Additions do’s and don’ts

Additions do’s and don’ts

Don’t add an addition or additions to your home that are so large they will leave very little space for a yard. It’s always bad practice to end up with little or no yard; this is bad for the re-sale of the home. You also could end up regretting not having a large enough yard as your life changes.

Do try something new in your addition. If the rest of the house is one style try a different style in the new part. A lot of people spend a lot of money trying to make an addition blend in so that it looks like the original house. The problem is that most people don’t succeed and it ends up with a noticeable difference between old and new. So try something completely different and make it standout. This allows you to try new things and not be stuck in trying to keep in the mold of the old house.

Don’t add an addition or additions to a house that when completed will cost you more than building a new home. A lot of people get caught up with adding square footage to a home and end up spending so much money on making the new addition fit into the existing one. They don’t realize they are spending more money than a new home would cost them to buy or have custom built. The one nice thing about a new home is that it is new! An addition is an old house with a new addition and unless you spend a lot of money you could end up with something that doesn’t work with the existing home.

Do make sure that your addition is functional. When deciding on the size and shape of your addition try to envision what you want to do with the space. This can help you decide the size and shape of the rooms needed. This process can actually help you save money; a lot of people come to the realization after they figure out all the livable space that they can shrink the square footage of the addition. Less square footage means that you save money and allows you to spend more money on the finishing’s.

Don’t add an addition to an older home that doesn’t have a proper foundation. If you try to put in a proper foundation against an older home that does not have one then you could end up undermining the existing house. This can damage the inside of the existing house and can also be very dangerous for the people doing the work.

Do try new technologies in your addition. Technology in home building is moving so fast these days, the way they are building homes is changing at a rapid pace. Products like ICF (insulated concrete forms), spray foam, structured wiring, in floor heating, solar gain windows are only a couple of the new advances. A lot of these technologies can help lower the energy that your new addition will use helping you save money into the future.

Do add a lot of windows. Adding large windows is one of the ways to make an addition feel bigger and allows a lot of natural light. New windows can be ordered so that they do not allow a room to overheat from the sun in the hottest part of the day. These types of windows allow the light in and keep the heat of the sun out. Bigger windows even if they are only looking out at your backyard will help raise the resale value of your home.

These are just some of the things you should consider when planning your new addition.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.