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Building an In-Law Addition
Building an In-Law Suite is a great
Alternative to Sending Elderly Parents to an Assisted Living Center
By: Mark J. Donovan
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As an alternative to placing elderly
parents or in-laws into a nursing home, many folks elect to build an in-law
addition onto their home so that their love ones can live comfortably with them
for their remaining years. Building an in-law addition is similar in complexity
to any other type of attached addition. However, an in-law suite typically is on
a single level and is a bit larger due to the fact that it usually comprises of
a single bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a small living room area. Also,
in-law additions need to include extra safety features, such as hand rails in
bathrooms, and wider hallways and doorways, and possibly ramps, for wheelchair
accessibility.
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Choosing to build an in-law addition
offers a number of benefits. First and foremost, your aging parents can live
near you, while still providing privacy to them and yourself. Second, an in-law
addition can save a fortune in assisted living costs, thus protecting your
parents and your savings. Third, your parents or in-laws can live a higher
quality of life and continue to provide comfort and wisdom to you and your
children.
Before embarking on construction of an in-law addition however, it is wise to
check with your local building inspector to see if there are any issues for
effectively having two residents on the same building lot.
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Also, there may be specific features
mandated by the municipality that need to be included in the in-law addition. In
addition, if you have a private septic system it may need to be modified to
support the additional bedroom and bathroom.
When building an in-law addition it is often a good idea to work with an
architect so that the in-law addition is both functional and aesthetically
attractive, both from the inside and outside of the home. Also, an architect can
help to ensure that you have all the appropriate features and dimensions for
elderly occupants.
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Alternatively, you can find in-law
home addition plans in magazines and on the internet that can often meet your
requirements. The cost of building an in-law addition is similar to building any
other home addition. Other than possibly some wider hallways and doorways, and a
few safety rails, there are no significant differences in an in-law addition to
warrant extraordinary costs. Expect to pay around $110 to $130 per square foot
for construction. As a result, on an 800 square foot in-law addition you can
expect an overall price tag of around $88K to $105K.
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Converting a basement into an in-law
addition is typically not a good idea. Simply due to the fact that it involves
stairs is a bad idea when it comes to aging parents. Second, basements can be
dark and damp making it both depressing and possibly even painful for elderly
folks that may have arthritis. Also, finished basements can be noisy due to
overhead traffic and often it is impossible to create separate exits for ingress
and egress, thus reducing privacy for all.
Besides serving as a place for housing your elderly parents, an in-law addition
is a great way to create rentable apartment space down the road, or even
possibly for housing adult children.
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Today many adult children wind up
living in the parent’s home much longer than the parents anticipated.
So if you have elderly parents and
are assessing the best way to make their remaining years comfortable, building
an in-law addition may be the perfect solution. It provides them with all the
benefits of having their own home, while still offering privacy and being close
to you. It also increases the value of your home, and down the road you may be
able to use it for rentable income to supplement your retirement income.
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