Now that the real estate market has cooled, many people are opting to expand their homes instead of buying new. This is a very effective way to get more square footage because it is about half as expensive to add a square foot to your existing home then buying the additional square footage with a new home purchase. If you are interested in adding value to your home without depleting the bank, you must first figure out what is the best direction to expand for your home, up, out or down.
Spending on your home E
The cheapest way to extend your home is to add to the house on the ground level. This method is the most cost-effective because you don’t have to worry about arranging the foundation and structure of your house, it’s easy to put the equipment in place to do the job and the construction is correct. You also have the option of using prefabricated floors, which can save you 25 percent or more over site-built structures.
Disadvantages to this option are mainly based on zoning and space limitations. Zoning affects how close to the property line you build and what materials you can use when constructing your addition. You also need to learn where your power lines, gas lines and other utilities are on your property to avoid accidents. Finally, the size of your lot will determine how big the addition is, what it can be and what shape it can be. where it can be located.
Explaining your house up
If you have a small lot and it’s not good to extend then consider expanding your home. If you have a solid attic that already has its own joist system in place, then you can complete this space in Extra room with a lot of work and money. However, most older houses will not have proper joist systems to also accommodate a storage room in the house.
Before you look at expanding your home, whether you’re adding a room to an existing attic or adding an entire second story, you should have a contractor examine your home’s structure. They will need to assess the strength of your foundation, the strength of the exterior walls, and the overall construction of your home. If your house is not structurally sound, or if the second story has not been able to support, then your expansion proposal can be done quickly with a big effort that will make it more efficient to simply plan in replacing or restoring your foundation. For a larger home, then adding on a base may be a viable option.
The disadvantages of the expansion option are based on the cost and difficulty of the expansion project. To complete this project, you need a leveling floor jacks, access to the floor under your house and many people with strong backs to help you. This project can be DIY, but it will take you a lot of time to complete.
