Second Story addition cost?
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7 years ago
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AnnKH
7 years agoUser
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Looking for pictures of tastefully done Ranch house additions
Comments (15)I'm afraid I have to disagree. Tearing down perfectly good houses just because it's expedient seems terribly wasteful to me. Not only are most older houses built more solidly than a lot of the flimsy houses that get thrown up nowadays, they often include nicer detailing and better finish than common building techniques allow on more recent construction. Let's also not forget, that if you tear down a house, most of it will end up in a land-fill. The original poster says that they like their exisiting house. It's solidly built, is attractive, and that they've already invested in renovations that suit them. Why would they want to move? Ranch houses don't always have small rooms and low ceilings. Even when they do, sometimes just tweaking the floor plan a little bit, enlarging windows, or other relatively simple solutions can make a huge difference. Personally, I'd much rather live in a nice older house than one of the huge boxy things springing up on small surburban lots everywhere across the country. Older houses may not have two story atriums, "spa" bathrooms, or twelve foot islands in the kitchen, but they had good proportions, room for a spacious garden, were built solidly, and had a grace that few "today" houses posess. As for some of the other generalizations made above, foundation reengineering most likely wouldn't be necessary. Brick veneer houses already have much thicker foundations than most other types of houses. The foundations have to be built thicker to support the weight of the brick veneer. Framing may or may not be an issue. Many houses built mid-twentieth century were framed using much sturdier timbers than are used in construction today. HVAC, electrical and plumbing aren't particularly onerous. These sorts of things are routinely improved and reconfigured in exisiting structures all the time. That being said, I don't recommend that anyone live in a house while major remodeling is going on -- but many people do -- and survive to tell about it. If budgets are tight, it can save a lot of money. If you tear down your existing home, obviously, the possiblity of realizing that savings doesn't exist. The idea that extensively renovated houses never recoup the expense put into them is just nonsense. I know of an awful lot of people who make their livings by buying up older houses, extensively (and in some cases expensively) renovating, then selling at a profit. Naturally, it depends on location and not getting carried away so that you over-improve for a particular neighbourhood or existing market conditions -- but good houses with fine details, in good neighbourhoods will always command top dollar. My advice is still to consult with an architect. An architect will be able to tell you what's possible or isn't possible. He may even be able to suggest solutions to your needs that will save you money. It may not be necessary to add a full second floor. A partial second floor and a small bump-out somewhere on the existing house may be all you need. A few hours spent with a good architect may yield surprising results. If you like your house, tearing it down is probably the last thing you want to do....See MoreCost of a second story addition
Comments (8)I can tell you what we're doing in Central Pennsylvania. We are removing one side of our home which is a single story and rebuilding it as a two-story. We're also replacing the whole house roof and siding and adding two windows. This is a three-room addition, with a family room on the first floor and a master bedroom and bathroom on the second floor. Our total cost will be around $90,000. One thing that frustrated me was getting the estimates. It was SO hard to compare apples to apples because every company had different ideas about how to do things, what needed to be done and what they'd include. We went with the company that had the best word of mouth and where the contractor cared enough about details like our electric panel and our heating/cooling systems to look at them before making the estimate....See MoreEnclosing second story living room to make additional bedroom?
Comments (44)Hi TIffany, first let me say how sorry I am you had to go through the fire and then get Covid, not to mention the gypsy-life. I'm glad you came through it with so much drive and enthusiasm. A lot of people would have just given up. So, you will have a dining room in that room. One of the things you could do to bring in more light is to have some lovely built-ins constructed (don't know your style) facing the window with mirrored doors and maybe a mix of clear glass as well to house your dishes, trays and ornaments. I assume you will have a chandelier (light!) and possibly some down lighting or spot lighting. I saw an interesting dining room, though I doubt this is your style, but they painted the ceiling a metallic gold. It was fairly muted but it reflected whatever light was in the room in a subtle way. I saw another application where the designer created a coffered ceiling but instead of paint the little squares were mirrored. It was lovely because in daylight it picked up the green of the outdoors and cast it about the room. You could also hang pictures with picture lighting on top, paint the room a fairly deep rich color and have the pictures pop that way. You might be able to do all of the above if you're careful. Also, could you modify the window and have a glass canopy at a 90 degree angle extend out above it so that even more light will enter. Alternatively you could put in a small bay window there which might bring in more light. Not sure what you're going for in terms of style....See MoreModular second story addition
Comments (5)We're nearby (MoCo) and recently did an addition to our small house. We think it was originally a small Cape or ranch and had two prior additions - one to expand the upstairs for a full second story (3br plus 1 hall bath) and a second addition to add onto the back. Those were done by previous owners in the 1980s, and the house needed a lot of updating along with more space. So we extended the second story over the back addition to make a primary suite for a total of 4br/3ba. We gutted much of the existing house and also added a porch off the back. Ours was not modular, so I'm not sure how much this helps but it was $$$ and basically was a year from when we signed the contract to when we will finish the punch list (this week.) For 6 months of the bulk of the work, we were in a rental house. We talked to a bunch of local design/build firms but ultimately went with an architect and a separate contractor. Just to give you a ballpark, our bids -exclusive of fixtures, appliances, lighting, plumbing and tile - ranged from $310k to $475k (the porch was separate, $60k.) The addition was 500sf but we also replaced all windows and doors, added a fireplace, removed a wall, etc. And yes, like you, it was still a lot cheaper than moving. I hear from our contractor and architect that they have more work than they can possibly handle for the foreseeable future. Hope this helps in your decisionmaking....See Moreroarah
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