1/4" drop per ft. is not enough for proper drainage. I would go with a 1/12 pitch minimum. For a deck 24' away from the house you need enough clearance to bring it down 2'. Do not use corragated metal if you mean that wavy stuff, it does not seal well at all. I use rainguard roofing that is painted all ready, not the galvalum, as it holds up better. The rainguard has a double hump at the overlap which makes for a good seal. If you have to cheat a little on the pitch then seal the overlaps with a good silicon sealer or NP1 sealer. You can always frame in the area from above the metal roofing to the rim joist on the deck & cover it with siding. This can be a problem tho cause leaves that get thru the cracks in the decking can clog up at the end of the roofing where it's closed off. Al

Thanks so much. How much do you think a second-story project would cost (there are so many variables, I know, but sq footage about 900 and including a bathroom)? We have thought of paying a contractor to do the 'heavy duty' stuff that we simply CANNOT do, but we *can* do all the finishing work ourselves (or most of it): drywall, painting, trim, flooring, all bathroom fixture installation, etc. And we'd probably pay to get an architect to draft the plans first, then work on saving for 5-10 years so we could pay mostly or all cash. Such a fun thing to be able to plan! For now, too, any advice on how to make a 'modern' house have more vintage charm would be great. I think when we replace the carpeting (ugh) with hardwoods, I'll also install higher baseboards--mine are pretty short. And I'm thinking of handscraped hardwoods or wide planked, perhaps! Thanks so much. As an aside, I'm happy to report that we went to see the 1912 farmhouse we were obsessed with for 3 days and it's a definite NO---a gorgeous, beautiful house with so much potential,and the most beautiful views I have ever, ever seen from a residence, but *too* much potential for us at this point in our lives. I have always lived in older houses (except for the one we're in now) and I walked out of there, turned to my husband and said "run away NOW!" :-) One day perhaps we'll find the right older home for us, but that one needed an extraordinary amount of rehabilitation! I hope and pray the right buyer finds it--it could be fantastic!

Both Macv and Manhatten are on point, but i would add one thing as I'm planning on doing an additon to my cape, consider the full second floor. I'm not saying its cheaper, it isn't but its not all that more expensive, it really depends on finishes etc. You're going to add the expensive room doing your half dormer, the bathroom. if you do both, you can keep the 1 bath upstairs, and make it 3-4 bedrooms up there. $$ that were thrown around when we were considering the half dormer were in the 45-55K range, for the full in the 75-90K. Again, it really depends on what you want to do. put in a master bath on top of that, central air etc, you start being more etc etc. Basically I had a real hard time finding anyone who was really willing to do the half dormer given the current prices of houses in my area.

While what Oaktown said about real estate prices is true (2M$ for a bare lot, thanks in part to people that click on Google and Facebook ads) that has limited impact on construction prices. I don't think construction prices are going to be that much different in the next town north, south, or even east. Not for the same (quality) result. Maybe 10% for the city's extra rules, etc.? But what is true here (since I live in the same town) is that adding a second story to a house of that era is going to be expensive. Two huge changes: code for earthquake and the fact that stuff built in the post-war boom tended towards the minimum they could get by with ... or a little less. I have a support post sitting on top of a random chunk of concrete in my cottage. There was a time when people did second story add ons in this area. But I think they're pretty few and far between now. The land value is just too high. It's not "that much more" to tear down. And, if it matters, for purposes of resale, there's a good chance that a house of that era is remodeled but not well is still going to be viewed as a tear down by a number of potential buyers, I don't think some of that's as true of some of the nice stuff built before the war. The city also isn't crazy about 2nd story add ons; it requires architectural review with all sorts of review of façade, character, etc.. We even have special zoning that forbids 2nd story, additions or builds, in certain (often Eichler-rich) areas. I thought about doing a second story at one point but my cottage came to my rescue: my lot is R-1 but I have a grandfathered cottage. But any change to floor area starts by requiring I come up to current zoning, i.e., tear down the cottage. That's not going to happen.