Second Storey Additions · Leichhardt
Add bedrooms, bathrooms & living space, without moving.
Second storey additions for Leichhardt homes, from $274,000. Packages for freestanding homes, custom builds for terraces and semis. Built to our Above Standard Carpentry Specification, with a solid Hebel PowerFloor included as standard on early projects.
Hebel PowerFloor included free on early Leichhardt packages. A solid, quieter floor, normally an upgrade.
Space without moving
More room, without leaving the Inner West.
You love your Leichhardt 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 Leichhardt, five kilometres from the CBD with the light rail and Norton Street at the end of the walk, 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 Leichhardt and the wider Inner West. About us.
Choose your package
Three fixed price starting points.
All prices are “from”, GST inclusive, and apply to the new upper floor works only. The packages suit freestanding homes. Terraces and semis are built as custom projects, priced to your home, for the reasons below. Every build includes Hebel PowerFloor while the current offer runs.
- New upper level with 1 bedroom
- 1 bathroom or ensuite
- Retreat or study zone
- Internal staircase allowance
- Hebel PowerFloor included
- 2 to 3 bedrooms upstairs
- 1 family bathroom
- Internal staircase
- Moves bedrooms up, opens your ground floor
- Hebel PowerFloor included
- 3 bedrooms upstairs
- 1 bathroom
- Upstairs retreat or living area
- Internal staircase
- Hebel PowerFloor included
Terraces, semis and character homes
Most Leichhardt additions are custom builds.
The packages above suit freestanding homes. A terrace or semi cannot be priced off a package, because the two things that drive its cost, the shared party wall and the heritage pathway, are different on every house. Pretending otherwise is how additions end up in variation territory.
So for terraces and semis we price against your actual home: the party wall engineering, the dilapidation reports, the DA, the ridge line. Same fixed price contract once scoped, same standards, same specification. Custom builds generally run $270,000 to $400,000 depending on size and what we find.
- Terraces and semis (party wall engineering included in scope)
- Heritage and conservation area homes
- Any size or configuration
- Ground floor works included in scope
Every plan is drawn to suit your Leichhardt home. Package price covers the new upper floor works. Design, engineering and council approvals are quoted separately as preliminaries, at roughly $30,000.
The Strava difference
A solid, quieter upstairs.
Most second storey additions sit on 19mm lightweight particleboard. While it does the job, it can feel hollow and bouncy underfoot. As a result, footsteps carry straight down to the rooms below.
For early Strava Group projects in Leichhardt we include Hebel PowerFloor as standard. It is a 75mm autoclaved aerated concrete panel, almost four times thicker than standard flooring. Laid over your joists, it creates a solid, concrete style floor.
- 75mmAlmost 4 times thicker than standard 19mm particleboard, so it feels solid underfoot with no bounce or flex.
- 0Squeak free. The thick AAC panel does not creak the way timber based flooring can over time.
- ↓Helps reduce noise transfer between levels for a quieter upstairs, especially with the right ceiling system.
- ✦Non combustible AAC, with thermal insulation and moisture resistance built in.
Local knowledge
Building a second storey in Leichhardt.
Leichhardt rewards building up more than almost anywhere in Sydney, and it also asks more questions first. Here is what shapes a project locally.
Inner West Council
Leichhardt sits within Inner West Council, and the planning controls here are among the more protective in Sydney. Height, setbacks and streetscape all get genuine scrutiny, which is exactly why a well prepared application matters.
Conservation areas are the norm
Large parts of Leichhardt sit inside heritage conservation areas. For most homes that takes the fast Complying Development pathway off the table and means a full Development Application. That changes the timeline, not the possibility. Some of the best additions in the inner west are on conservation streets.
Victorian terraces and workers’ cottages
Leichhardt is Victorian and Federation stock: terraces, semis and freestanding cottages. Beautiful, and every one built to hold up one floor. Footings are often shallow brick on clay, and the roof structure is rarely reusable as is. Both get checked before anything is designed.
Terraces and semis share structure
Building up on a terrace or semi means working above and beside a wall you share with your neighbour. It is done all over the inner west, but it needs the engineering, the dilapidation reports and the neighbour conversation handled properly, early.
Narrow, with lane access if you are lucky
Frontages here are commonly under seven metres. Crane placement, scaffold and material handling all take planning, and a rear lane changes the whole equation. We price access honestly at the start.
The street decides the roof
Council assesses an addition against the street, not just the block. Keeping the new level behind the existing ridge line, or stepping it back from the facade, is often what gets a Leichhardt DA approved. We design for that from the first sketch.
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.
What is under the house
Your house was built to hold up one storey. A second floor roughly doubles what the foundations carry. Victorian era Leichhardt homes commonly sit on shallow brick footings that need strengthening before they can carry a second level. That is a real cost, and you want to know about it before you fall in love with a floor plan.
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.
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.
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.
Whether we can get a crane in
Narrow Leichhardt frontages, overhead power lines and tight rear lanes all add cost, and a rear lane in good condition can save it back. Better to know at the start than in week three.
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.
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
- Hebel PowerFloor (75mm solid AAC panel), where suitable
- 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
- 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 (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.
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 Leichhardt the block almost always answers it, and the answer is usually up.
Go up
On a typical Leichhardt block, going up is usually the only real answer. Frontages are narrow, yards are small, and site coverage is often at 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 a Leichhardt block it is frequently the only way to add real space.
Extend out
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 Leichhardt 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.
Plan · Manage · Build
Your Leichhardt 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.
Your Initial Assessment
First, we review your enquiry, site, timeframe and budget. Then we contact you within 24 to 48 business hours to arrange a consultation.
Consultation & Build Cost Estimate
An experienced builder discusses your project and site, then prepares a detailed build cost estimate.
Preliminary Agreement
This formalises your engagement, secures your spot in our schedule and starts coordination with consultants and authorities.
Plans & Design
Next, we coordinate design and documentation. As a result, you get plans that suit your brief, site and budget, with optional 3D modelling.
Submission to Council
After that, we prepare and lodge your DA and CC, or a CDC with Inner West Council. Approval typically takes around 4 to 8 weeks.
Final Cost & Contract
Once approved, we confirm the final build cost and issue your HIA Fixed Price Building Contract. Importantly, you review it in full before signing.
Pre-Start Selections
Together, we finalise your fixtures, fittings and finishes with suppliers, so everything is confirmed before work begins.
Start of Construction
Your project manager meets you on site to confirm documentation, expectations and communication before works commence.
Construction
Your project manager oversees the build, coordinates trades and manages quality, keeping disruption to a minimum.
Practical Completion
A final inspection, then warranties and compliance documents are provided. We stay available after handover.
Why Strava Group
A licensed builder who knows what is behind the wall.
A stronger standard inclusion
Hebel PowerFloor comes standard on early packages, giving a solid, quieter upstairs that standard lightweight flooring cannot match.
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 Leichhardt project covers before you commit. NSW Builder’s Licence 487370C.
Also exploring other options? Strava Group builds home renovations and home extensions in Leichhardt. See our recent work in the gallery.
Nearby
Also building across the Inner West.
Second storey additions nearby
Other services in Leichhardt
See all Sydney service areas.
Get in touch
Talk to a builder about your Leichhardt 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.
How much does a second storey addition cost in Leichhardt?
Do I need council approval for a second storey addition in Leichhardt?
Can you add a second storey to a terrace or semi in Leichhardt?
Can my Leichhardt house support a second storey?
What is Hebel PowerFloor and why is it included?
Will I have to move out during construction?
How long does a second storey addition take?
Does a second storey addition add value to an Leichhardt home?
What is not included in the package price?
Are you licensed and insured?
Get your free quote today.
Ready to build up in Leichhardt?
Contact Strava Group for a free consultation and a quote for your second storey addition, with Hebel PowerFloor 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.
