Extensions · North Finchley · 3 photographs
Extension and loft together, North Finchley
A rear extension in London stock brick with a loft conversion above it — the two biggest home improvements done as one job, one scaffold, one programme.
Extension and loft together
Rear extension in stock brick with loft conversion above, North FinchleyThe story
Extension and loft are the two most valuable things you can do to a London terrace, and doing them together is cheaper and faster than doing them a year apart: one scaffold, one set of party wall notices, one building control application, one team that never has to hand over to another.
This North Finchley house got both. The extension is faced in London stock brick chosen to age with the original rear elevation, with full-height glazing onto the garden; the loft above got new windows and a Juliet balcony.
One programme, two floors
The trades interleave: while the extension's structure cured at ground level, the roof was opened above; while plasterers finished the loft, the glazing went into the extension. A combined job rewards sequencing — and punishes the lack of it — which is why it runs under one project manager, not two contractors sharing a kettle.
The stock brick was the decision that matters most in twenty years. New metric brick against Victorian imperial stock always shows; matched stock in the right mortar disappears into the house.
How every job of ours runs
It starts with a survey, not a phone estimate — then a fixed, itemised written scope before any deposit is discussed. Skips, scaffolding, licences, making good and waste removal are named in it rather than discovered later.
On site you get a named project manager and online progress tracking with photographs like the ones above. You pay in arrears of work completed, and where the work is notifiable, building control inspects at stages and issues the completion certificate — the paperwork a buyer's solicitor asks for years later.
- Service
- Extensions
- Location
- North Finchley
- Photographs
- 3
- Payment
- In arrears
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Answers
Common questions about work like this
Do I need planning permission for extensions in North Finchley?
It depends on the property type and what is proposed. Many single-storey rear extensions and loft conversions fall under permitted development, but those rights do not apply to flats and are restricted in conservation areas or where an Article 4 direction applies. We check the planning position for your specific address before quoting, and tell you in writing which route applies.
How do you price the work?
From a site survey, written up as a fixed and itemised scope before any deposit is discussed. If something genuinely unforeseen appears once work is opened up, it is priced and agreed in writing before we continue — never added to the final invoice after the fact.
When do I pay?
In arrears of work completed. You pay for work that has been done and inspected, not for work that has been promised. This has been how the company operates since 2008.
Do you handle Party Wall notices?
Yes, where the work requires them. Under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, notifiable work on a shared wall needs 2 months written notice to the adjoining owner, while excavation near a neighbouring structure and building at the line of junction need 1 month. We serve the notices and manage the award process as part of the job.
Will I get certificates at the end?
Yes. Electrical work is tested and certificated under Part P, and building control issues a completion certificate where an application was required. You receive the handover pack — it is what a buyer's solicitor will ask for when you eventually sell.
How long will it take?
It depends entirely on scope, and we give a programme with the written quote rather than a guess on the phone. What we will not do is start a job we cannot resource, which is the usual reason a build stalls halfway through.
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