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What to Consider When Adding an Addition to Your Home

April 26, 2021
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You may often dream about having a bigger home by adding onto your own, but undergoing this kind of construction project is involved. Before you hire contractors, consider these ideas that will help you determine if the cost is worth it for your home and family.


How Much You Can Afford

On average, a home addition costs about $80 to $200 per square foot. But keep in mind, you aren't just paying for the building materials and labor. In some cases, it may be simply more financially sound to remodel part of your home, such as turning an unfinished basement into a new room.


Foundation

Whether you're building up or out, you need a good foundation. If you're building out, you'll need a new foundation poured, and if you build up, the contractors may need to strengthen the existing foundation so it can support the extra weight.


Heating and Cooling

If you have a traditional forced-air heating and cooling system, it uses ducts to transport air - which means you'll need to add ducts to the addition if you want to heat and cool the addition, and this is an added expense.


If you can't afford to expand your heating and cooling, you could purchase a mini-split system just for the addition. This is an effective solution, but it will also be an extra cost on top of the addition itself.

How Much Value the Addition Will Add

You would assume that adding any rooms would boost the value of your home, but that isn't always the case. Even if you don't plan on selling your home anytime soon, consider how changing the home will affect the value. Even if you end up staying in your house for 20 years, some of the changes you made may increase or decrease the home's value.


Usually, the type of room depends on whether it will boost the home's value. For starters, if you don't have a master bedroom, but you build one, this could boost the value because most homeowners expect a home to have a master bedroom. Adding another bathroom will also usually boost the value of your home. And adding an entire second-story addition is often also worth the investment.


However, there are some situations where it may be best to remodel or expand. If you simply want your home's layout to be different, but you don't care about adding rooms, a remodel may be the better idea. Even minor remodels to the kitchen and bathroom have a great return on investment, so they will help boost the value of your home. Plus, a remodel is often more affordable.


If the Inconvenience Is Worth It

Adding an addition, and even remodeling a single room, can impact how you function in your home. For example, adding a detached addition won't cause issues like dust, dirt, or noise, but you will have builders and contractors on your property.


If you build an attached addition or remodel a room, it can create dust and debris that gets into the other parts of the home, which can make breathing difficult.


In some cases, construction projects could limit you from using certain rooms, like the kitchen. If you can't use your kitchen, you can't prepare meals at home, so you'll need to determine how you'll feed your family and if it's worth the trouble of the remodel.


If you can afford the addition and it will boost the value of your home, it may be an excellent idea. And a good remodel may be all you need to make your home more comfortable and more valuable. For more information, contact us at JO Contractors today.

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