Expanding Your Home with a Room Addition

NEW YORK – No one enjoys being in cramped quarters. When homeowners feel their walls are closing in on them, many choose to build space via a room addition.

Room addition projects are extensive and expensive undertakings, with the home renovation experts at Angi estimating the average add-on costs $48,000. But Angi estimates such projects can cost as much as $72,600 or even more depending on the size of the space and the features chosen.

The financial commitment when adding a room is significant, but homeowners and residents also will need to prepare for a potentially lengthy disruption to their daily routines. Various online resources, including Angi, suggest room addition projects typically take around three to four months.

With so much at stake, homeowners who think they might benefit from a room addition can look for various signs to help them determine if such a project is right for them.

• Increasingly cluttered spaces: Cramped quarters without much space for people are perhaps the most notable sign that residents can benefit from some additional space in a home. Cluttered spaces suggest homeowners may have run out of room for their stuff, and a custom addition can provide that extra room while contributing to a more calming ambiance in common spaces that may no longer be overwhelmed by papers, toys and other items that can quickly take over a home that lacks space.
• Lifestyle hurdles: Millions of homeowners like to entertain friends and family, and that's more manageable for some than it is for others. If interior or exterior spaces do not accommodate hosting, a room addition that expands an existing kitchen or living room might be the ideal renovation project.
• Functionally challenged: A home that no longer has enough space to meet your needs is another sign a room addition might be in order. This very issue emerged for millions of professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained a challenge ever since. Indeed, an increase in days spent working remotely has left many homeowners grateful to work from home but desirous of a designated remote workspace. A room addition to accommodate a home office can be just what remote workers need to restore fully functional status to their homes.
• Cost: While the sticker price of a home addition may raise an eyebrow, the project is almost certain to prove more cost-effective than moving. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the average sale price of a home in the United States reached $503,800 in January.

While that marked a roughly $16,000 decrease from a year earlier, it's still a high figure that many homeowners aren't willing to pay.

A cost comparison detailing the price to move versus the price to build an addition may indicate that the latter option is a homeowner's best bet.

What to expect

According to The Spruce, no home improvement project is more complicated or expensive than building an addition.

The National Association of Realtors® offers a different cost spectrum, reporting that an addition can cost between $90,000 and $270,000, depending on the size and intended purpose of the room.

An addition structurally changes a home, which requires the work of professionals whether homeowners plan to build upwards or outwards.

With so much to ponder when considering a home addition, here's a look at what homeowners can expect of the process.

• Design and planning: Homeowners must determine the purpose behind the addition and how it will integrate with the existing home. A bedroom design likely will be different from a garage addition or family game room.
• Hiring: An addition changes the footprint of a home. Homeowners will require professional contractors and structural engineers/architects to properly design the addition and ensure that it will not compromise the existing structure. Detailed architectural plans will be drawn up considering the layout, size and integration with the existing structure. The home may require a new property survey as well.
• Code compliance: The project will have to meet with local zoning regulations, building codes and homeowners association rules.
• Timing: Adding a room is a major overhaul of a space. It may require months of a home being in upheaval. If the renovations are particularly extensive, homeowners may need to temporarily move out of the space. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC must be considered, and drywall and finishing the interior are some of the last steps to make the room habitable.
• Demolition: Adding a room may involve taking down walls or modifying existing spaces, necessitating hiring a dumpster to remove debris. This is an added consideration and expense.

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