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Building an Addition
Building an Addition is all about Planning and
Hiring the Right Contractors
By: Mark J. Donovan
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So you’re contemplating building an
addition. Good for you, but be forewarned. Building a home addition is certainly
a great way to add living space to your home and it can also increase the value
of it, however building an addition takes a great deal of work and effort. It is
not a project for the faint of heart, and nor is it for the person who deals
poorly with disruption and change.
Over the years I have built many additions, as well as acted as my own general
contractor on a few of them. |
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From my personal experience the
two most critical items in building an addition are project planning and
hiring the right contractors. The bottom line, if you neglect to do your
upfront homework in fully specifying your home addition or you don’t fully
vet out prospective home remodeling contractors you will pay in time, money
and headaches.
Planning an
Addition
When planning the construction of your home addition, realize that you are
effectively building a small home, but with the extra complication of having to
attach it to your existing one.
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There are literally hundreds if not
thousands of decisions that you will need to make during the planning stages.
One of the key secrets of building an addition is to leave nothing to chance or
for a later date to figure out. Plan out every feature in the home addition,
including its physical location relative to the rest of the house, all the
materials to be used in its construction, and every subcontractor required for
the project.
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Also make sure to check with the
local building inspector and zoning board to make sure you meet all the zoning
and building code requirements for your addition. You may also want to meet with
an architect to develop your home addition plans. In addition, if you have
already selected a general contractor you may want to have them weigh in on your
building addition plans.
Finding a Contractor for Building
an Addition
Talk with neighbors, friends and/or relatives who have recently had their own
home addition completed for locating home remodeling contractors. Also check the
phone book. Alternatively, there are online contractor referral companies that
have national databases of qualified and pre-screened contractors and
subcontractors. Simply fill out their free online form and a few local
contractors in your area who are part of their database will contact you for
quoting the building of your addition.
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There is no cost or obligation to you
on using these types of contractor database services or contractors. For more
information see find a local contractor in your area.
Secure Financing
for Building a Home Addition
Building an addition is an expensive proposition and unless you are flush with
cash you will need to secure financing. Check with local banks to understand how
much financing you are eligible for, and to understand their lending rates and
other terms and conditions.
Pulling Permits
Once you have a complete set of building addition plans in place, accurate cost
estimates, and a contractor and financing secured, it’s time to actually pull
the permits to enable construction to begin. You or your contractor(s) will need
to pull the permits and make sure they are properly displayed on the job site.
Actually Building the Addition
With all the upfront planning and work completed you can actually break ground
on your new project, literally.
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Photo by Mark Donovan |
First the foundation hole needs to be dug, followed by the pouring of concrete
footers, foundation walls and/or concrete slab. Then they need to be backfilled
after adequately curing.
Once the footings and foundation walls/slab floor have been poured and have had
time to cure, the actual framing of the addition can begin. First the walls,
followed by the roof, are framed in and sheathed. The roof is then shingled and
the doors and windows are installed. An inspection by the local building
inspector is usually necessary at this point.
After the addition has been buttoned up from the weather, the plumbing and
electrical trades can then begin to do their work in earnest by roughing in the
plumbing and electrical. Once they are complete, another inspection is typically
required.
After the successful inspection of the rough plumbing and wiring, insulation can
then be installed. Again, another inspection may be necessary after insulating
the addition, depending upon local building code requirements.
Once the insulation has been installed, the drywalling, taping and mudding
phases of building an addition can begin. Upon their completion, typically the
walls are immediately painted. Then the electrician and plumber can come back in
to begin their tasks of finishing the electric and plumbing. In addition,
finished carpenters can then install interior doors, and window and baseboard
trim. Tile flooring can also go in at this stage. Likewise, kitchen and/or
bathroom cabinetry can also be installed at this point.
From there, any additional flooring can be installed (e.g. carpeting) and the
final finishing touches to bathrooms (e.g. hanging of shower doors and mirrors,
etc) can be completed.
With the finishing touches complete, all that is left to do is to call in the
building inspector for the final inspection of your newly built addition. Upon
the successful inspection and final payment disbursement made to the
contractors, you’re ready to move into your newly built addition.
For more help on building an addition, 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 Addition Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Related Building an Addition Articles
Additional Home and Room Addition Resources from Amazon.com
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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
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