PrincessMommy Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 We're financially ready to start doing more renovations to our house and i'd like some advice. Sorry this is going to be a bit long because there's a lot to explain. I'm moving on to the more unusal changes I'd like to make. We plan to be here for at least another 7-10yrs. We bought one of the cheaper houses in the neighborhood. This house has an addition that i suspect the homeowner did completey by himself. The addition is a back-door mudroom/laundry room and family room. It is long and narrow, freezing cold in winter and hot in summer. It has no footers or I-beam under the room and is on a crawl space, just like the rest of the house. From the condition of the crawl space, I suspect he dug it out himself. It's very...hilly and claustrophobic. When the washing machine is in spin circle I feel like the floor is going to cave in. When we walk in the room there is a lot of give. The crawlspace access is a window well that is awkward to get in and out of. I can definitely see a time when we will not be able to go down there ourselves. I like to go down from time to time to check for mold and water (we have a vapor barrier and a dehumidifier). That's where the main water turn off is located as well. Above this addition is a 2nd floor deck, off a bedroom, and there a small deck off the side of the familiy room addition. Both are almost never used. All that to say I would like to dig out this portion of the crawl space (it's approx 2 feet high - so very hard to crawl around in. The rest of the crawls space is about 4 feet high). I would like to convert this crawl space into small storage are or mini basement (not dirt). I joked with dh that we could call it a "wine cellar" and ask for more when we sell LOL. It would have an outside door to access this area as well as another door inside to access the rest of the crawl space. I would get rid of the unused deck to enlarge the room. I'm not sure what I'd do with the unused 2nd floor deck. The question is... is it worth it? I have no idea how much this sort of project would cost, but I worry it might be close to 100K, which would put it out of our budget. Crawl spaces are unusual in this area, so I worry it may cause issues when we go to sell it. Also, there is no decent storage here. The attic is unusable because of insulation (plus it's hot) There is a detached garage with an attic but it is also hot and humid in summer, cold in winter. Plus critters. I realize that adding a basement isn't all the sexy as for as home renovations go, but I think that enlarging the family room, adding some decent storage, and better access to the crawl space has benefits. The other renovation I am looking at is changing the front. The previous owner added the 2nd floor and I swear he bought the smallest, cheapest dormer windows. I would like to get larger windows up in that space. I'd also like to add a mud-room or vestibule to the front door. We've already renovated the kitchen, master bathroom, and sunroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 I’m no expert, but I watch a lot of HGTV. My big concern is if you have to bring in a professional to do the work and they need permits. If that addition isn’t permitted, you won’t be able to do it. I don’t think they can force you to remove it, but they could force you to bring it up to code, which could be expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Was the addition permitted? if it wasn't, your jurisdiction might require you to tear it down (or at least bring it up to code) before starting another addition. If the construction really was that poor - you might be better off doing that. I've watched some home renovation shows - and some of the houses they worked on (incl. in some nicer neighborhoods) were pretty darn scary. Especially some of the DIYs. just a tidbit - my niece got onto some "amature" renovation show. (she appreciated the money to help pay for the renovations they were doing.). The producers actually complained about how competent they were. She grew up doing renovations on their house - including moving walls, replacing a staircase, and electrical. Her dad and brother (both engineers) had been helping them - the show was going to claim they needed to call in professional help. I think they cut everything with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Also - with the extent of what you want to do, and the condition of previous renovations, I'd strongly urge you to bring in an architect. It will likely save you money in the long run. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 1 hour ago, gardenmom5 said: Also - with the extent of what you want to do, and the condition of previous renovations, I'd strongly urge you to bring in an architect. It will likely save you money in the long run. that is my plan actually. After living here for 2.5 yrs I have been a little surprised that parts of the house passed inspection. It's a little discouraging actually. But, that is water under the bridge. Part of my motivation is to bring this house up to its potential. The previous owner left such a disaster and I would like to right that wrong. I hadn't thought about bringing it up to code if we start. They had permits for both the bathroom and kitchen and nothing came up about the addition. The previous owner definitely had permits for something about 20-25yrs ago. I can see them online, but I don't know what part of the house they were for. It was electrical permits, IIRC and we're shocked they passed. My BIL is an electrician and there's been a lot of issues with the electrical work. Thankfully, my BIL has been slowly helping us upgrade it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 1 hour ago, athena1277 said: I’m no expert, but I watch a lot of HGTV. My big concern is if you have to bring in a professional to do the work and they need permits. If that addition isn’t permitted, you won’t be able to do it. I don’t think they can force you to remove it, but they could force you to bring it up to code, which could be expensive. I'm definitely going to get permits, so I not sure what the problem would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 1 hour ago, PrincessMommy said: that is my plan actually. After living here for 2.5 yrs I have been a little surprised that parts of the house passed inspection. It's a little discouraging actually. But, that is water under the bridge. Part of my motivation is to bring this house up to its potential. The previous owner left such a disaster and I would like to right that wrong. I hadn't thought about bringing it up to code if we start. They had permits for both the bathroom and kitchen and nothing came up about the addition. The previous owner definitely had permits for something about 20-25yrs ago. I can see them online, but I don't know what part of the house they were for. It was electrical permits, IIRC and we're shocked they passed. My BIL is an electrician and there's been a lot of issues with the electrical work. Thankfully, my BIL has been slowly helping us upgrade it. Maybe they did - and maybe they were complete DIY with no permits or oversight (re: were never inspected). It happens. Our neighbors bought a house I know was inspected- he was so mad at all the rewiring he had to do because of exposed wires - it never should have passed inspection. (he was clear if he'd known everything that had to be fixed - he'd have dropped his offer $100K). we're in an area known for being hard to even get a permit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 1 hour ago, PrincessMommy said: I'm definitely going to get permits, so I not sure what the problem would be. Previous work done without signed-off permits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 Well, permitting wasn't an issue when we renovated the master bath. Previous owner had definitely done that himself (including digging a third micro crawl space- ugh). Our contractor had no issues,so I'm still baffled about how it would be a problem if we're doing it right (contractors/permits) this time. But, anyway, I don't want to get bogged down on permits because it wasn't my question. 😏 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 Are basement areas common in your area? Where I have lived, it would not be practical, not only because of construction cost, but because of water. Every person who built any structure like that would have trouble with mold and flooding at some point. I would think that how practical this would be is highly-location dependent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 4 minutes ago, Bootsie said: Are basement areas common in your area? Where I have lived, it would not be practical, not only because of construction cost, but because of water. Every person who built any structure like that would have trouble with mold and flooding at some point. I would think that how practical this would be is highly-location dependent. that's a good point. Yes, basements are quite common here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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