It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out the great benefits of room additions. To keep it simple, you make the home bigger. Or, if you want to see it from a different perspective, you create space for a home office, gym, guests. Or you expand the kitchen, the garage, the living room. Or you simply create a room for a newborn.
With a room addition, your house is bigger, your life improves, a dream is fulfilled, there’s more space for enhanced comfort, the value likely increases. All is swell.
To put it simply, finding a home remodeling company to add a room to your house is an excellent opportunity to create space and make the house more functional. And although it’s a big project with a considerable cost, it’s much cheaper than buying a new home. So, if it’s a necessity, it’s a very smart home improvement project.
BUT there are some considerations. There are some things you must know or at least, take into account before you sign, perhaps, the biggest home renovation check in your life. So, sit tight, read the questions and answers, try to give answers to your own situation – or simply let a room addition contractor help you, because you are going to need one.
Can you afford the room addition cost?
While not all room addition projects are the same, the cost is often considerable. The cheapest addition to your home would be a bump-out. That’s a small space, one that usually serves as a walk-in-closet or extra space in the kitchen. Consider them as mini-additions.
A full room addition costs considerably more. Of course, it depends on the size, the project, if there’s a need for plumbing, etc.
And then, you may need a house addition. That’s an even costlier project since it includes the creation of multiple rooms – not one. Think of it this way, the larger and more difficult the project, the more expensive it is.
Are there building restrictions?
While your local home remodeling contractor will be able to give you details regarding your area and neighborhood, room additions require permits. Besides that, there’s also so much of the free yard at your property you can use for a building. The buildable space in each property doesn’t usually extend all the way to the fence, for both aesthetic and safety purposes. Therefore, you need to see if you have enough buildable space and by the way, you need to consider if you are willing to sacrifice your yard for an extra room. And that brings us to the next question.
Can you expand up or must expand out?
Let’s say you have a tall home. Whether or not you have sufficient buildable yard space, you may choose to build up, instead of out. That’s another consideration. Expanding up is a great idea and doesn’t require new foundations, but don’t let that fool you. It’s a much more complicated project.
Is adding a new room necessary?
Have you thought this project through? Having an additional room in the home sounds like a fantastic idea, even to those with big houses – let alone if the house is rather small. But it’s a difficult and expensive project, one that takes detailed planning and excellent work – hence a very experienced home renovation contractor that specializes in room additions. And while this is not a problem to keep you from going ahead with the room addition, keep in mind that it’ll take a while and it’ll be dusty and noisy, with the workers inside your house for quite a bit. So, ask yourself if you are prepared for all that.
Do you need a room or home addition?
As we already said, adding extra space to the house is not limited to adding only one room. Such projects may involve adding a bump-out, a sunroom, a guest room, or multiple rooms. The bigger the project – like home additions, the greatest the value and comfort but also the hassle and the cost. So, you need to decide what exactly it is that you want or need to make it work.