Building a Home Extension
Upfront Planning is Critical when Building a
Home Extension
By: Mark J. Donovan
|
|
Building a home extension is an
excellent way to provide additional living space for a growing family. A home
extension construction project requires careful consideration and planning.
Building a home extension is a major home improvement project and involves a
substantial financial investment. Before breaking ground on a home extension
building project there are a number of key items that should be performed first.
Generate a Home
Extension Checklist
As with any successful home
construction project, building a home extension requires good upfront planning. |
|
Start by developing a
home
extension checklist that includes all of the major items that need to be
performed in a home extension building project.
Develop a Set
of Home Extension Building Plans
It is imperative that you develop
a detailed set of blue prints that leaves no stone unturned in the
definition of your home extension building project. |
 |
When building a home extension it is
vital that the plans include everything from the structural design of the home
extension, down to the particular light fixtures and cabinet features you want
integrated into the home extension.
|
|
You may want to consider hiring an
architect. An architect can help insure that the home extension is designed
properly from both structural and aesthetic viewpoints.
Hiring a Home
Extension Building Contractor
When it comes to building a home
extension, nothing is more important to the success of the home extension
building project than hiring the right building contractor. Make sure to
interview several building contractors and check references for each of them. |
| Choose a building contractor that has
a proven and lengthy history of building home extensions. Also make sure that
they are insured and bonded, and that their company has been registered with the
state for a number of years. A seasoned building contractor who has a company
that has only been registered for a couple of years is a clear warning sign that
something is wrong with his track record. As part of the contractor
interviewing process in building a home extension, make sure to thoroughly
review building contractor quotes. |
|
Check to make sure all work to be
performed is clearly spelled out, including who pulls the home extension
building permits. Also make sure that the home extension costs are itemized so that you can
clearly see what you are paying for, and to confirm that nothing is missing from
the quote.
To help in obtaining accurate and
consistent home extension contractor quotes, see my
Room
Addition Bid Sheet. The Room Addition Bid Sheet provides a
request for quote section that you can provide to prospective building
contractors. It also includes a comprehensive home extension cost breakdown
table, in Microsoft Excel format, that allows the contractor to include his
projected home extension costs for every phase of the project.
|
Photo by Mark Donovan |
Securing Home
Extension Construction Financing
Building a home extension typically
involves obtaining financing. With a set of detailed home extension building
plans and home extension contractor quotes you should be able to obtain a fairly
accurate estimate of your home extension building costs. Add an additional 5-10%
to this figure for contingencies and then visit your local banks for obtaining
financing. You do not want to be under funded when building a home extension. It
is better to be approved for more than you need, rather than come up short and
have to go back and ask for more funds later.
Again, building a home extension is a
major endeavor. However, with up front planning and design you can avoid many of
the pitfalls associated with home extension construction projects.
For more help on building a home extension, see HomeAdditionPlus.com's
Home
Addition Bid Sheets.
Our
Home
Addition Bid Sheets
provide you with the knowledge and information on how to plan a home addition project,
and what to look for when hiring contractors. They
also include detailed cost breakdown tables and spreadsheets for estimating
your own new home addition building costs.
How to Finance your Home Extension Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Related Room Addition and Home Extension Building Articles
Additional Home Extension and Room Addition Resources from Amazon.com
Free Room Addition
Price Quotes with No Obligation!
Fill out our 3-5 minute quick and easy form, and receive a free price quote
on a room addition from one of our prescreened and licensed home addition
contractors. This process is free and there is no obligation to continue once
you receive your room addition estimate.
|
