we build to the approved drawings, coordinating with registered engineers where the structure requires it. At your site visit we will tell you whether your project needs plans and what the drawings should show, so nothing holds up the build later.
Do you need an NHBRC-registered builder for an extension?
Honestly: no. NHBRC enrolment is aimed at new homes, and the regulations do not really apply to extensions, so you are free to appoint anyone.
It is still worth using a registered builder. Registration means the builder knows the NHBRC’s standards and complies with them by habit, on every job, not just the ones where an inspector is coming. FN Building Projects is NHBRC registered, and your extension gets built to that standard whether the regulations demand it or not.
What drives the cost
- Size and foundations. The ground under the new footprint decides more of the price than the finishes on top of it
- The roof. Tying a new roof into an existing one properly is skilled work, and pretending otherwise is how extensions leak
- Openings into the existing house. Structural openings need engineering, lintels and making good
- What goes inside. A bedroom is one number, a bedroom with a bathroom is another
- Matching the existing finishes, which is what separates an addition from an eyesore
We do not publish prices, because a number without a scope behind it is meaningless. Your quote is fixed and itemised, and your timeline comes in writing with it.
See it before we build it
This matters more on an extension than on any other job, because the space does not exist yet. We model your property and the proposed addition in SketchUp to real dimensions, so you can judge the size, the layout and how it sits against the house before a single brick is laid. Finish and styling visuals are impressions of how it could look, not construction drawings.
You receive a high resolution proposal electronically and as a printed copy, included at no cost where there is a genuine intention to move forward together.
Work we have done
The structural side of this work is on show in our Townsend Estate renovation: openings formed in load-bearing brickwork, a garage converted to living space, and finishes matched to the existing house, with the family living there throughout. Where part of the structure has to come out first, our controlled demolition team handles it as part of the same job.
Before you appoint anyone
Ask to see the quote broken down line by line, ask who the engineer is, and ask what happens if something is wrong after handover. Our guide to what a renovation quote should cover sets out what to look for, and your rights when hiring a builder explains what the law already gives you.
Your itemised quote comes back within 3 to 5 working days of the site visit.
