Adding More Space

Adding More Space

Are you thinking about adding some space to your home? Need a little more room for the kids? Is Mom or Pop or both staying in the guest room? Need to make a quiet place you can retreat to? Is your master bath and closet too small? Are you trying to figure a way to enjoy your yard and view more than you do now? Would it be nice if the kitchen was bigger? Do you not have the room to go out so you are thinking about going up? Can you open up your attic with a dormer and make use of dead space? Maybe what you want to do is not on this list, but there are few common elements to building additions that I would like to pass on to you.

When your lot was originally platted (mapped out) it was done in a manner that conformed to your cities zoning ordinances. There are many different types of zoning and each one carries its own particular rules. One of these rules is called the “setbacks”. That is the distance that each side of your house can be from the property lines of your lot. These are generally referred to as the front yard setback, the sideyard setbacks (normally you have two sideyards unless you are on a corner lot in which case you can have two front yards) and the rear yard setback. In addition, there is often an amount of lot coverage expressed in a percentage that you can build upon. There may also be easements across your lot. These can be for power lines, gas lines cable lines, drainage areas, septic systems and a variety of other reasons. If you are on any water that drains to a river, the bay or the ocean then you probably have setbacks which only allow you to build within a certain distance. Confused? Don’t blame you. Happens to me all of the time but it is actually a simple process to determine how much space and where you can add onto your home. Find the survey that was done on your house when you bought it. You will see the outline of your house drawn on it. You will also see if there are any easements (usually dotted lines with the type of easement written). Call the zoning office in your city and ask them what the setbacks are for your lot. Measure the distance from your property line and draw that in. Normally the front of your house will have been built right up to the front yard setback, but if you have a large or odd shaped lot that may not be the case. The lines that result will create the envelope that you can build within. That is the starting point for any addition.

Now that you have figured out where it can be built, its time to combine the two most critical elements. Make the brand new space that you want to create look like it has always been there. Roof lines, exterior doors, windows, fireplaces, the exterior finish, the foundation, along with many other elements of your existing house determine the design of the exterior of the addition. The interior of the addition has some limitations based on this, but most of the time the combination works to make you happy with the inside and out. There are several space planning tools you can make use of to help you with some initial ideas including some powerful 3D programs that you can get at the office supply stores or download online.

So after you figure out what you need, where can it go and how you would like to see it configured what’s the next step? Call me of course. We have been remodeling for twenty five years and have done over 10,000 jobs. Tons of those have been additions and every one of those has been unique. That’s the thing about additions. They are all custom. We can take you from step A to Z. We can help you plan. We can do the whole job from start to finish or we can “shell” it out (framed and exterior complete) and you can finish the interior. If you are in the need, give us a call.

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