Modular second story addition

2 years ago

Did you get a second story modular addition to your home in Northern Virginia (were in Arlington) ? How was your ecperience and who would you recommend for the design and build?

We have a small cape cod and want to add two bathrooms and 3 bedrooms upstairs.

Comments (5)

cat_ky
2 years ago
One of the first things, you need to find out, is if the house structure, will support a second floor addition. A lot of houses, will not support one.
Tri Jessup
Original Author
2 years ago
There are many companies that do custom modular design. i dont know if you are familiar with the area i live in but it would conpletely unaffordable for us to move. We also live close to where we work, so moving is a no go.
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A friend was quoted approximately 400.000(second story over a slightly smaller ranch, but in Silicon Valley) and moving out for a year. Have no idea what her quote included. For example when we remodeled our contract didn't include finished materials, with some exceptions-so add materials to it, if her quote was more like mine. They bought another house instead. A bigger one. Lots, lots of money. But if you add up the very approximate quote plus the very high rent they'd have to pay living somewhere else during the remodel plus everything unexpected plus huge inconvenience plus.. They'd probably pay the same, in her area. If not more. And they wouldn't have a time of their lives, I assume. I hadn't. We gut remodeled plus added to the new house while living in the old one. It'd be smarter to just move and pay several hundred thousands more right away. Of course we didn't know exactly back then. Well now I know. Putting finances and huge effort and time aside though-it did allow us to reach some of our goals for the family, that we might not reach otherwise.
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I feel your pain. I live near the ocean in a tract of smaller single family homes that are all one story. Our neighbor behind us built into their entire backyard and then added a huge second story with a balcony off their upstairs master bedroom that looks right down on our home and yard. Their purpose was to have a (very distant) ocean view, but they completely blocked our very nice mountain view and took away our privacy. The lack of privacy bothered me the most. We planted bamboo at the fence line and have been waiting for it to fill in. It is not perfect (or for everyone) but each year we get a little privacy back. We did our research first and built in a barrier to keep it from going everywhere. We also are proactive and maintain it to make sure it stays in its lane, because the barrier isn't perfect. I think grape vines or bougainvillea would also give you some privacy, be easier to maintain, and grow nicely in your area.
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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.
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What about something like this? I cut and paste within the context of a two stall plan with a one bedroom apartment along the back. The apartment was a bit convoluted, but left the entry bath and storage as is. I am assuming this was to give visitor access to the bathroom without going through the bedroom. And the kitchen was on the exterior back which buried the LR in the middle so I juggled that. I also think this is two small for a two car garage, I would want it several feet wider and deeper. I feel like this sort of reiterates your house, this also could be mostly glass along the lake view
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millworkman
2 years ago
Get a structural engineer or the custom modular company in for a consult.
smalloldhouse_gw
2 years ago
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.
S C
2 years ago
Wondering if you decided to go ahead with the modular addition....we are in NoVa also and considering going modular

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Modular second story addition

Comments (5)

cat_ky

Tri Jessup
Original Author

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millworkman

smalloldhouse_gw

S C

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Modular second story addition

Comments (5)

cat_ky

Tri JessupOriginal Author

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millworkman

smalloldhouse_gw

S C

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Tri Jessup
Original Author