Home renovation and extensions in Kilpauk

Kilpauk is an established central neighbourhood between Anna Nagar, Purasawalkam and Chetpet. Alongside the newer apartment blocks, its streets still have many large independent houses and bungalows on generous plots, a lot of them built between the 1950s and the 1980s with thick brick walls, high ceilings, wooden doors and windows and red-oxide or mosaic floors.

These houses are worth keeping. Their walls and plots are often more generous than anything you can buy today; what has aged are the services, the roof and the rooms' layout. A good renovation keeps the character and replaces what has worn out.

• Floors below the road: Roads have been relaid higher over the decades, so in many older houses the floor is now level with or below the street, and rain finds its way in. Raising floor levels, regrading the compound and improving drains fixes it.
• Old wiring and plumbing: Wiring that predates air conditioners and induction cooktops, often without proper earthing, and galvanised iron pipes that have rusted inside. Both are usually replaced in a full renovation.
• Leaking terraces: Old roofs, including traditional Madras terraces of brick and lime, crack and leak after decades of sun and rain. They are repaired and waterproofed, or replaced if the timber or steel has decayed.
• Rooms that no longer fit: A dark central hall, a small kitchen at the back, one bathroom outside. Opening up walls (with an engineer checking which ones carry load) and adding attached bathrooms changes how the whole house works.

• Full renovation: new floors, wiring, plumbing, kitchen and bathrooms, about ₹1,000–₹1,800 per sq ft; a kitchen alone ₹2–6 lakh, a bathroom ₹1.5–3.5 lakh. Home renovation in Chennai →
• A new floor: about ₹2,200–₹3,200 per sq ft in RCC or ₹2,000–₹3,000 in light gauge steel, plus any strengthening. Adding a floor →
• A terrace room: about ₹1,700–₹2,800 per sq ft, insulated to stay cool. Terrace rooms →

These are typical ranges; the free site visit and structural check give you an early figure for your house. See all costs per sq ft.

Kilpauk is within the Greater Chennai Corporation. Internal renovation (floors, kitchens, bathrooms, wiring) needs no building permit. Adding a floor or rooms, or changing the structure, needs an approved plan and a structural design; for an older house we also check the existing approvals and what the plot still allows.

1. Free site visit: we look at the house, check the structure and levels, and listen to what you need.
2. Early cost range and options, before you spend anything on design.
3. Design and approvals: architecture, structural design and the permit where one is needed.
4. Build: one team on site, with regular updates, through to handover.

We also work across nearby Anna Nagar, Chetpet, Purasawalkam, Aminjikarai and Kilpauk Garden.