For some home renovations, just upgrading your existing layout won't cut it. Instead, you may need a home addition that expands your floor plan and completely revitalizes the feel of your home.
A well-designed home addition can reorient an entire first floor or add a second floor on top of your home's current footprint. Regardless of the specific design, you get more space and an opportunity to imbue that space with functionality and aesthetics to match your needs and preferences.
By their very nature, home additions are not simple projects. They need to be designed and built by experienced professionals who deliver high-quality work on time and budget. This is not the type of project you want to take chances on!
In this post, I'll go over what you need to know about planning a home addition. I'll address when you should consider an addition, describe the types of contractors for home additions, and offer practical tips for finding a top remodeler.
You should consider an addition if your current home needs more space and functionality that just can't be achieved with a basic refresh or remodel. An addition is usually your best option if you want to build out an entirely new space instead of converting an existing space to be used differently.
Some of the most popular uses for a home addition include:
A new primary bedroom with an en suite primary bath
A guest bedroom or a bedroom for kids
A sunroom, study, or artist studio
An expansive home office
A home gym and sauna
A family room, kids' playroom, or home theater
A laundry room replete with closets and shelves for ample storage space
In some cases, you may be able to create these spaces with a whole home remodel instead of an addition. A whole home renovation involves major floor plan changes, but it works within your house's existing footprint.
If you're not sure which approach is better for you, a designer can review your goals and current layout to discuss the pros and cons of each approach.
There are different types of contractors and remodeling firms that do home additions.
Design-build firms handle the project from beginning to end with a single contract. These firms have in-house interior designers and a production team that manages construction, allowing for more collaboration and a smooth progression through each phase of the project.
Standalone interior designers or architects work with you to create plans for a home addition, but they are not involved in the actual completion of the construction.
General contractors implement designs created by interior designers. They work under a separate contract and hire subcontractors to do specific construction tasks.
As the founder of a design-build firm, I'm a big believer in that process. I've found that having the entire team under one roof leads to superior design, enhanced communication, greater efficiency, and better cost control.
The alternative is hiring a designer under one contract and then doing a separate search to find a general contractor to follow the designer's plans. This can drag out the process, and it also creates uncertainty around how the contractor interprets and prices the work drawn up by the designer.
There are two main ways that most homeowners find a remodeler for a home addition: word-of-mouth and searching online.
It's likely that someone in your friend and family network has done a home addition or remodel, and if they were happy with the work, they could give you the contact information for the people they worked with.
You can also find out about local companies by searching online. Reading their website and reviews shouldn't be treated as the end-all, be-all, but it can give you a basic sense of the kind of work that a remodeler has done.
Here's the real challenge. Once you have gathered a few potential candidates, you have to vet them thoroughly. You may be able to get away with using a less reliable company to give your bathroom a facelift, but you should think very carefully about letting a company like that start cutting large holes in your house, which is part of almost every addition.
There are a handful of key characteristics that are common to top-tier home remodelers.
The best remodelers have a strong track record that shows their expertise and commitment to quality craftsmanship. They should be able to show you a portfolio of past work and provide references from prior clients who can vouch for their ability to deliver a project in a timely and cost-efficient manner.
Great remodelers also have excellent communication skills. First and foremost, this means listening. They should ask questions and pay close attention to your answers, allowing them to see your vision and what you hope to get out of a home addition. They should engage with your concerns rather than dismiss them or brush them off.
Open communication also means explaining things clearly and, whenever possible, giving you options and a rundown of the pros and cons of those options.
Top-notch contractors also have finely tuned-processes for project management. For example, our firm assigns a dedicated project manager for each client, and this person not only keeps things on schedule but also facilitates clear lines of communication and timely responses to client questions throughout the project.
After you put together a list of potential contractors, you'll have an opportunity to meet with them, usually during an on-site visit to your home. During that meeting, they can get a closer look at your existing layout and learn about what you hope to accomplish with a home addition.
This meeting is also an opportunity for you to assess whether a contractor is someone that you want to work with and that you trust to do the work to high standards. With an in-person meeting, you can get a sense of their personality and communication style, and you can hear some of their ideas for designing a home addition.
Once a remodeler has had a chance to understand your project, they will offer you a proposal that outlines the scope of the work. If you hire a design-build firm, they may give you an initial estimate of how much the project will cost. Once more of the design choices are nailed down, they provide you with a fixed-price budget that covers all the work required to complete your home addition.
If you decide to hire a standalone interior designer, you'll only get a proposal for their design services. Later, you'll have to do another round of proposals to get a budget for the construction work. If the costs are too high, you may have to go back to the designer or work with the contractor to modify the design plans.
General contractors typically provide a line-item budget. Although that may seem favorable, it can leave you more susceptible to unexpected costs and overages compared to the cost control that comes from a fixed-price contract.
Our firm, Compelling Homes, uses the design-build process to handle home remodels and additions of all shapes and sizes. Over more than 15 years in this business, we've learned that collaboration is the foundation of a great home renovation. We listen attentively and work collaboratively with homeowners, and we are constantly collaborating within our team to ensure that we deliver the best final product to our clients.
We proudly service the Des Moines metro area and would welcome the opportunity to learn about your vision for upgrading your home. You can see examples of our work in our portfolio, read about our design-build process, or just give us a ring to get the ball rolling.