When you find your ideal home, you will probably do a lot just to stay there. No matter if it’s the location that appeals to you, the neighbors or something completely else – your home is your own oasis of peace and freedom.
However, what can you do if your home becomes too small for you and your family? The simple answer would be to move. However, if you don’t want to, there is an alternative – home additions.
In order to learn more about home additions, we spoke to professional home remodelers and builders at NE Kitchen & Flooring. They shared some of the most common and most compelling ways you can expand your home and continue living in the home you love.
Room Addition
If you’re only looking to add a single room to your home – in order to serve a specific function, you probably need a room addition and a room addition expert. These rooms are typically a second (or third) bathroom, additional bedroom, or something else.
The project or room additions is a relatively small one, especially compared to a completely new house build or a more complicated home addition. This means that the cost will also be lower overall – you pretty much get what you pay for. Keep in mind, though, that you will still need to pay for building permits, inspectors and everything else you would for a full project.
When it comes to the outside appearance of your home, it’s more likely than not that it will be clearly visible where the room addition is, because it will change the outline of the house, and may even require a separate roof.
Regular Home Addition
If you need to expand your home a bit more than just one room, you’re most likely looking for a home addition. The main difference between a home addition and a room addition is the number of rooms you’re adding. If it’s more than one, it’s a home addition – that’s a common sense rule of thumb.
Another major difference when compared to room additions is that a home addition is likely to meld seamlessly into the existing architecture of the house and may not even be identified as an addition once completed.
This kind of project is likely to be pretty expensive, especially due to the size of the addition. Consider the fact that you will have to have plumbing, electrical, HVAC and all other systems added to the home addition, as well as have all of the architects, permits and code inspections done.
On the other hand, the return on investment for this type of project is very high, too. If you manage to double the size of your house through home addition, your home’s value may go up significantly, making the whole process well worth it.
Sunroom Additions
Sunrooms are an interesting architectural concept. Seeing how they are not considered permanent living structures according to building code, you can do certain things that are not available when creating other kinds of additions.
For instance, you can have a glass roof or completely glass walls, provided that the construction and the bearing structure is sound. These areas are not permitted to be used as permanent sleeping areas and are typically separated from the rest of the house via a door.
Finding the right kind of home addition for your beloved house can be a big and difficult decision. Ultimately, you will need to think about what you really want to achieve with the update. Once you know what you want, it will be that much easier to find the right contractor to make your vision a reality.
