House extensions and renovations in West Cork

There is no typical figure Euro Concrete can stand over, because every extension is priced on its own size, foundations, roof, the opening into the house, the finishes, and the point at which you want us to hand over. Ring Sean on 086 881 9848 with drawings or a description, and we will price your extension.

Size sets most of the cost, from the foundations and floor to the walls and roof. A flat roof and a pitched roof cost differently, and a pitched roof matched to the house takes more work. The structural opening into the existing house is a big item: a wide opening in a load-bearing wall needs an engineer's design, propping and a steel beam, which is our own trade. Glazing, a kitchen or bathroom, heating and electrics can make up much of the total, depending on what is included. Rock, poor ground or tight access to the back of the house change the groundworks.

A simple single-storey rectangle at the rear of the house, with a flat or lean-to roof and few openings, built within the planning exemption, costs least to add. Euro Concrete builds extensions of every size, and a simple shape keeps the foundations, walls and roof straightforward, which keeps the cost down.

Every corner, change of level and extra opening adds foundations, lintels and labour, so a plain rectangle is the most economical shape. A single storey avoids an upper floor and the structural work it needs. Keeping kitchens and bathrooms where the plumbing already runs saves on services. Building within the planning exemption for rear extensions saves the time and fees of an application, if the extension meets its conditions. Reusing an existing opening, such as a back door or a window, can reduce the structural work of joining the extension to the house. Your architect or engineer can design the extension to a budget.

Yes. Euro Concrete Services carries out renovations as well as extensions in West Cork, including opening up walls inside a house, cutting new openings for doors and windows, and structural changes with propping and steel beams to an engineer's design.

Renovation work can start with the structure: taking out a wall between two rooms, widening an opening, or forming a new doorway, which is where our wall sawing, core drilling and propping come in. New openings through concrete or block walls are cut with a diamond saw, so the edges are clean and the rest of the wall is not broken up. Floors can be broken out and relaid, and new services cored through walls and slabs. Tell us what you want to change and send photos or drawings, and we will say how the work would be done and what it involves.

Ireland's planning exemptions allow a rear extension to a house up to a set floor area without planning permission, counting any earlier extensions, if every condition is met. Euro Concrete builds extensions within the exemption or with full planning permission, and your local council can confirm the current limits.

Any upstairs part has its own, smaller limit within that total, and must stand back a set distance from a party boundary. The conditions also limit how high the walls and roof can rise against the existing house and how much private garden has to be left behind. Other conditions cover how the roof is used and which buildings the exemption applies to. The figures have changed before and can change again, so have your architect or engineer check the design against the rules in force before it is finalised.

The 1 metre boundary rule people ask about is one of the conditions in Ireland's planning exemptions for rear extensions, and it concerns how close a ground-floor window can be to the boundary it faces, not the wall itself. Euro Concrete builds extensions to drawings that meet the exemption conditions, or to a planning permission.

Windows above ground level have a larger distance of their own, and any upstairs part of an extension has to stand back from a party boundary as well. Garden sheds and garages fall under a different set of conditions. The distances themselves are set in the exempted development regulations, which have changed before, so check them with your local council or your architect before the drawings are fixed. Gutters, drains and foundations still have to stay on your side of the line, whatever the planning position.

Euro Concrete Services builds extensions and does renovation work for houses in and around Skibbereen, Bantry, Leap and Glandore, and inland at Drimoleague and Drinagh. Ring Sean on 086 881 9848 with the address and a description of the extension, plus any drawings.

Keeping the whole job with one crew, from the foundations to the opening cut through the old wall and the steel that goes in, works best close to our base. Rural houses outside those towns are included. Tell us whether the extension goes on the back or the side, roughly how big it is, and whether the wall it joins is block, stone or concrete, since that decides how the opening into the house is made. Drawings and a planning reference, if you have one, let us price the whole job.