House Extensions in Reigate (RH2)
Extending a period Reigate house is as much about what the addition looks like from outside as what it does inside. On the conservation streets the brick, the mortar and the window detail are the difference between an extension that belongs and one that announces itself.
Building onto an older Reigate property
The older stock around the town centre asks for a particular kind of care.
Brick that has to be matched for colour and size rather than approximately, mortar mixed to suit the original rather than a modern mix that is harder than the brick around it, and window proportions that follow what is already there. Where a property is listed or sits within a conservation area, the design is constrained before it is drawn and consents come before work — which is worth establishing early, because it shapes both what you can build and what it costs. We would rather tell you at survey that a scheme is unlikely to fly than price something that gets refused.
The later housing, and what it takes
Reigate's 1930s to 1960s stock and its newer estates extend more freely, and the questions there are the ordinary ones: what the plot will take, where the light comes from once you have built across the back, and whether the money is better spent on more space or on reworking the space already there. On a lot of these houses a rear extension only works properly if the internal layout is reorganised at the same time — otherwise you add a room and leave the bottleneck exactly where it was.
One firm answerable for it
Our own team does the building work — brickwork, carpentry, plastering and groundworks — and specialists for electrics, roofing and decorating are brought in and managed by us. One firm stays answerable from the first survey to the final clean.
More in Reigate
Everything we do in Reigate is on the Reigate area sheet, and the full detail of how we approach this trade is on the extensions & renovations page.
Common questions
Q.01Can I extend a listed or conservation-area house in Reigate?
Often, but within limits, and with consents obtained before work starts. What is achievable depends on the property and its setting. We will give you an honest view at survey of what is likely to be acceptable before you spend money on drawings.
Q.02Will you match the existing brickwork?
That is the job on a period Reigate house. Brick matched for colour and size, and mortar mixed to suit the original rather than a modern mix that will sit harder than the brick around it.
Q.03Do you work with our architect?
Yes. We price the scheme as drawn, and if something in it will cause trouble on site or cost more than it needs to, we say so before you commit rather than as a variation later.
Q.04Is an extension always the answer?
No. On plenty of Reigate houses reorganising the existing layout achieves more than adding to it, and costs less. We will say so if that is what we think.
Thinking about extensions & renovations in Reigate?
Tell us what you are planning. We come out, look at the job properly and give you a price for it.