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St Louis Room Addition Builder
Building a Room Addition can be one of the best investments you can make in your home. Building a room addition, such as a family room addition, or bonus room can add wonderful new living space to your home. However, prior to starting a room addition, a homeowner should first formulate a room addition plan. There are several key factors that should be considered prior to breaking ground.
Developing a room addition plan should include both interior and exterior considerations. With many room addition projects a homeowner can draw up the basic room addition plans, including the floor layout and the physical exterior shape and size of the addition. However, if the roof lines and/or foundation footprints on the existing home or the new room addition are complex, an architect may be required. An architect may also be required to ensure that the finished room addition aesthetically melds well into the existing home. This is a key factor for resale value. If a room addition appears as an afterthought to the home it will be aesthetically unappealing to the neighborhood and to someday prospective home buyers.
When planning a room addition, the permit / inspection process will typically include an overall building permit, as well as electric, plumbing, and insulation permits. In order to complete the building permit process you will need drawings or sketches of the room addition. Besides overall sketches of the room addition with overall dimensions, the drawings will also need to include cross-sectional views showing the framing type and physical sizes of floor joists, roof rafters, and wall framing construction. You will also need a bill of materials and a cost estimate for the construction. The building inspector will use this information to determine if the construction will meet all construction and safety codes. The building inspector also uses the Bill of Material and cost information to assess the amount of the permit cost.
During the building of the room addition, inspections should be completed after the:
· Foundation is poured
· Rough framing completed
· Rough Electric completed
· Rough Plumbing completed
· Insulation completed
· Final Inspection / Occupancy Permit (Electric/Plumbing are complete)
Whether hiring a general contractor or planning to be a do it yourself carpenter and general contractor a budget and time table should be developed prior to starting the room. Not only is it necessary in the permitting process, it will help in identifying long lead items and provide the information necessary for financing the project if required. In addition, if acting as your own general contractor creating the time table will help assist you in determining need dates for sub contractors.
With room addition building plans and permits secured, as well as a solid Bill of materials and a timetable completed, a homeowner can begin the room addition project with a high likelihood of a smooth and successful home building project.
Although a room addition project may seem somewhat insignificant than building a new home, they are nearly identical in complexity. In many respects, building a room addition requires far greater skill. Not only do you have to make sure the room addition matches the existing home, that may be out of square and not level, but the workers must work around you and your family.
When building a new home, you simply don't have to match anything and the workers don't have to deal with people in bathrobes each morning. Since the projects are so much alike, I would do exactly what you need to do when building new.
You must determine what you can afford. Fortunately, interest rates are very low right now. This works in your favor as you can borrow more money. Visit with your banker, savings and loan or credit union and get pre-qualified. They will look at your existing finances and tell you how much you can borrow.
After you leave the bank, visit your local zoning office. Take with you several photos of your house taken from all angles. In addition, make a quick sketch showing your lot and where your house sits on your lot. Use a tape measure to determine how far away the front, side and rear walls of your home are away from the respective property lines. With your photos and sketch, the local zoning officials should be able to tell you the maximum-sized room addition you can build within the current zoning laws. If you need to build a larger addition, you can sometimes file an appeal with the zoning board. If you can prove practical difficulty or a significant hardship, you may be granted a variance.
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