If you love your home but need some more space, then a home addition can be an excellent choice. A home addition can help you make most out of your current home, regardless of whether you’re looking to add a home office, an additional bedroom or a garage conversion. And, these features not only enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home, they also increase its value. Should you choose to sell your home in the future, you’ll get a better price. However, building an addition is not as easy as it seems; one mistake can render you with disappointing results. How should you go about it? Let’s look at the key steps to building an addition to a house.
Steps to Building an Addition to a House
Planning is Critical
A well-established plan ensures that you’ll have an addition that will solve your needs, and one that blends in with your home structure. What do you intend to add? How will it solve your needs? Where do you want to make the addition? Ask yourself these questions during the planning phase. Also, from an economic perspective, planning is very crucial. A comprehensive plan gives you an idea on the expenditures and costs of the project. You’ll have an idea on whether you can afford the project. An excellent plan will serve as a guide to keep your project on budget and on schedule.
Set a Budget
Setting a budget is important, especially if you’re looking to build a home addition on a budget. Depending on your needs and preferences, set a realistic budget. But, it’s worth noting that even the most detail-oriented projects go over the budget. Some incidental costs not accounted for in the original budget may arise and there, so set a flexible budget. Add a “slush fund” to handle any unaccounted costs arising during the project. Also, ensure that you have enough money to fund the project. An unfinished project will only devalue your home rather than bring benefits.
The Design Phase
Working with a contractor or designer in this phase is vital. These are experts who have worked on a wide range of projects and thus, they have the knowledge to come up with excellent designs. A cautiously and expertly drawn design will aid the home builder in making a great addition. They can help you decide on things from room size, to the materials on a shower wall. Also, they can evaluate your plans and your home to ensure everything is safe and secure. To save time, work with your designer or architect in this phase. Together, you’ll be able to evaluate every little thing and come up with a good design. You won’t have to wait for a finished design, disapprove some things and go back to the drawing board, which may be time-consuming.
Submit Your Plans to the Local Building Authorities For Approval
In each area, any building or remodeling project should conform to the local building codes, rules, and regulations. If any project is found to have been built neglecting these regulations, then chances are that it may be deconstructed. This may result in significant losses in terms of both time and money. Rather than risk all that, have your project approved by the local building authority. They will then give you a permit to proceed with your project.
The Actual Building
After you have completed your plans, set a budget, made a design and your project approved, it’s the time for the actual building phase. DIY home addition building is not recommended as you may not have the skills, knowledge, and experience to carry out a successful project. By hiring a reputable contractor, you’ll have a qualified team to handle all your requirements. A reputable contractor has professionals such as carpenters, electricians and plumbers, to assure you of excellent results. You’ll rest assured knowing that your project is in safe hands.
Bottom Line
Even though a home addition is a huge project, it’s much more economical and realistic than selling your home and buying another one. With the above steps to building an addition to a house, your project will run seamlessly and with fewer problems along the way. This will help you prepare for any possible hiccups, and know what to expect overall when building an addition to your home.