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Adding a second storey to a home in Hillcrest, Auckland
More space was the catch cry of this couple. Room was too tight to extend out so the only option was to go up and add a second storey. With a renovation of the main living area and the addition of a second story to create a new master bedroom and study, Beacon Construction were able to satisfy their needs and create a new home out of the tried old family home. They now have a modern home with durable, low maintenance materials and still enough land around them for the kids to grow up with trampolines and all the other things kids love to do outside.
This was a 1960’s group style home that had been added onto in the past. A new stairwell was created from the basement/ garage area with a new front door at a half level between. With a re arrangement of some of the bedrooms on the mid level and new stair well and new top floor were added to give a master bedroom, en suite and walk-in wardrobe. We installed cladding to the top level to match the existing weather boards downstairs. This is a good example of where the LFV became important because of the dark colour used. Timber was used but it would have been better to have used composite weather boards to deal with the heat generated which caused some resin bleed.
Adding stairs up to the second storey can be a major challenge for this type or renovation as it usually means you have to sacrifice another room the create the stairwell. Another big issue is strengthening the structure of the ground floor to support the weight of the new second storey. The loads from the top floor have to transmitted right back down to the foundations. This will mean strengthening the walls in conjunction with steel beams in the ceiling to carry the loads. It will often also mean some new foundations to pick up the new loads. In addition to this, the wall bracing of the lower levels also needs to be upgraded to be able to deal with earthquake loads for the new second floor.
Sound proofing is also a consideration as floors are very good at transmitting sound. Basically you get what you pay for. The more you pay the better the sound proofing. You will never eliminate sound transmission completely but it can be greatly reduced.
