Proper Planning for a Home Addition

You’ve decided that you need some extra square footage in your home. A home addition is the best way to do that. There is a lot of planning involved in building an addition to your home. You want to be sure that everything is in order before you get started. Here’s some advice to properly plan for your home addition.

 

How Far Should I Plan in Advance?

You should begin your planning a minimum of 6 weeks before you want the project to start. A major reason for this is the various permits that are involved with building a home addition, By allowing this much time before the start of the project, you have all your preparations in place before construction actually begins. Make sure that your project can be permitted in time for the project to start.

Also, ensure that the required building materials will arrive on schedule for when they need to be used. Any material delivery delays can become costly headaches later, especially if they are at critical junctures in the project. Therefore, it’s good to have everything ready as you need it. Otherwise, you may need to delay the start of the project so that what you need will be available when it’s necessary.

 

What Should I Check With the Town Before Beginning the Addition?

Make sure that your project can be built the way you were intending at all before bringing out the hammers! Every city and town has different building codes and laws about what needs to be permitted in residential areas. Each municipality is different in what needs to be permitted. Sometimes, they have very specific rules on what they will even allow you to build on your property.

If something is not how the city or town likes it, you may be able to get a variance if the terms are within reason. But variances can take time to process and it’s very possible for them to be denied. You want to try and avoid these if at all possible. A good local contractor will be able to find out what might need a variance in advance.

You will also want to check on town zoning laws, especially with things like septic. It’s important to know the potential setbacks that may occur with permitting your project, especially if you require a variance with what you are trying to build with your addition. You may discover that you can’t build a new structure within a certain distance from your property line. You also want to discuss the addition project with your neighbors in case they may end up having issues with it being built. The last thing you want is someone next door messing up your project as it’s already in progress!

 

Have a Detailed Design-Build Plan

Once you have a good idea what you’ll be able to afford to build within the local building codes and zoning laws, it’s time to draw out the project as in much detail as possible. The more specific you are in your plan, the less likely that there will be mix-ups. The advantage of choosing a design-build contractor specifically is to make sure the project is drawn out as part of the contract. This way, you have peace of mind in knowing that you, the design team, and the contractor are all on the same page. You want a design-build team that under promises and over delivers, and keeps your mind off of all of the potential downfalls of a project. Then, you can focus on the eventual success of your beautiful new home addition.