Thinking About An Addition To Your Home?

×

1 of 4

Expand

×

2 of 4

Expand

×

3 of 4

Expand

×

4 of 4

Expand

Prev

Next

One of the most common requests we receive from our potential clients is to draw up plans for additions to their homes. And for good reason — additions represent the best investment from a remodel standpoint that a homeowner can make. All interior renovation projects have some return on investment, both monetary and experiential. But additions drive up the square footage of a home, which directly impacts price and appraisal value when the home is sold.

For someone who wants to explore an addition on their home, here are some considerations as you begin the process:

What are you going to use the space for?

The first step in considering an addition should be developing a good understanding of the purpose of the addition. Do you want to add a bedroom and bathroom for aging parents or other family members? Maybe a garage with an apartment on top, or a media room with a full bar? Giving your builder a clear picture of how you’ll use the space on the first visit will help them evaluate the feasibility going forward.

Go out or go up?

Consider whether you want to add extra square footage on the first level of your home (going out) or add it as a second story above existing square footage (going up). Not all foundations can structurally support a second story addition, so it is important to have your contractor evaluate whether going up is even a possibility.

Consider your setbacks and max lot coverage

Your home’s zoning category governs your setbacks, which are the minimum distances you can build a structure from each of your property lines (front, side and rear). These setbacks differ from neighborhood to neighborhood based on the zoning on your property and are critically important to understand prior to finalizing plans for your addition. In evaluating an addition, we always start with a survey and the zoning rules, including setbacks, to determine the art of the possible when it comes to building on the lot.

Also important is the maximum impervious coverage of your lot, which is the percentage of your lot’s square footage that structures can cover. This is also governed by your lot’s zoning regulations.

Roofline, roofline, roofline

Our goal with additions is to design and build the space so that, when we’re finished, the only people who know it was an addition are us and the homeowners. One of the keys to making an addition look consistent with the rest of the house is the roofline. Good designers and architects can blend in a roofline to make it consistent with the rest of the home. Make sure you spend the time and money to get great architectural plans before you start – it doesn’t matter how good the builder is, if the plan for the roofline doesn’t work or look natural, the project will be a failure.

What external materials do you want to use?

This is a critical question and one that can be more complex than it first appears. If your home is clad in siding or other wood or wood-like materials, you can safely plan to use the same materials for the addition, unless by some stroke of bad luck the siding profile on your home is no longer manufactured. Matching brick, however, proves more difficult, especially if the home is older than 15 years. It can be very difficult to match brick perfectly, so keep an open mind about what material to use on your addition, even if it doesn’t match the existing exterior materials. “Mixed finishes” are very much in style, so your designer can be creative!

These are just some of the considerations you, your builder and your architect need to consider when evaluating your planned addition. It’s complicated but necessary to the process. If Black Door Renovation can help you achieve the addition you are planning for your family, don’t hesitate to call.