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Built Once. Built Right.

New timber staircase in a renovated home

Second Storey Additions · Ashfield

Add bedrooms, bathrooms & living space, without moving.

Fixed price second storey additions for Ashfield homeowners, from $274,000. Built to our Above Standard Carpentry Specification, with acoustic insulation in the subfloor included free on early projects.

Master Builders Association NSW member
NSW Licensed Builder
487370C

5.0 Google Rating

Inner West local5.0 Google RatingNSW Builder’s Licence 487370CFixed price scopeClear inclusions & exclusions0450 605 080

Space without moving

More room, without leaving the Inner West.

You love your Ashfield street, your neighbours, the school run. What you do not love is running out of space. Moving means stamp duty, agent fees and starting over somewhere that may never feel like home.

On a million dollar purchase, stamp duty alone runs to roughly $40,000 before you have paid an agent, a conveyancer or a removalist. In a suburb like Ashfield, where you are nine kilometres from the CBD with the station at the end of the street, that maths rarely favours moving.

A second storey addition lets you stay exactly where you are and build the space you need. Extra bedrooms, a second bathroom, a private master retreat or an upstairs living zone, without giving up a metre of backyard.

Strava Group builds second storey additions across Ashfield and the wider Inner West. About us.

Same land. Same street. Same address. A whole new upstairs.
New staircase with protected treads, plasterboard set on the walls around it
★

Limited time offer

Free acoustic insulation in the subfloor on early Ashfield packages. A quieter floor between levels, at no extra cost.

Choose your package

Three fixed price starting points.

All prices are “from”, GST inclusive, and apply to the new upper floor works only. Every package includes acoustic insulation in the subfloor while the current offer runs.

Essential

Approx. 40 to 45m²

From$274,000

1 Bed · Living · Ensuite

  • New upper level with 1 bedroom
  • Living or retreat area
  • Ensuite
  • Internal staircase allowance
  • Subfloor acoustic insulation included

Best for: smaller additions, a parents’ or teenager’s space.

Complete

Approx. 70m² and above

From$348,000

3 Beds · Living · 2 Baths

  • 3 bedrooms upstairs
  • 1 living area
  • 2 bathrooms
  • Internal staircase
  • Subfloor acoustic insulation included

Best for: a major, whole family transformation.

Not a package job?

Custom second storey additions.

The three packages cover the shapes we build most often. Plenty of Ashfield homes do not fit them. Wider footprints, a third bathroom upstairs, a full ground floor reconfiguration underneath, or a Federation roofline that has to be worked around rather than replaced.

We build those too, priced against your plans rather than squeezed into a package. Same fixed price contract, same standards, same specification. Custom builds generally run $270,000 to $400,000 depending on size and what we find underneath.

Custom builds

Priced to your plans

  • Any size or configuration
  • Ground floor works included in scope
  • Heritage and character homes
  • Structural upgrades where needed

Every plan is drawn to suit your Ashfield home. Package price covers the new upper floor works. Design, engineering and council approvals, plus site set-up, are quoted separately as preliminaries, at roughly $30,000.

The Strava difference

A solid, quieter upstairs.

Most second storey additions leave the cavity between the new floor joists empty. While the floor does the job, that hollow space lets sound travel. As a result, footsteps carry straight down to the rooms below.

For early Strava Group projects in Ashfield we include acoustic insulation in the subfloor free. Insulation batts fill the space between the new floor joists, with yellow tongue particleboard flooring laid over the top. It is a simple step that makes for a quieter upstairs.

Free

Acoustic insulation included between the new floor joists on early packages, while the offer runs.

✦

Yellow tongue particleboard flooring laid over the joists, ready for your timber, tile or carpet finish.

↓

Helps reduce noise transfer between levels for a quieter upstairs, especially with the right ceiling system.

+

Hebel or Nexcore upgrade available where the existing structure can take the additional weight.

Your upper floor, layer by layerSection
  1. Floor finishTimber, tile or carpet
  2. Yellow tongue particleboardFlooring sheets over the joists
  3. Engineered floor joistsThe new upper floor structure
  4. Acoustic insulationBetween the joists, included free
  5. Plasterboard ceiling belowTo the rooms downstairs
  6. Existing top plateOn the walls of your house

Upgrade: Hebel or Nexcore flooring (subject to structural capacity)

Diagram is illustrative. Acoustic ratings apply to the complete floor and ceiling system, not the batts alone, and depend on the ceiling, insulation and joist design. Subfloor acoustic insulation is included where suitable, subject to engineering, access and final scope.

Local knowledge

Building a second storey in Ashfield.

Ashfield is not a blank slate. What sits under and around your house changes both the cost and the approval pathway.

Council

Inner West Council

Ashfield sits within Inner West Council, formed in 2016 from the old Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils. Height limits, setbacks and how much of your block you can build on are set by their planning controls, and they are stricter than the Hills or the outer suburbs.

Heritage

Conservation areas

Parts of Ashfield sit inside heritage conservation areas. If yours does, the fast Complying Development pathway is off the table and you need a full Development Application. That changes the timeline, not the possibility. We check your property before quoting.

Housing

Federation, Victorian and bungalows

Much of Ashfield is Federation, Victorian terrace and California Bungalow, with interwar brick through the newer pockets. Beautiful houses, and every one of them was built to hold up one floor, not two. The roof structure and the footings both need checking before anything is designed.

Blocks

Narrow frontages

Inner West blocks are typically long and narrow. That matters for getting a crane and scaffold in, and it is why building up often beats building out here. There is usually not much yard to give away in the first place.

Neighbours

Close and interested

Terraces and semis sit tight together, so overshadowing and privacy rules carry more weight in Ashfield than in a suburb with wide side setbacks. Designing for those rules early is what keeps an application moving.

Roofline

Matching the street

Ashfield streetscapes are consistent, and council notices when an addition is not. We design the new level to sit with the existing roofline and detailing rather than sit on top of it.

We confirm which approval pathway your Ashfield property falls under before we quote, so you know the timeline before you commit to a design.

Before anything is designed

Can your house actually take a second storey?

This is the first question, and it usually gets skipped in favour of talking about floor plans. It is worth answering properly, because for roughly one house in six the answer is no, or not without spending money you would rather put into the addition itself.

01

What is under the house

Your house was built to hold up one storey. A second floor roughly doubles what the foundations carry. Older Ashfield homes often sit on shallow footings that need strengthening first. That is a real cost, and you want to know about it before you fall in love with a floor plan.

02

What the walls are made of

A double brick house, a brick veneer house and a timber framed house each handle a new floor differently. The question is whether the weight can travel down through the walls you already have, or whether new supports need to appear somewhere you would rather they did not.

03

What the timber has been through

Framing that looked fine when you bought the place can be quietly damaged in ways that only matter once you ask it to hold a floor up. We look before we quote, not after.

04

What your council allows

Inner West Council sets a height limit and protects your neighbours’ winter sunlight. Between them, those two rules often decide your ceiling heights and your roof shape before anyone draws anything.

05

Whether we can get a crane in

Narrow Ashfield frontages, overhead power lines and tight rear lanes all add cost. Better to know at the start than in week three.

06

How we find out

An engineer checks the first three. We organise that before we give you a fixed price, because a price without it is a guess.

If your house cannot take a second storey without spending more than it is worth, we will tell you. Building out the back is usually the better answer in that case, and we build home extensions in Ashfield too.

Clear scope

What is included, and what is not.

Being upfront about both is exactly how we keep your fixed price genuinely fixed.

Included as standard

In the new upper floor package area.

Acoustic insulation in the subfloor, under yellow tongue particleboard flooring
Structural timber framing to engineer’s details
Wall framing and roof framing
Roofing
External cladding
Aluminium windows
Insulation
Plasterboard and setting
Internal doors, hardware and hinges
Skirting and architraves
Standard staircase allowance
Electrical allowance, LED downlights and smoke alarms
Bathroom allowance (where part of the package)
Painting to new upper floor areas
Builder supervision and construction management

Quoted separately if needed

Every existing Ashfield home is different, so these are assessed per property.

Structural steel beams (unless listed)
Footing, pier or foundation upgrades
Additional bracing to the existing house
Ground floor renovations or layout changes
New downstairs kitchens, bathrooms or laundries
Existing termite, rot, water or defect repairs
Electrical mains, switchboard or stormwater upgrades
Air conditioning upgrades
Design, engineering, BASIX and council approvals, plus site set-up (preliminaries)
Rock excavation or unforeseen ground conditions
Premium window, cladding or staircase upgrades
Any works outside the new upper floor package area

Want the full detail?

The complete inclusions and exclusions, right down to hardware, fixtures, fittings, finishes and specifications, are provided in detail when you enquire, and confirmed in your contract.

How the fixed price works

Our fixed price packages apply to the standard new upper floor works listed above. If your property needs structural steel, footing upgrades, extra bracing, service upgrades, defect repairs or downstairs renovation works, those items are assessed and quoted separately, clearly, before you commit. Where something genuinely cannot be priced until the roof comes off, it is listed as a provisional sum with a stated allowance rather than hidden inside the total.

The first decision

Up or out?

Most people arrive having already decided. In Ashfield, the block usually answers it before taste does.

Go up

$3,500 to $5,500 per m²

On a typical Inner West block, going up is usually the answer. Frontages are narrow, yards are small, and site coverage is often close to its limit already.

Going up buys bedrooms without buying land, and it leaves what garden you have intact. It costs more per square metre and often needs a longer approval pathway, but on an Ashfield block it is frequently the only way to add real space.

Extend out

$2,500 to $4,500 per m²

Extending out works if you have a deeper block with real yard to give up, or if the existing structure cannot carry a floor economically.

Ground floor work is cheaper per square metre, you can often stay living there, and it avoids the structural question entirely. A rear home extension in Ashfield can be the better value answer.

If the existing house needs work regardless, a full renovation staged alongside the addition costs less than doing them five years apart, because you pay the preliminaries once and open the walls once.

Built Once. Built Right.

See exactly how we build, and why

Four-coat waterproofing, tensioned X bracing, hand-cut roofs and inspections you can check yourself. Every method explained, including what’s standard and what’s an upgrade.

Plan · Manage · Build

Your Ashfield second storey, step by step.

Our proven building process is designed to customise your project, avoid cost traps and deliver your vision with minimum disruption.

  1. First, we review your enquiry, site, timeframe and budget. Then we contact you within 24 to 48 business hours to arrange a consultation.

Why Strava Group

A licensed builder who knows what is behind the wall.

A stronger standard inclusion

Acoustic insulation in the subfloor comes free on early packages, giving a quieter upstairs than a floor left with an empty cavity.

Structure first, always

Over a decade across site and project management on residential and commercial builds, backed by a trade background. Your addition is framed and supported to our internal Above Standard Carpentry Specification, so the new level feels solid, aligned and original.

Clear scope and fixed pricing

Transparent inclusions and exclusions from day one, so you know exactly what your Ashfield project covers before you commit. NSW Builder’s Licence 487370C.

Also exploring other options? Strava Group builds home renovations and home extensions in Ashfield. See our recent work in the gallery.

Get in touch

Talk to a builder about your Ashfield home.

Tell us about your home and what you would like upstairs. We will let you know whether your property suits a second storey and which package fits. No cost, no obligation.

Good to know

Frequently asked questions.

Google Reviews
5.0·Google reviews
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.
AT

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Get your free quote today.

Ready to build up in Ashfield?

Contact Strava Group for a free consultation and a quote for your second storey addition, with acoustic insulation in the subfloor included while the offer runs and a fixed price scope you can rely on. Building up is one of the most cost effective ways to add space and value under current NSW housing and construction settings.