2017 Cost to Build an Addition | Tips for Adding a Room

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The average national cost of adding a room or building an addition is $41,739, with most homeowners spending between $21,006 and $64,718. This data is based on actual project costs as reported by HomeAdvisor members.

Many homeowners eventually come to that daunting dilemma: whether to buy their dream house or transform their current home into that dream. Once you make the commitment to build an addition, you've probably decided to go down the latter road. This decision might be something you've long considered, or it may have been thrust upon you by an expanding family. In either case, recognize that this will be a profound investment in time and money, but one that, if done properly, will enhance the value of your most important investment: your home.

You can choose from several types of additions for an average house, including ground level additions, second floor additions and detached additions. Each option has its own benefits, drawbacks and estimated prices based on factors such as the size of the structure and the features that you want to incorporate.

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An extra room means exactly that. Homeowners who choose this type of an addition often do so to add a family room, bedroom or multiple spaces. When you want to add an additional room to your home, you typically have two options: build out or build up.

This is a major construction project that involves creating an additional building structure and integrating it with the rest of the home. Average costs run anywhere from $80 to $200 per square foot. No matter whether you build out or up, you should:

Building out typically involves adding a room at ground level, which is one of the most popular types of additions. These options increase the footprint of your home by extending the houses perimeter outward, which offers minimal disruption to the rest of the home. Potential drawbacks of building out include the cost of having to pour a new foundation, the loss of yard or property space and the possibility that you may need to get a zoning variance depending on local regulations.

If you want to expand your living space without increasing the footprint of your home, building up is a great option. For this type of addition, you add a room to the second story, or you could add an entire second story onto a one story home. Even though your contractor won't need to create a new foundation, he may need to strengthen the existing foundation to support the extra weight. On the downside, you need to check your town's rules to make sure you're not limited in the height of your home. Additionally, you'll need to add a staircase, which typically uses up 80 to 120 square feet of living space.

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Sunrooms offer a budget-friendly alternative to a traditional house addition. Average costs run anywhere from $16,315 for the average sunroom, up to $70,000 or more for a 200-square foot addition with footings and a slab foundation. The cost of this project depends on the amount of space it adds, the location of the sunroom, extras such as electrical wiring and whether the room is heated (four-season room) or not heated (three-season room). Other considerations include hiring:

Buying a prefabricated sunroom runs around $11,000 per 150 square feet. Once you factor in adding heat, electricity and all the construction costs, it's not unusual to pay between $300 and $400 per square foot for the finished product. If you want to keep the costs low, consider adding the sunroom as a three-season room without heating.

Before you decide on a sunroom, get a few estimates to make sure youre getting the most competitive prices. Meet with a professional who can help assess the space, take accurate measurements and recommend the finishes and construction methods that will work best for you, your property and your climate.

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Detached additions can range in style and price, with prefabricated, simple shed-like rooms running around $15,000 without electricity or heat, or full guesthouses that share similar costs as a detached garage addition, which run around $24,658 on average. Like the other types of additions, youll need a contractor to help install and finish your detached addition. Youll also need an electrician to add the necessary wiring and painters to finish the walls.

As with any other addition, the materials you choose have a direct impact on the cost of this project. Consider the following:

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When youre planning your budget for this project, you need to consider many different factors, including the square footage and the size of the addition. The larger you go, the more expensive the project will be. Other important factors include necessary services, including:

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The answer to this depends on the complexity of the addition. If youre adding a simple family room onto your home with one door into the rest of the house and one to the outside, a contractor should be able to handle it without the help of an architect. If you're moving walls, redesigning the way one room flows into another, adding a half loft and a spiral staircase or planning countless other complicated or intricate changes to your existing home, you may want to consider bringing an architect on board.

An architect will certainly add to your upfront costs on the project, but consider that a professional engineer can take your ideas and build them into something even more amazing. Also, by adding more clarity to your vision before construction starts, cost estimates will hit closer to the mark. When the project is done in partnership with an architect, you're also more likely to wind up with something that boosts your homes value.

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Even if you have no plans to sell anytime soon, consider the resale value of your project. You might not always turn a profit on your home-expansion investment, but you should go into the job with realistic expectations about at least some kind of payback.

Because they're among the most expensive home projects, additions sometimes return less on your investment than remodels. If you're significantly adding to the square footage of your home or adding important types of rooms, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, your investment may pay off considerably.

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Get everything in writing. First, agree on a total amount before discussing anything further.

It's reasonable for contractors to expect some money in advance, and then again after specific milestones during the course of the project. Be aware that shelling out too much money could put you at risk, and giving too little could put your contractor at risk. It's a delicate dance, but one that should be precisely choreographed before anybody fires up the power tools.

Still, no matter how detailed your plan is, remember that things happen. Find out about your contractor's change-order policy. Once you see your addition come to life, you may change your mind about the colors, fixtures or even the layout of the room. You may find that the contractor didn't understand your plan and made some decisions that didn't square with what you'd intended. Or, the addition may run into problems that neither you nor the contractor could have foreseen. Each of these could have enormous effects on the cost of the project, and each can cause friction with your contractor. Minimize the conflicts by spelling out, as clearly as possible on the front end, how each of these contingencies would be handled.

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#1 Will the addition add value to my home?

Adding on to your home is among the priciest projects that you can undertake as a homeowner. Experts suggest that you can expect to see a return on your investment of:

#2 Will an addition look like it was tacked on?

Without the services of a designer or an architect, you could be left with an addition that looks like an afterthought or an obvious add-on feature. Skilled designers can create the space you want and deftly tie it into the existing structure so that it looks like it was always there.

#3 Do I need to worry about restrictions?

Always check with your local government to research zoning restrictions. In some areas, you may not be able to build within a certain number of feet of the front, sides or rear of the property lines. Other areas have rules about how much space on your property can be covered with buildings, how close you can get to protected spaces such as wetlands or how high you can build up.

#4 What should I look for in a contractor or a remodeling company?

Verify that the pros are licensed and insured. Check references and ask for pictures of their prior work. Ask the pros how long they've been doing this work, how they screen subcontractors and how long they expect the project to take. Get estimates from at least two or three contractors to get the most competitive prices and find the one that's going to work best for you.

#5 What should my first step be?

Create a plan for your new room, find a contractor to do the work and get all the necessary permits. This kind of a major project requires local permits to make sure the work is done according to building codes.

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Adding on to a house is a very expensive project, but there are ways to shave money off your budget. For example, in some cases you may be able to remodel instead of add on. Maybe you could finish the basement (average cost $2,852) to provide an extra bedroom with a bathroom or a living space. Increasing the efficiency of your space can make an expansion unnecessary. For example, adding 200 square feet of space onto a kitchen could cost anywhere from $48,000 to $95,000. Swapping your old cabinets out for better-organized, custom cabinets costs around $35,000, but it might be all you need, which saves $13,000 to $60,000.

Other money-saving options include using detached additions instead of attached ones. A prefabricated detached structure could cost less than $20,000, and it could be used as a guesthouse or an office to provide the extra space that you want. Often, building up also saves money by avoiding excavation costs and the need for pouring a new foundation.

Lastly, consider how handy you might be. Tackle any DIY projects such as laying flooring, painting the walls or installing a new vanity on your own instead of paying a contractor to the work. Doing your own demolition, for example, can save you more than $500 in labor charges.

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2017 Cost to Build an Addition | Tips for Adding a Room