Additions are very expensive – yes, financially, but also in time and inconvenience to your family. Before you spend money and time on architects, engineers or contractors, consider the following options:
If you re-configured hallways and closets, changed door openings and switched door swings, would this give you more functional use of your existing space? If you combined several smaller rooms into one bigger one, would you get the area you need?
When considering a kitchen or bathroom addition, is there any way that you can combine existing rooms to get the size that you want? Remember, the costs do not go down just because it is a smaller addition.
Do you have a covered porch that could be enclosed and re-finished? Do you have a basement that can be finished out? If you live in an older home, where part of the basemen may have been finished, could you be happy if this was modernized and updated? When considering the basement, the cost of creating a code size egress window is substantially less than building a room addition.
If you can not get what you need with any of those suggestions, then start visualizing an addition. Every homeowners association, city and county are going to have guidelines on how you go about building this addition. Check these things out on your own, or make sure that your architect, engineer or contractor is familiar with these requirements. Then consider going up, going out, and going down. Please work with professionals that will help you determine what look will fit best in the neighborhood and on your home. After spending all of the money and time that you will spend, you don’t want your addition to look like it fell from the sky and landed accidentally on a corner of your house.
Finally, please, please, please buyer beware! If you can not afford to do this addition right now – wait until you can. I guarantee you that if you shop long enough, you will find someone who is willing to do it for the budget that you have set aside. But, if this person is not in the range of the other bidders, why is that? On the other hand, the contractor that was more expensive might not be wrong either. Why is that contractor higher/lower? Are all estimators bidding on the same scope of work, with equal quality products? Can you even tell? If you are confused, don’t automatically reject a bid – ask questions. Ask questions until you get the answers you need! No remodeling company is so big that they can absorb losses from your project – they need to know of a mistake too. No legitimate remodel contractor is out to make a fast buck and run – we are all hard working professionals who truly care about your happiness. Before, during and after the project, your happiness and sense of well being will affect the final outcome of your remodel. Good luck and have fun with this addition.