Extensions · Reading & Berkshire
Single & Double-Storey
Home Extensions —
Designed, Built, Done Right
An extension is the cheapest extra bedroom, kitchen or family room you'll ever buy — done properly. We handle the whole build end-to-end, from foundations to final coat of paint, so you talk to one person, not seven trades.
5.0 average from verified Google reviews Fully insured · 18 years building in Berkshire
Recent work
A look at projects across Berkshire.
What we do
Extensions done properly — the first time.
Full-scope home extensions: single-storey rear, double-storey side returns, wrap-arounds, and over-garage extensions. We project-manage the whole build — groundworks, structure, roof, windows, plastering, electrics, plumbing and decoration — through one fixed quote.
Families who've outgrown their kitchen or need another bedroom, homeowners adding value before selling, or anyone fed up of moving who'd rather invest in the house they already love.
When the kitchen is the bottleneck of family life, when a second child means an office becomes a nursery, or when the cost of moving (stamp duty, fees, removal, new mortgage) starts looking heavier than the cost of building.
Multi-trade extensions go wrong when nobody owns the timeline. Plasterer turns up before electrician's first fix, kitchen fitter is booked for a week the plumbers run over — and every gap costs you. A specialist main contractor schedules every trade against the same fixed quote so you don't bridge those gaps yourself.
The cost of waiting
Most extension nightmares are paperwork failures, not building failures.
What happens if it's ignored
- Starting without proper planning sign-off can mean enforcement, demolition or unsellable property at the end — buyers' solicitors find this every time.
- Building Control sign-off missing from a finished extension knocks 15–20% off your sale price and scares off mortgage lenders.
- Inadequate foundations under a heavy structural opening cause cracking, sloping floors and door frames that won't close within 18 months.
- Underspecified steels and structural timbers fail Building Control mid-build, forcing you to demolish work already finished.
Mistakes we fix every month
- Hiring trades separately to save money — then paying twice to fix the gaps where their work was meant to meet.
- Skipping a structural engineer's calcs on a knock-through, then having Building Control demand them after the steel is in.
- Cheap windows that look fine on day one and condense, leak and warp within three winters.
- No fixed quote, just a day rate. The job that 'should take six weeks' is into month four and the bill is double.
Our process
A clear five-step system from first call to final handover.
- Step 1
Site Visit & Inspection
We come to you, measure up, photograph the site and listen properly to what you want from the extension.
- Step 2
Written Quote & Diagnosis
You get an itemised, fixed-price quote within 48 hours — labour, materials, timings and what's specifically excluded.
- Step 3
Schedule & Prepare
We agree a start date, order materials in advance and protect your home — dust sheets, walkways, skip placement.
- Step 4
Build & Communicate
Daily progress updates from your dedicated foreman. No subcontractor merry-go-round — you see the same faces every day.
- Step 5
Sign-Off & Handover
Final walk-around with you, snags fixed on the spot — we don't leave until you're happy with the finish.
What you get
Specific outcomes — not vague promises.
Project-managed end-to-end
One contract, one foreman, one schedule. No trade gaps, no chasing, no 'sorry he's on another job'.
Honest, free quotes
You get an itemised, no-obligation written quote after the site visit. Variations only happen when you ask for changes, never because we underestimated.
Built to outlast you
Proper foundations, properly sized steels, full cavity insulation, A-rated windows. Built like we'd live in it.
Building Control signed off
Every stage inspected by Building Control and signed off in writing — your future buyer's solicitor will check, so we get it right now.
Liveable home throughout
We seal off the build, share daily progress photos, and keep your kitchen functional until the new one is wired in.
Same crew, start to finish
The bricklayer, joiner and foreman who quote your job are the people on site every day. No subcontractor lottery.
The detail
Materials, methods and variations for extensions in Reading.
Berkshire extensions divide neatly into three types: Victorian and Edwardian rear extensions on Reading and Caversham terraces, post-war side returns and over-garage builds in Newbury and Thatcham, and substantial double-storey builds on detached properties around Basingstoke and Oxford. Each has its own structural quirks and planning conventions — knowing them upfront saves you weeks.
Materials we work with
- Foundations
- Concrete strip foundations to a minimum 1m depth (deeper in clay soils common to north Reading), reinforced where required by SE calculations. Mini-piled foundations where roots from neighbouring trees make strip impractical.
- Structural steels
- UC and UB sections, sized to engineer's calcs, fire-protected with intumescent paint or boxed in plasterboard depending on use class.
- Brick & block
- Inner skin of medium-density concrete block, outer skin of facing brick matched to your existing house. Insulated cavity (full-fill mineral wool or partial-fill PIR to current Part L).
- Windows & doors
- A-rated double or triple glazed aluminium or composite — typically Origin, Schüco or Aluk. Bi-folds and sliders sized to maximise garden view and light.
- Roof
- Warm-roof flat construction (PIR insulation above the deck) finished in EPDM rubber or GRP, or pitched tile roof matched to the existing house.
Methods & techniques
- Structural opening (knock-through)
- Strong-boys and acrow props above the proposed steel, brick cut out in sections, padstones bedded, steel craned or hand-walked in, bricks reinstated over.
- Underpinning
- Where existing footings are shallow and new build is heavier, we sequence-pour underpinning bays to a structural engineer's design before any superstructure begins.
- Warm-roof flat-roof construction
- Vapour control layer over deck, PIR above, plywood overlay, then membrane — eliminates cold-bridging that ruined a generation of older flat roofs.
- Wet trades coordination
- Plaster, screed and tile go in a strict moisture sequence with dehumidifiers running, so you don't paint over damp and watch it bubble in March.
Common variations & situations
- Single-storey rear extensions (3m–6m projection)
- Wrap-around side and rear extensions
- Double-storey side returns
- Over-garage bedroom or office extensions
- Two-storey rear extensions with full kitchen-diner below
- Garden-room style glass extensions with lantern roofs
- Permitted development (PD) extensions under 6m
- Larger Home Extension Scheme builds with neighbour consultation
Residential vs commercial
We focus on residential extensions — that's where 95% of our work is and where our specialism lies. We do take on small commercial work (shopfronts, mezzanine builds, small office extensions in Reading and Newbury) but only where the structural and finishing standards we hold ourselves to make sense.
Common questions
What homeowners in Reading ask before booking.
Related services
Often booked alongside extensions
- Brickwork — Specialist brickwork and pointing — the craft we built our name on.
- Loft Conversions — Unlock a whole new floor without leaving home.
- Groundworks — Foundations, drainage and site prep — done right the first time.
Recent work
Recent extensions projects across Reading & Berkshire.
Ready when you are
Get a fixed written quote for your extensions — within 48 hours.
No high-pressure sales. No vague day rates. Just an itemised quote from a builder who's been on the tools for 18 years.
Fully insured 18 years on the tools Quote within 48 hours