3 Step-Guide On How to Build a Room Addition

Apr 27, 2018 | ADU

3 Step-Guide on How to Build a Room Addition

When it comes to adding a whole new room to your home living space, there are many different aspects to conscientiously consider to enable your project to be an utter success. Through this guide, we will highlight, to what our concept is the main steps to follow on how to build an addition to your existing house.

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First, we will briefly go over the different types of room additions and home improvement you have to choose from; then we will describe the building process from planning stage all the way to the construction phase, to end with some of the most important advice you must consider when hiring a room addition contractor.

Different types of room additions to consider.

a. Second Story Addition: Though most of the industry does not think it as a room addition, this is in most cases the most complex form of home additions. They require a foundation, framing and wall restructuring. Which also benefits your existing first floor. In all cases, however, adding a second story is indeed adding one or more rooms to your house and also take into account the average cost per square feet of the home improvement project.

We highly recommend being very well advised by a team that has the expertise in each of the phases of a real estate project. Any wrong judgment could become a severe headache and produce a considerable dent your wallet. Houzz profiles are a good indicator of the room addition contractor’s experience and other client’s feedback.

b. Master Bedroom: A master bedroom is the temple of your house. The master bedroom must be an area that exudes tranquility and calmness. Every home has a master bedroom, so when you decide to change it and create another one, your house benefits by having another large room while at the same time personalizing your new distinctive personal retreat.

c. Room Addition: This type of room addition is impossible to strictly catalog because it depends on what the function of the room will be. A playroom, a sunroom, another guest room, etc. will determine how difficult this type of addition will be. Will you be extending your current square foot, or will you be modifying existing rooms to create a new living place? These clarifications are necessary to provide an accurate estimate of the average cost and time of completion.

d. Bathroom Addition: Most people usually overlook the importance of proper planning, design, and construction when adding a new bathroom. However, these remodel in your house implies new plumbing and water lines to be installed appropriately without negatively affecting existing ones.

e. Family Room Addition: We all love our family rooms! They bring our loved ones together and provide an exclusive comfort zone that not even the most prestigious hotels can offer. In it, our families share the most ordinary yet special moments. For this reason, it is imperative to think of this room as a space that will host games, movies, family reunions and pretty much everyday life. This room must be built to accommodate your family needs, and not your family accommodate to the space in consideration. Your family will be more than excited to have a beautiful home where to spend their time.

As you see, there are many options when it comes to room additions, and these are only a few. We like to look at design and construction as a form of art. Therefore, the possibilities of what a room addition could be are endless. For this reason, it is supremely critical to plan for your family’s growing needs when thinking of adding a new room. What does your family need and what can your home host? Once you have an idea of how you want to reform your house, it is time to begin the design-build process for the addition.

The Design-Build Process for a Room Addition

When you are going to make a significant change in your house’s plans, you must always be aware of the magnitude of the investment, and never take likely the planning stage. Mistakes during this phase will only make this project unviable. Make sure you know the Factors you can’t afford to ignore when deciding if buying or building a new home to protect your investment and increase the value to your home you should always look to hire a team of professionals that will have the expertise in each area of the design-build process. Sometimes hiring each party, will not only increase your value to your home but more importantly it will increase the chances of mishappens due to communication. But we will talk more about it later when we mention expert advice when hiring a room addition contractor in west hills, Hancock Park, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills or almost any area in Californa where Levi Design Build offers their room addition services.

We recommend the design-build process for a room addition to be divided into three stages: consultation, design, and construct.

There is apparently a lot of hype on the design stage, and it is usually the most appealing due to the joy of seeing your dream materialized in a design that will ultimately change your living space. However, when it comes to construction, as in anything else, a solid foundation will be reflected in an adequate building. In this case, our foundation in the design-build process is our consultation stage.

1. Consultation Stage

Like we said before, the consultation stage is pivotal to the success of your project. To have a practical and pleasing building process, you must first plan your project; this begins at home with your family.

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Some questions to consider are:

  • What type of room addition do I want?
  • What is my budget? Do you know how much the square feet cost is? (Always anticipate a 10% contingency budget for any surprise).
  • Will my room addition require my family to relocate during the period of the project?
  • What design style do I prefer? Contemporary, modern, minimalist, Victorian, etc.
  • What qualities do I seek for on my contractor and whole team?
  • Do I have references to what I want to show my contractor?
  • Do I need any special city building permits and what is the average cost of these?

Once you have the preliminary idea of what you want, it is essential to begin scouting for the team that will take care of your project. It is always better to have one firm take care of your whole project. Trust us; this will save time and money. Levi Design Build, for example, is a design-build firm that serves the Los Angeles area that includes architects, designers, and contractors under one roof. If you want to calculate the construction costs of your addition, square foot and square footage cost, use our cost calculator and receive your estimate in a matter of minutes.

Remember, you are supposed to be hiring experts, so don’t be shocked if their suggestions alter your initial plan. Their assessment is vital, and it is crucial that you can verify their experience in projects like yours.

Personalization is a clear sign of the honesty of the team that you are trusting your home remodel process. No project is like the other, landscapes, design, materials, specific objectives and many other aspects vary. Hence, a team that is willing to give you a personalized assessment is a good sign that you are in the right hands.

Once you have concluded your scouting, proceed asking quotes from the 3-5 contractors that made the best impact on you, and please try to keep your emotions out of this decision. A home remodel is a very significant investment, and although it is imperative that you “feel good” with your contractor, it is more important that they have the proper expertise and experience.

Once you have received your quotes, always be wary of those very cheap ones. It is usually not a good sign when a contractor comes with a price that is significantly lower than the rest; this could be attributed to the fact that he does not correctly understand what you want and the full scope of the project. Another possibility and a dangerous one is that he is desperate for the contract, and down balling his prices to beat the competition. For these types of projects, you do not want to work with someone desperate.

Once the consultation stage is finished, and you have chosen the contractor that better suits your budget and your overall expectations, its time to design.

2. Design Stage

The design stage is usually the most fun of all the necessary steps for a room addition. Your house has not been partially demolished yet, and you get to work with a professional selecting the features that will make this new room a living dream.

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Some of the qualities that you should consider when working with the designer are:

  • Experience – How many projects have he or she completed?
  • Overall Knowledgeability – Is this person familiar with architecture, engineering and construction terms and requirements? No being so may result in a design that is not viable once you present it to the contractor or engineers.
  • Creativity – Can this professional handle your ideas, respect them and complement them with solutions that exceed your expectations? Can he or she see things that you cannot and explain them adequately?
  • Personality – Your designer, should be reachable and close. You will share your dreams with this person, and they must give you confidence in the way they approach, suggest and present objections to your ideas.

As a conclusion, you need a passionate and creative person that has the experience to know how to handle your dreams and materialize them in a vision that exceeds your expectations but not your budget. Eti Levi is our experienced designer and wife of our director of operations. With over ten years designing homes and providing home repairs and home additions services all through the Los Angeles area, she is an idoneous professional that has the knowledge, creativity, and experience to make your dream real.

3. Construction Stage

The construction phase is the messy part of any construction project. It is noisy, and it can sometimes be terrifying, mainly because you can’t turn back from that point on. This stage usually begins after the design has approval and all the necessary permits have been filed and paid.

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The build an addition process, especially if they are expanding outwards and not upwards, will need excavation and demolishment. Walls will be taken down, and the restructure of foundation and framing will make this, not only a new home, but also a more valuable one.

The construction is usually the most lengthy part of the project and the most important as it will reflect the final product. Timeframes for these types of projects will vary depending on the square footage, the landscape and the complexity of the whole. However, they could range from 12 to 16 weeks. For a more precise estimate, you can book your free consultation with our team of professionals. (CTA)

For more information about construction costs of these types of project, you can read our blog on Cost of Building a New Home in Los Angeles, many of the pricing structures are equivalent with room additions.

Now that we have briefly delineated the process of adding a new room in your house, we will go over some valuable expert advice that we highly recommend when hiring a contractor. If you need to know more about room addition contractor services, do not hesitate to check our blog.

Recommendations when hiring a room addition contractor

  1. Seek a design-build firm that has expertise in design, engineering, architecture, and real estate. This sort of streamlined process under one roof will be reflected in better communication, more precise estimates and more cost-effective.
  2. Meet with at least three reliable companies that are apples to apples. They must offer the same expertise and services; this will allow your comparison to be more reasonable.
  3. Verify the team’s license and insurance. The company you hire must be licensed to work in your state and have the proper coverages that will protect you and them from the incidents that construction may imply.
  4. Double-check the company’s experience. The longer the company has been in business signifies that they have been pleasing clients on a constant basis and that their work model is valid for them and their clients. Ensuring that they do not lack experience will protect you from an over-night contractor that may flee town as soon as you begin the project.
  5. Revise portfolio and past references. Always ask for a list of their recommendations and visit listings like Houzz, Buildzoom, BBB, and Google to see how their online reputation matches their references. Some of the things that you must look for in a company’s portfolio are clean-cut finishes on walls and floors, before and after photos and the scope of the construction.
  6. Does the contractor have experience in projects like mine? If you are doing a master bedroom addition, have they done projects like those? Do they have all building permit? Their experience will give you peace of mind and will protect your investment.
  7. Ask to visit other ongoing projects. A good construction company will have a few projects at a time. Ask to see the crew in action and how they interact with the properties they work with and their clients. Remember, good construction firms will have a good relationship with their clients, so they shouldn’t have a problem to give you a tour of their existing projects. A visit will also give you an idea of how clean they keep their workplaces; this is supremely important especially if you are going to be living in your home as the project takes place.

Take into account all of this advice to optimize the process of adding a new room in your home. The planning, consultation, design, and construction stages are all essential to develop your dream house, don’t skip of any of the steps we mentioned and make sure that you hire a trustworthy and experienced design-build firm.