Home Additions

A home addition can be a great way to improve your life while adding possible resale value at the same time. Often the most common additions involve the kitchen or bathroom. These can be a simple and sometimes inexpensive way to add value to your home and meet some family needs along the way. It can be cumbersome and even cause conflict when you and your spouse use the bathroom in shifts. Imagine if the kids had their own rooms, and if you had a guest bathroom for company. Today’s world of working from home has also created a demand for functional home offices. Adding these additions to your Oklahoma City area home would certainly improve the lifestyle and culture within the home.

As we discuss what it takes to add a home addition along with the design thought process, just believe that the possibilities of what one could do are limited only by one’s own imagination and financing opportunities. Do not allow any of that to discourage you from taking that leap to the first step in remodeling. LRH Home Improvements wants to talk to you about your ideas for a home addition. We are ready to make your ideas and needs a reality.

Let’s consider together three basic steps to adding a home addition:

Boundaries: Your property lines are important and need to be considered early in the planning stages. If you have on file a site plan or plot plan of your current property you will need to refer to this before you invest in the design step. This plan shows the location of your current home and how it is positioned on your lot. It also shows building setback restrictions which are important as well. In most cases you cannot build all the way to your boundary. Locating utility or drainage easements are also just as important. If you do not possess a plot or site plan, then you may need to contact a registered surveyor who can assist.
Design: Consulting a professional architect or building consultant when considering a home addition is a smart move. They will assist you as you study your current home and the structural addition that you want to add. Together you will develop a plan that will not only meet your needs but will also blend the look of your current home. A talented and experienced builder should construct your addition in a way that will not make it look like an after-thought or add on to your current home. He should work closely with the architect to achieve this goal while also creating the vision of what you are expecting. You will then be much happier with the final product.
Planning: Working with your building partner, it is now time to create a scope of work and material specification list so that construction can begin. It is always a good idea to make sure that all the items that you are expecting to be done are detailed in a thorough scope of work. It is as simple as describing the home addition and any details that you are wanting. The next step is to make a material specification list. This is a simple document that lists your choice of materials that you want to see within the home addition. It is also a good idea to list first and second choices in material preferences should back orders occur, or you change your mind about a product during construction due to cost. Your experienced builder can assist you with these documents, so you do not have to be a construction expert or have a vast knowledge of building products.

No matter how you approach it, adding a home addition to your home in the Oklahoma City area is expensive. Material costs are on the rise and labor is in high demand. It is human nature to want to know how much the home addition will cost, and then how to reduce that cost and still have the same feature level and footage as originally planned. This is normal, especially when considering the size and complexity of an addition to your home. Unless you are wealthy beyond belief, you will probably make some budget cuts. Be open minded as you begin the construction process.

More often than not a homeowner blows out their home addition with feature levels that are more updated and much nicer than what is in the rest of their home. This creates a feel of an add on addition or transition from one home to another. This is a common occurrence and something that you want to think about when considering your Oklahoma City area home addition. You might find out that you need a complete home renovation along with the room addition. You want to avoid creating a bad vibe between your new space and current space.

If you do not have the budget or desire to update the rest of your home, then you might consider some other options. Flooring is a major focal point. Your home addition will have to have new flooring anyway so consider a quote for replacing the flooring throughout the rest of the home. If that will be too expensive then you can attempt to match the flooring but keep in mind that colors and texture fade and wear over time. It might take a couple of years for the new addition to catch up to your current home and achieve that same look. Also, attempting to match flooring in adjacent rooms can be rather difficult unless the current flooring in your home is newer.

Should you decide to go all in and renovate the rest of your home, LRH Home Improvements can help connect you to an interior designer that will assist with your flooring, wall paint, tile, furniture or any other change you would like to make within your current home. They can also assist with making sure that the home addition matches the rest of the home. This will create a feel of uniformity and leave you satisfied with the end results.

Finding the perfect remodeler for your Oklahoma City area home addition takes time and patience. LRH Home Improvements will understand your expectations and bring it to life. Give us a call to discuss your needs and visualizations.