So, you’re planning on adding an addition onto your home but have no idea where to start… Well, you’re in luck because we, here at MDV Remodeling, are going to walk you though each stage of the process over the course of the next three weeks in our 3-part blog series, Planning a Home Addition.

Adding an addition onto your home adds value to the property, while at the same time fulfilling a need or want that your home is lacking. It can improve upon an existing element of your home, or add something entirely new and different. In our first part, Stage One – Researching & Setting a Budget, we outline some of the necessary steps you should take in researching, planning and budgeting for the project your desire.

Researching:

Research may sound boring at first, but it can actually be one of the most fun aspects of the planning process. Finding inspiration in what others have done can help you to better visualize exactly what you’re looking for and, more importantly, what you definitely don’t want. Below are some suggested areas in which you can look to find inspiration, along with a brief description of why each should be considered.

• Visit a showroom – Visiting a showing in a home improvement or furniture store can help get the creative juices flowing when you’re looking for ideas. Seeing a visual representation of the room in which you are looking to expand or add on to can help you to not only visualize what will and won’t work in your home, but can also remind you of smaller aspects that you may overlook by not seeing them right in front of your face.

• Attend local home shows – Local home and garden shows are a great place to see what trending in home remodeling and improvement industry. You can find the latest and greatest appliances and material on display (and in most cases demonstrated), talk with industry professionals (like MDV Remodeling), and could possibly stumble upon something that you never knew you wanted.

• Look though magazines and catalogs – Magazines and catalogs offer the similar benefits to showrooms and home show, while allowing you to browse from the comfort of your own home. In addition, articles supporting the imagery can provide some great insight into why some choices were made and can help you to make more informed choices with what you’re looking to do in your own home.

• Study the spaces in the homes of friends – This is perhaps the most fun part of the research process because you can see what other people with similar interests did with the spaces available to them see how those choice would translate to your own space. In addition, you can see how certain things hold up to everyday use better than in a showroom.

Planning:

Once you have a good idea of what you would like to do with the addition project, it’s time to start outlining the details of exactly what you want included in your addition. The first thing you want to do is to make a list of your wants and desires. You can break this down into things that you can’t live without and things that would be nice to have, or any other way that will help you to prioritize the list so that you are ensured to get what is most desirables in your new addition.

Budgeting:

Now comes the hardest part of Stage One – deciding on a budget that works for you. Since everyone has a different idea of what they are looking for, there is really no set answer for what is an appropriate budget, but below are some average project costs for various home additions (source: Remodeling Magazine):

  • Bathroom Addition: $40,710
  • Garage Addition: $60,608
  • Sunroom Addition: $75,224
  • Upscale Bathroom Addition: $78,409
  • Family Room Addition: $85,740
  • Upscale Garage Addition: $90,053
  • Master Suite Addition: $108,090
  • Two-Story Addition (master suite over family room): $165,243
  • Upscale Master Suite Addition: $232,062

In addition to the upfront costs of adding on addition, you also need to take into account the long-term and continue costs involved. The increase in size to your home means more space to heat in the winter and keep cool in the summer, adding to your utility cost. In addition, the increase square footage may increase your homeowner’s property tax. All of these are costs the need to be considered when deciding the scale and complexity of the addition.

Be sure to stop back in next week, where we will address some of the questions homeowners need to ask before moving forward with a home addition. If you have any questions or want to learn more about working with MDV Remodeling on a custom addition, contact us for a free estimate.