Home Extensions · Merrylands NSW 2160
Home extensions in Merrylands, done properly.
Home extensions in Merrylands by a licensed builder, for compact cottages that need a second bathroom, more living space and a better connection to the yard. Most extensions run $70,000 to $300,000 depending on size and how much of the existing house has to change, itemised quote, honest programme, one builder from concept to handover.
487370C
More room behind the cottage
Growing a compact Merrylands home.
Strava Group builds house extensions in Merrylands: rear living areas, master suites, second bathrooms and outdoor rooms. Many of the older detached homes here are compact post-war cottages built with one bathroom and small rooms, on blocks with more land behind the house than the house uses. Extending lets a family stay put and gain the space, and keeping the house you own usually costs less than buying a bigger one nearby.
Extensions we build for Merrylands homes:
- Rear kitchen and living extensions
- Master suites with ensuite
- Second bathrooms and laundries
- Covered outdoor rooms
- Subfloor repairs where old meets new
- Replacing old rear sleepouts
- Wider openings to the backyard
- Brick or cladding matched to the house
If the rooms are big enough and only need modernising, see home renovations in Merrylands. If the yard is too small to give up, look at second storey additions.
The classic Merrylands job: a small cottage with one bathroom becomes a family home with two, by adding a master suite and a family room across the back. The front of the house barely changes. The way the family lives in it does.
Quick Answer
Most home extensions in Merrylands run $70,000 to $300,000 depending on size and how much of the existing structure has to change, at roughly $2,500 to $4,500 per square metre for ground floor work, with around $30,000 in preliminaries (design, engineering and council approvals, plus site set-up) on top. Adding a second bathroom, levelling an old timber floor at the join and removing fibro additions add the most to the price here.
Local knowledge
What we know about extending in Merrylands.
Most Merrylands extensions are about fitting more life into a modest house. This is what we weigh up.
Council
Merrylands falls under Cumberland City Council. Its planning instrument, the Cumberland LEP 2021, lists 14 heritage items here: if your house is one of them, expect a DA with heritage input. For most other detached homes, a single storey rear extension within the code’s setbacks and site coverage can be certified privately as Complying Development, which is quicker. See Cumberland City Council and the NSW Planning Portal.
Cottage structure
Post-war cottages commonly sit on brick piers with timber bearers and floors, under a tiled or metal roof. Over the decades the piers settle and the floors drift. We level the old floor where the extension joins and build the new section on engineered footings set to the same height.
Adding wet areas
A second bathroom and a laundry are the most common additions here, and drainage decides where they can go. We check the depth and route of the existing sewer connection on site, because the new fixtures need enough fall to reach it, and the layout follows from that.
Block and access
Blocks behind the cottages are often long enough for a generous rear extension with yard to spare. Side paths tend to be narrow, and some lots have a driveway on one side only, so we plan machinery, deliveries and site storage early and price them.
Extend or rebuild
Some cottages are worth keeping and some are not. If the frame and footings are sound, extending usually costs less than a rebuild and keeps the house you already own. If they are failing, we will say so, and our custom homes and knockdown rebuilds service may be the better spend.
Fibro additions
Many cottages carry a sleepout or laundry added at the back in fibro. Asbestos cement was common in that kind of work right up to the 2003 national ban, so we sample it before demolition, and confirmed material is removed by a licensed contractor with a clearance certificate.
Start here
Tell us about your Merrylands home.
No sales pitch, no obligation. Here is exactly what happens when you enquire:
One at a time, takes about two minutes, so the first conversation is about your project rather than the basics.
The Strava standard
How we build differently.
An extension lives or dies at the junction between old and new. We build for longevity, and on every Merrylands extension we run:
Every new-to-existing junction properly detailed
This is where most extensions crack, leak and part company with the house, and the cause is almost always a detailing shortcut. Ours get a proper structural tie, flashing and movement detail.
The existing structure gets rectified first
Where the extension meets the house, we screw off and re-brace the adjoining structure, tying new and old together so the whole building moves as one. Future cracking gets designed out at frame stage instead of patched at the paint stage.
Footings engineered for the ground they sit on
New footings are engineered for your soil and detailed against the existing ones, because differential movement between old and new slabs is the classic extension failure, and it matters more on an older house whose original footings were never engineered to modern standards.
Furring channels for a dead flat finish
Where new ceilings and walls run through to existing rooms, furring channels give one level plane across both, so you cannot see where the house ends and the extension begins.
Waterproofing is a documented hold point
New wet areas are inspected and photographed before a single tile goes on, to AS 3740, and new roof-to-old-roof junctions get the same treatment.
Everything photographed before it is covered
You receive the record at handover, so in ten years you know exactly what is behind your walls and under your floor. Want more than photos? We can also capture a full 3D virtual model of the frame, plumbing, wiring and waterproofing before the plasterboard goes on, available as an optional add-on.
Before starting Strava Group, I spent seven years on the tools as a carpenter and five years running sites. The failures I kept seeing in extensions were always at the join: cracked cornices along the old wall line, roofs that leaked where new met old, floors that stepped as slabs settled differently. None of it was illegal. All of it was avoidable. None of this shows up in a finished-room photo. All of it shows up in year seven.
Honest numbers
What a house extension actually costs in Merrylands.
Most builders will not put numbers on a website. We will, because the alternative is wasting your time and ours across three meetings before anyone mentions a figure.
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Home extension, depending on size and scope | $70k–$300k |
| Ground floor extension work | $2,500–$4,500 /m² |
| Preliminaries, on top of build cost | approx. $30,000 |
Preliminaries are the costs that exist before a single wall moves: design, engineering and council approvals, plus site set-up such as site fencing, temporary services, waste removal, insurances and supervision. They are real, they are unavoidable, and a quote that does not show them separately has either buried them or forgotten them.
In Merrylands the compact houses keep projects efficient, and many land in the lower to middle part of the band. Adding wet areas, levelling the old floor at the join and removing old fibro additions are the main costs beyond the new room itself. Access on narrow side paths and how much of the existing structure has to change make up most of the rest.
Every project is quoted properly after a site inspection. These ranges are here so you can decide whether it is worth a conversation.
Good to know
Merrylands extension questions.
Rated 5.0 on Google.
We had Strava Group complete major renovation works on our property and were blown away with the quality. The attention to detail and overall finish were amazing.
Great communication, honest work, easy to work with, highly recommend to work with for any new build/renovations. If you are looking to get work done without worrying about shortcuts Strava Group is builder to use.
I highly recommend Strava Group to everyone great workmanship, reliable service, and I couldn’t be happier with the result.
I couldn't be happier with the work from Strava Group. From the beginning, Stav and the team was friendly, honest, and super easy to deal with.
We engaged Strava Group for a home extension and renovation. We are incredibly happy with the service and the results we achieved. From day one Stav and team where always willing to help with any issues we had and we loved that the main focus was as quality and longevity. Highly recommended
Had a great experience with Strava Group. The team was easy to deal with, super professional, and kept me in the loop the whole way through. They really listened to what I wanted and made the whole process feel smooth and stress-free.
Aloona T.
Google review
Orom Gabriel
Google review
Jonathan
Google review
Clara Shabow
Google review
Jonathan Jajo
Google review
Eli Kosso
Google review
Nearby
Home extensions near Merrylands.
We build extensions across the Cumberland area and the surrounding western suburbs. Select a suburb for local council information and what extensions there typically cost.
Cumberland and western Sydney
The Hills District
Hornsby and the Northern Suburbs
Ryde, Hunters Hill and the North Shore
Inner West
Parramatta
Western Sydney
Southern Sydney and St George
Looking for a different service in Merrylands? We also build second storey additions and home renovations in Merrylands.
Extend your Merrylands home properly.
Ready for more room?
Tell us about your property and what you want to add. We respond within 24 to 48 business hours with honest advice and real numbers, no cost, no obligation.
More in Merrylands
Other Strava Group services in Merrylands
Each page covers the local council, the homes we see in Merrylands and what that kind of project typically costs.