Eco-Friendly Options to Expand the Size of Your Home

Sustainability is a big thing in 2019. A growing number of homeowners want eco-friendly homes. The United States Green Building Council found that 85% of homeowners want a green home and 64% would pay more money to live in an eco-friendly community. However, they also have other priorities.

You can be a green homeowner, while also recognizing the need to have a home that is large enough for your family. You may need to expand your existing home in the most environmentally sustainable way possible.

Creating a Larger Home the Sustainable Way

If you find that your family is starting to outgrow your family home, then you might be thinking of moving to a bigger place somewhere else. If you live in a great street with great neighbors or your kids go to a school that requires you to live within a radius, this can make the decision to move more difficult.

Selling your property can be a good way to finance your next home. However, if you love the street you’re currently living on, then you should see what you can do to stay. There are several options that will let you get a bigger house without moving. You may find it is tricky to do this in an eco-friendly way, but it is definitely possible if you play your cards right.

Eco Warrior Princess has a great blog on sustainability. She wrote a post on eco-friendly ways to renovate your home. You can apply the same concepts if you need to expand it.

Knock Down, Rebuild

The most drastic move is the knock-down rebuild. This is best in cases when you don’t have the land to extend or do not have the structural stability to build upward. In this case, builders will knock down the building and rebuild a new house in its place. Bigger, better and more modern than the original.

The knock-down rebuild gives you all the perks of building a new home to your specifications, but without changing your address. This is also a great option if your house has experienced any major fire or flood damage. There is one drawback of this, however, which is that you will have to live somewhere else during the duration of the build. You will also have to store your things. If you have friends or family that can accommodate you, then this will make it much cheaper and easier.

This may not sound like the most eco-friendly approach, because you have to use new materials to build it. However, there are some reasons it is actually a good option for environmentally friendly homeowners. You can use the same materials to build the home. Also, the foundation will already be laid, which means you won’t need to excavate the area for a new home. This could actually be more eco-friendly than building a new home elsewhere when you keep this in mind.

House Extension

If your yard is big enough and the house is laid out in a way that would allow for you to build outward, this could be a great way to add an extra bedroom, bathroom, living area or even a new man cave. You can even convert a porch or pergola area into an extra room if your house already has these. These are much cheaper options that you may be able to arrange without actually moving out of the house, which will save you money on rent.

Parents of young children will often want as much yard space for their kids to play as possible, so depending on the age of your kids and their interests, you may not want to use up all of your yard space. A smaller backyard may also affect the resale value down the track.

There are a lot of green ways to extend your home. You just need to make sure that use the right eco-friendly materials and a contractor that follows sustainable building practices.

Building Up

If you cannot afford to knock it down and start over and cannot extend outward, your next consideration is to build up. This requires a lot of planning and investigation to ensure your house is structurally able to support an additional storey. An extra storey to your house can be a great way to get an extra entertaining area upstairs or an additional master bedroom.

Granny Flat

If you cannot live with the disruption of any of the previous ideas and you have teenage kids, you might be able to add a bungalow or granny flat in the backyard. This will help give them their own space away from you and get a little bit more independence. Just make sure you get council approval first. When your granny flat is no longer occupied you can rent it out for additional income.

Subdividing

If you want to keep the same address, but you want to downsize because your kids have all grown up and moved out, you might want to find a solution that will allow you to subdivide your property. This might involve creating a second dwelling in your backyard or knocking down your home and building townhouses. Many people who do this will then sell the additional properties and keep one as their home.

With these 5 ideas in mind, there are a lot of options for people who want to modify or change their home without changing their address. If you are considering any of these options, be sure to check with your local city council to get the appropriate permissions and permits. Different states and countries will have varying laws that will dictate what you can and cannot do.

There Are Eco-friendly Ways to Expand Your Home

You can be a green homeowner, while also coming to terms with the need to expand your building. There are some perfectly eco-friendly ways to do this.