A guide to building a home addition
When it comes to home additions, you need to ask yourself, why you are needing or wanting a new home addition. Are you tight on space? Maybe you want to have a more convenient flow to the home. Or maybe you want to add a simple luxury. If you have a reason, you are most likely going to have the ability to stay on schedule and get the job complete. However, if you are not looking to add value to your home or space, then you probably shouldn’t be looking at a new addition. While some people have some extra money laying around in their pockets, they think of ways to add to the home, with no clear vision or reason. These plans can suddenly become lax and it can be a waste of time and money.
Once you have decided that an addition is right for your situation, you will need a contractor. There are 1000s of local contractors at every skill level, but what skill level are you looking for? Be sure that you check out their online reviews. There are lots of places for reviews so do some digging and find their social media outlets as well. Finding a general contractor to hire for your home addition will keep the costs down as there will be less haggling needed. A general contractor will bring with them all of their subcontractors for plumbing, electrical, carpentry, and more.
Upgrading your home's systems
If you have some side jobs that need assistance then you might want to have the contractor look at those while they are there. Oftentimes they charge less, as they have crews already there that can fix things. This would be a great time to upgrade the drafty windows, exterior siding and trim or do an electrical panel for your home improvement. If you have a wall that you’d like taken out to open up a room more, now is the time. Make sure to include that with your inquiry about adding a new room, a living space or even just an extra space for you to relax, so they can add it to the cost and save time. Most local contractors will have a schedule to keep and will be slated to go to the next project when they are finished with theirs. Because of this, adding work to their schedule can be difficult.
Cost of an Addition to your home.
When it comes to additions make sure that you are doing the right thing for your home. Also, keep in mind what the addition will mean for additional living costs. The larger the existing home, the more taxes you will be looking at paying. Also, it will be a larger area to heat and keep cool in the summers. This means that your electrical and gas bills will increase. Be sure that you can afford these increases. Once you have decided to go ahead, make a budget, and be sure to stick to that budget as much as possible. An addition should cost anywhere from $200-600 per square foot depending on the foundation that needs to be built. If you are offered significantly less, then you are probably looking at a desperate company that provides shoddy work. If your estimate is far more and you don’t have any high-end luxuries included, then you are being taken advantage of.
When pricing a project, it is important to note that a project with plumbing is certainly more costly than a project without. Most house addition only requires you to have a carpenter and electrician to complete the addition. How much it costs is dependent on the location of the addition as well.