Today we are going to be going over some home addition tips, to help you decide if you need an extra room and what exactly goes into a home addition.
Assess Your True Needs
It is often best to wait until you have been in the house for a few months to decide if a home addition is a right move for you and your family. Sometimes the answer is obvious, but other times it takes awhile to decide what is and is not working for you.
Once you’ve settled on a vision and how much you want to spend, enlist the services of an architect. Even if you know exactly what you want and can sketch out a decent approximation. You’ll need someone who can do the drawings that must be filed with your local inspectional services department. Your architect will also know the zoning regulations of the town or city you live in, including setbacks (how far a structure must be from property lines and other features) and maximums for height and square footage.
Understand the Progression of the Work
If you’re acting as your own general contractor, knowing the order in which jobs must be done is crucial. It’s less so if you hire McDonough Construction, but still helpful, giving you a handle on whether the work is moving as it should.
Once the building permits are secured, work can begin. If you’re doing an addition that expands your house into the yard rather than, say, putting the second floor on a ranch house or building over the attached garage, the first step is having the foundation slab poured or basement excavated. A full basement adds quite a bit to the final cost since it entails not only digging a large hole and carting away the debris but also additional plumbing, electrical, insulation, and waterproofing. But if extra space is what you need, it can be worth it.
Plan for Chaos
Doing an addition can be extraordinarily disruptive even though McDonough tries to contain the upheaval as much as possible by setting up Porta-Potties and sealing off abutting windows to minimize dust We also make sure to clean up the work area before they leave for the day.
Kitchen additions can be particularly unsettling because they inevitably involve the concurrent tearing apart of the existing kitchen. With a kitchen, the first thing I tell people is trying to set up another area with a microwave, a fridge. A lot of families do renovations in the summertime because they can barbecue and stay out of the house more.
At the end of the day, you will end up with the perfect addition to your home. If you are thinking about adding a room onto your home, give McDonough Construction a call for a free estimate.