Home Improvement Empire

If you find yourself and your family in need of additional space, you might want to consider adding a second story to your home. Sometimes it makes more sense to grow upward rather than outward. There are a number of considerations that should be part of your decision about whether to add a room to the side or the back of your house or to add a second story to your home.

The Benefits of Adding a Second Story to Your Home

One benefit of “growing upward” is that you don’t have to move to acquire additional space. If you like the location of your home, especially if your property has enhancing advantages, adding a second story is a very popular way to obtain the additional space without losing the neighborhood features you love. Enhancing advantages might include a view of water or a view of mountains; it might be the quality of the local schools or proximity to community amenities; it might be some family history that attaches to the house; or it might just be in the “in” area.

Another benefit of adding a second story to your home is that it provides the opportunity to modernize your home or to “lighten and brighten” by opening some spaces, adding windows, achieving higher ceilings, and the like. The addition of a second story on a ranch home can radically change the exterior appearance of the home.

Third, adding a second story provides unlimited opportunity to design the interior space of the second floor to meet your specific needs. For example, if you already have lots of windows in the house, you might want a darker space that can become a home theater. If you have a musician in the family, you might want to soundproof one of the rooms. If there is a photographer, you can design a space specifically for the needs of a darkroom. If you are adding bedrooms for your children, you might want to connect the bedrooms with a study. The possibilities are endless!

Fourth, adding a second story provides the chance to make some changes to the first floor and relatively lower additional cost. Do you love spiral staircases? When the roof comes off, you can use one to provide access to the second floor. It will also add interest to the first floor.

Some popular features

The potential for adding the features you want or need in this new space are endless. Here is a list of some of the features that are very popular today.

• A home theater room – Build in your HD Wide Screen television, add the kind of comfortable seating your family likes, add a small kitchenette for cold drinks and popcorn, and mount your Surroundsound speakers.

• A hobby or craft room – If you pursue a hobby or you are a crafter, even a seamstress, you might want a space where you can leave your work out and close the door to hide your mid-project mess.

• A play room for the kids – You can even build in cabinets and shelves for toys, games, etc.

• Extra bedrooms – One of the most common reasons for adding a second floor is to have more bedroom space and an additional bathroom.

• A teen suite or an in-law suite – There comes a time when teens want their own space. Your new second story is the perfect place to create a special suite of rooms (sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom) just for them. You can also create a spacious and comfortable in-law suite. Adding a small kitchen would create an entire apartment for parents or in-laws.

What about the cost?

You will probably find it more expensive to add a second story than to add a room or two on the ground floor. Adding to the ground floor is far less complicated and requires less modification to the existing structure. However, you probably will not be able to add as much space by adding a ground floor room. Further, the size of your lot and the local “setback” requirements may prohibit an addition of the size you need.

Is this a do-it-yourself project?

The short answer is that if you are not an architect, a contractor, a builder, or a structural engineer, it is probably NOT something to try to do yourself. Here are a few of the considerations:

• Do you know the local zoning, construction, and land use and elevation specifications?

• Do you know how to design a second story that will look like it is a natural part of the house and fits in with the neighborhood?

• Are you competent to assess the ability of the footings, the exterior walls and the interior supports to handle the additional weight?

• Do you know how and where to position the stairs that will provide access to the second floor? Do you know how to do this in a way that enhances the first floor?

• Is the foundation strong enough to carry the extra weight?

• Are you competent to do the plumbing work and connect to the existing plumbing?

• Are you competent to install electrical wiring and fixtures safely? And do you know whether you need a new main line and breaker box?

• If you want to act as your own contractor and hire people to do the things you don’t know how to do, here are some questions to ask:

1. Do you have the time to devote to micro-managing this project?

2. Do you know how to keep each step of the process on schedule so you are not paying people to stand around waiting to be able to do their part of the job?

3. Do you know what kinds of permits and inspections are required by your municipality?

4. Do you have the available time to spend investigating the people you will need to hire to each type of work?

These are just some of the questions you will need to ask. The first step in the decision, however, will be to check on the building and zoning codes for your area. Before you talk to an architect or a contractor, you will want to know what you can or cannot do. From there, the sky is the limit – perhaps literally!

When you think of home remodeling, you probably think of extending a room or changing cabinets in a kitchen or modernizing an older home. Yet there is a whole new market of people needing home renovations – the elderly.

Renovations for the Elderly:

According to a recent CNN report, home renovations for the elderly are on the rise. These types of renovations are the fastest-growing segment of the remodeling industry, said James Lapides of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). NAHB’s recent study concluded that 75 percent of remodeling companies have seen an increase in requests for so-called “aging-in-place” work.

The “Certified Aging in Place” Specialist program, offered by the NAHB Remodelers Council to teach professionals how to modify homes for older adults, has increased in enrollment, according to Lapides. Representatives of NAHB and the AARP created the program in 2002. Over 1,000 participants have learned building techniques and structural awareness for accommodating physical needs. (CNN, “Builders: Home Renovations for Elderly on the Rise”, by Grace Wong)

Statistics Show Elderly Want to Stay in Their Homes:

According to the AARP, 83% of people over 45 own their own homes. A 2003 AARP survey, “These Four Walls,” sampled this group and found that 75% expect to stay there for the rest of their lives. 51% envision making changes so that can happen.

In addition, The National Association of Home Builders conducted a survey of remodelers and learned that:

• 75% reported getting more requests for “aging in place” projects

• 60% had done “aging in place” projects. Of those:

• 43% were for customers aged 45 to 54

• 76% were for customers aged 55 to 64

• 67% were for customers 65 and older

Remodelers reported that clients wanted aging-in-place remodeling because:

• 75% were planning for future needs

• 53% were living with older parents

• 46% had acute, age-related disabilities

• 23% had acute disabilities unrelated to aging

(realestate.msn.com, “Elegant Remodels Allow ‘Aging in Place’”, by Marilyn Lewis)

A Remodeling Project:

Some families are bringing older relatives to live with them and extending a part of the house to accommodate that change. Others are making modifications for physical reasons, such as widening doorways for wheelchairs, lowering bathtub walls and adding support bars. Other modifications simply include updating an older home because of wear and tear. However, the going trend is to do it all with style.

An example of an accommodating remodeling project occurred in a California backyard. A playhouse was rebuilt to become a livable apartment for one family’s 70 year-old father with Paget’s disease. Building aspects of the apartment include a walk-in shower with no obstructing ledge at the entrance, two-inch-square commercial nonskid tile, lever handles instead of doorknobs and an anti-scald device to keep water temperature even. (realestate.msn.com, “Elegant Remodels Allow ‘Aging in Place’”, by Marilyn Lewis)

Suggestions for Remodeling:

If you are contemplating a remodeling project, keep the future in mind. You can make simple changes now for what may be needed many years in the future. Sam Clark, a builder and author of “The Real Goods Independent Builder: Designing & Building a House Your Own Way” and “Remodeling a Kitchen”, provides the following suggestions for changes to make to your home to accommodate the physical bodily changes that occur over time:

• Remodel your home so that you can live on the ground level if necessary.

• Widen doorways to accommodate wheelchairs.

• Plan the front entry to be as level with the ground as local building codes allow. Eliminate stairs with sloping sidewalks.

• Try to think way ahead. For example, in a bathroom remodel, install reinforcement for grab bars.

• Plan for a lot of storage within the “optimal reach zone” – the space between 20 inches and 44 inches above the floor to a depth of 20 inches away from your body.

• Use drawers instead of cupboards where possible.

• Install lever handles throughout the house.

• Use hard flooring or choose an attractive, low-pile commercial carpet.

• Place electric outlets higher than usual and switches lower.

• Install a shelf outside the front door so you can put down packages while searching for keys.

Additional tips from the Home Remodelers in New Jersey (www.homeremodelersgroup.com) further suggests vinyl siding. Vinyl siding is made to look like real wood and it never needs painting, preventing any hazardous maintenance or painting. Vinyl windows are also suggested; they are easy to clean and energy efficient.

For additional remodeling articles, visit http://www.homeremodelersgroup.com/?source=articles