Last year we had an extension built. At first, we did consider moving to a larger home, but we didn't really want to move. It was a close decision between, do we move, or do we extend - based on our previous move into this house, which wasn't a very positive experience, we wouldn't want to go through that again (Why it wasn't very positive? even though we exchanged early afternoon, and it should have been in and out, the people weren't even packed and they were not willing to move out until our solicitor threatened them with expensive legal bills - a week later they were still removing their furniture and belongings from our new home).  Plus there is the massive fact that we really like the home we have and the area we live in.

So, we decide to take on the mammoth task to extend and renovate - a year later and we still haven't fully finished yet; we went completely over our budget and time, but then that is normal isn't it?! The extension is done and it's very much apart of our home now, but, the next stage which we hopefully start next month, is to convert the garage into a play room. 

When we had the extension built we had steel work installed, main walls were being knocked down - I remember the first evening the acro-props were holding up the back of our house up, and the wall had been knocked down, I couldn't sleep! my head was spinning and spinning with horror thoughts, would the acro-props somehow collapse, and would the back of the house collapse.  It didn't happen, but I didn't sleep at all that night.

What would happen if something went terribly wrong during building works? are you covered under your home and building insurance? should you contact your home insurance?

If you’re planning on building an extension or carrying out any sort of building work, make sure you keep your insurer updated. Your home insurance could be invalidated if they’re not made aware of changes. 

by adding an extension, you should probably expect to pay higher premium on your insurance – most extensions increase the value of your home, so it would cost more to insure it.

Why Building Insurance should be considered:

With some insurers, a renovation or extension on your home may reduce the protection of your current home insurance policy or invalidate it completely, leaving your home potentially uninsured. You need to consider and make sure you are covered for the below points during the renovation/extension period:

• damage to your property and contents
• theft of possessions and building materials
• personal accidents