Have you built an extra room on to your house?

[Elizabeth86]

Like an extra bedroom or play room/ school rom type thing. Not a bath or kitchen. How big was it and how much did it cost. Im thinking about getting an estimate. Our house is tiny. I think I could stand living here if I had one room for out stuff like toys, computer, bookshelves and I could just shut the door on the stuff and the rest if the house would be clutter free. Moving might be a good idea, but there just are not many great ootions right now, so it might be best for us to wait. We own a rental house we might be selling soon and we may use the money to add on.

[OneStepAtATime]

Prices are going to vary considerably from area to area and even contractor to contractor.  An addition is not that hard to do as long as you hire a contractor that understands and follows local building codes, has had extensive experience with this specific type of contruction and your house is such that an addition won't create a logistical nightmare trying to make it look like it IS part of the house instead of just tacked on as an afterthought.  

 

Things I recommend:

 

1.  Get an estimate from at least two, preferably three, REPUTABLE contractors.

2.  Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

3.  Already have in mind an idea of the size/shape of the room and any added features such as flooring, number and size of windows, built in closets, outlets, etc.  Make sure when you get those estimates that everyone is working off of this general information.  Be prepared to ask LOTS of questions and provide lots of answers.  The more info you give them the more accurate their estimate.

4.  Check out local housing codes to see what kind of hoops you will have to jump through to get your addition approved and what the  cost will be for the permits, etc.

5.  No matter what the quotes, don't automatically go with the lowest.  Look into their reputations, read through what they do regarding onsite supervision of the workers, how they handle clean up at the end of each day, what they do to remove debris from the site, how they will protect the rest of your home from dust and debris, what they provide for warranties on their work, etc.  Sometimes the cheapest is actually going to end up costing you the most in the long run.

6.  Make sure they are bonded and insured.

7.  Make sure that the companies you have give an estimate do not have a reputation for doing multiple jobs at once.  Often this ends up with resources being diverted from the lower end jobs and moved onto the jobs that they make more money with.  It can delay finishing a project by weeks or months and can lead to all kinds of issues with missing materials, etc.  

8.  Whatever estimate they give you, plan on it costing at least 20% more than the quote and taking weeks longer to finish.  While you might get lucky, only rarely does a job like this come in on time and on budget.  If you plan on that going in it won't be such an emotional and financial shock when it doesn't work out as the quote suggested.

9.  Don't commit all of your available funds.  Keep some in reserve in case something goes wrong.  You want something to fall back on to fix whatever issue has arisen.

10.  Be prepared mentally and emotionally for strangers to be in and out of your home for long hours every day for weeks.  

[Elizabeth86]

Prices are going to vary considerably from area to area and even contractor to contractor. An addition is not that hard to do as long as you hire a contractor that understands and follows local building codes, has had extensive experience with this specific type of contruction and your house is such that an addition won't create a logistical nightmare trying to make it look like it IS part of the house instead of just tacked on as an afterthought.

 

Things I recommend:

 

1. Get an estimate from at least two, preferably three, REPUTABLE contractors.

2. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

3. Already have in mind an idea of the size/shape of the room and any added features such as flooring, number and size of windows, built in closets, outlets, etc. Make sure when you get those estimates that everyone is working off of this general information. Be prepared to ask LOTS of questions and provide lots of answers. The more info you give them the more accurate their estimate.

4. Check out local housing codes to see what kind of hoops you will have to jump through to get your addition approved and what the cost will be for the permits, etc.

5. No matter what the quotes, don't automatically go with the lowest. Look into their reputations, read through what they do regarding onsite supervision of the workers, how they handle clean up at the end of each day, what they do to remove debris from the site, how they will protect the rest of your home from dust and debris, what they provide for warranties on their work, etc. Sometimes the cheapest is actually going to end up costing you the most in the long run.

6. Make sure they are bonded and insured.

7. Make sure that the companies you have give an estimate do not have a reputation for doing multiple jobs at once. Often this ends up with resources being diverted from the lower end jobs and moved onto the jobs that they make more money with. It can delay finishing a project by weeks or months and can lead to all kinds of issues with missing materials, etc.

8. Whatever estimate they give you, plan on it costing at least 20% more than the quote and taking weeks longer to finish. While you might get lucky, only rarely does a job like this come in on time and on budget. If you plan on that going in it won't be such an emotional and financial shock when it doesn't work out as the quote suggested.

9. Don't commit all of your available funds. Keep some in reserve in case something goes wrong. You want something to fall back on to fix whatever issue has arisen.

10. Be prepared mentally and emotionally for strangers to be in and out of your home for long hours every day for weeks.

Thanks for the tips.

[kroe1]

I think $42,000 is the national average for a room. I would guess expensive rooms like kitchens are averaged in as well.

[TechWife]

Prices are going to vary considerably from area to area and even contractor to contractor.  An addition is not that hard to do as long as you hire a contractor that understands and follows local building codes, has had extensive experience with this specific type of contruction and your house is such that an addition won't create a logistical nightmare trying to make it look like it IS part of the house instead of just tacked on as an afterthought.  

 

Things I recommend:

 

1.  Get an estimate from at least two, preferably three, REPUTABLE contractors.

2.  Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

3.  Already have in mind an idea of the size/shape of the room and any added features such as flooring, number and size of windows, built in closets, outlets, etc.  Make sure when you get those estimates that everyone is working off of this general information.  Be prepared to ask LOTS of questions and provide lots of answers.  The more info you give them the more accurate their estimate.

4.  Check out local housing codes to see what kind of hoops you will have to jump through to get your addition approved and what the  cost will be for the permits, etc.

5.  No matter what the quotes, don't automatically go with the lowest.  Look into their reputations, read through what they do regarding onsite supervision of the workers, how they handle clean up at the end of each day, what they do to remove debris from the site, how they will protect the rest of your home from dust and debris, what they provide for warranties on their work, etc.  Sometimes the cheapest is actually going to end up costing you the most in the long run.

6.  Make sure they are bonded and insured.

7.  Make sure that the companies you have give an estimate do not have a reputation for doing multiple jobs at once.  Often this ends up with resources being diverted from the lower end jobs and moved onto the jobs that they make more money with.  It can delay finishing a project by weeks or months and can lead to all kinds of issues with missing materials, etc.  

8.  Whatever estimate they give you, plan on it costing at least 20% more than the quote and taking weeks longer to finish.  While you might get lucky, only rarely does a job like this come in on time and on budget.  If you plan on that going in it won't be such an emotional and financial shock when it doesn't work out as the quote suggested.

9.  Don't commit all of your available funds.  Keep some in reserve in case something goes wrong.  You want something to fall back on to fix whatever issue has arisen.

10.  Be prepared mentally and emotionally for strangers to be in and out of your home for long hours every day for weeks.  

 

I will add: hire an architect to do the design/blueprint! That way, you are certain every estimate you receive is based upon the same information. Every person I know that has undertaken a home addition without an architect has regretted it. In one case, the person was told that they would not have to raise the roof of their house to finish out their attic as livable space. Guess what? They got 3/4 of the way done with the expansion and found out they had to raise the roof because there were areas of one new bedroom in which adults could not stand up straight. Having an architect up front would have saved them time, money and aggravation. 

 

I have never heard anyone who hired an architect up front talk about regretting the expense.

[Elizabeth86]

I think $42,000 is the national average for a room. I would guess expensive rooms like kitchens are averaged in as well.

Yikes my whole house only cost a bit more than this.

[OneStepAtATime]

I will add: hire an architect to do the design/blueprint! That way, you are certain every estimate you receive is based upon the same information. Every person I know that has undertaken a home addition without an architect has regretted it. In one case, the person was told that they would not have to raise the roof of their house to finish out their attic as livable space. Guess what? They got 3/4 of the way done with the expansion and found out they had to raise the roof because there were areas of one new bedroom in which adults could not stand up straight. Having an architect up front would have saved them time, money and aggravation. 

 

I have never heard anyone who hired an architect up front talk about regretting the expense.

Yes!  This!  :)

[Evergreen State Sue]

We added 3 rooms to one side of our home - a school room, a bedroom, and an office.  Our house was about 1650 sq ft, and what we added made it 2400 sq. ft.  I won't bother telling you how much it cost because as was mentioned previously it depends on location how much things cost and this was 12 years ago.  It was the best thing we ever did - it allowed us to have breathing room while homeschooling, allowed my husband to work from home, and we were able to stop paying for an off-site storage unit for all those extra things we didn't have room for but thought we needed to keep.  The hardest part was I thought it would be done over the summer before school started up, but the construction didn't start until the end of July and wasn't finished until into January. 

[JumpyTheFrog]

I have thought about getting a shed and turning it into an office or homeschool room. There are enough people doing this that shed companies are beginning to market "office sheds."

[solascriptura]

The previous owners of our home built on a large room and bathroom for 90k. This was 15 years ago

[Evergreen State Sue]

I have thought about getting a shed and turning it into an office or homeschool room. There are enough people doing this that shed companies are beginning to market "office sheds."

 

We actually had a shed built for my husband's office, but it didn't have a bathroom and he got tired of trekking back into the house in rain and snow.

[38carrots]

I have thought about getting a shed and turning it into an office or homeschool room. There are enough people doing this that shed companies are beginning to market "office sheds."

 

Just flipped through She Sheds in a book store!

 

https://www.amazon.com/She-Sheds-Room-Your-Own/dp/1591866774/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498527895&sr=8-1&keywords=she+sheds

[VaKim]

We just had a big bedroom with a walk-in closet and a big bathroom added onto our tiny house earlier this year. I think the whole thing is something like 25 by 17. It cost us 33 thousand, but that varies so much depending on what you have done, where you live, which contractor, materials, etc. 

[Hilltopmom]

We turned a rough attached screen porch into an extra room for only $3500, but it already had a roof & floor,we just insulated & putinreal walls with Windows.