Putting an Addition on the House can be Fun
You may have heard from others that an addition on to your house is a nightmare and they would never do it again. Well I am here to tell you that it is actually not a nightmare but there can be some inconvenience to it with the time it takes and the mess it makes.
Not to worry too much over that. There are rules that need to be followed with your local authority with permitting and inspection but they are minor and actually in place to make sure you get a good sound construction that wont blow apart when the next big wind storm comes or fall apart when an earthquake shakes the place. So aside from those minor requirements the rest in all of this is the contractors you choose.
Perhaps you are going to do the addition yourself. This is a fine idea. My recommendation is that if you are not very skilled with building then you do a bunch of reading and go around to building sites and watch from a distance so you don’t get in their way and get yourself hurt. Maybe you could befriend a builder and get some schooling from them.
I’m in the industry already and I do just that. I am friends with several different types of contractors and I call them and ask them things when I need to understand them or am working on something and I need input. They are a great help for a do-it-yourself-er.
Now that I’ve said all of that we can get to the good stuff.
The addition can be for just about anything. Maybe you want a new master suite or an additional set of bedrooms for a growing family. Perhaps a recreation space for home entertainment or exercise or both. There are many options to choose from.
I added 1600 sq ft to our house this last summer to make it into a 2500 sq ft house with two separate living spaces. This will be for my family and also my mother so she has a secure place to live in her later years close to us but also independent and separate in her own space.
I also built this with resale value considered. This is a 5 bedroom house now and can accommodate a good sized family. I will have no trouble selling it in the future if I choose to. We have a very nice master suite now with a big walk in closet and a nice big master bath with a walk in shower and a jetted tub. There are two vessel sinks and the floors are heated.
This makes for a very affordable larger house. We are building out of pocket mostly so there isn’t an increased mortgage to worry about or the worry of trying to get a loan although I did go for a loan after I started the work and I was denied because they couldn’t then appraise the house so I figure if I’m going to do it again I’ll go for the loan first.
Now that the houses size is triple what it was in the first place we have plenty of room to spare. One of the bedrooms will be used for a home theater because we don’t have anyone to put in that room so while this house grows in value we’ll use the room for fun. Pretty cool trade off I think.
Also what I am doing with this house is wiring it for network and internet in every room and phone and cable in every room too. I am also wiring in surveillance cameras around the outside and some of the rooms inside. Motion sensors will enable this house to be more energy efficient by sensing if there is anyone using the power or not and turning it off if not in use. A little bit of green for the house doesn’t hurt. But then again resale value is considered.
I guess that is a good start on this post for putting an addition on to the house.
See you again soon.
Glenn
