Addition Input

[MattRMagnum]

Admins, forgive me: this is actually related to my house, not my garage, but the folks here are too knowledgeable for me to not also ask here.

I'm wanting to add 350-400sqft onto my house, in the form of a new master suite. I don't have floor plans yet, but the architect I've been talking to said that adding it would cost at least $100k, and would likely be significantly more than that. I was expecting more along the lines of $65-80k. The house is a 70's rambler, and the neighborhood isn't fancy. Tacking on an addition that's either super modern or 'premium' grade construction would look massively out of place, and I don't know if my cost expectation is unrealistic, or I'm working with an architect used to building fancier stuff than I am looking to have built.

When you've gone to build, where did you start? Do you think I should look for a new architect, and start over, or skip trying to hire an architect, and go straight to a GC?

I think the big question, cost-wise, is what would be done with the roof, since the addition would be done next to another room that sticks out (the house is "T" shaped, and this will turn it into kind of a thick "L").

 

[MushCreek]

It's impossible to tell without seeing what you're dealing with, and a host of other questions. What kind of foundation? What level of trim? Does it include a bathroom? If so, how long/difficult are the plumbing runs? Whenever someone asks "How much?", the answer is usually between $50 and $500 per square foot. I spent about $100K building my entire 1400 sq ft house with a full basement, but I did 95% of the work myself, and I'm in a very low-priced part of the country.

I'm not sure that the architect is the best person to quote prices. You'll get a more accurate answer from a GC who does similar projects, at the trim level you expect. There's a huge gap between generic tract-home construction with cheap windows, siding, roofing, carpet, and low-end bathroom fixtures and fully custom construction with the best of everything. I've seen people drop $100K on a bathroom.

 

[Dogmeat]

Such a wild pondering question with more info missing than not....not a very concise
statement...more like a "How many pancakes can you stack on a doghouse on a rainy afternoon in the desert in the winter?"

 

[Jinks]

Listen to your architect. He's advising you on the "probable" cost. He's not making money from the build. You can negotiate the quality of materials & the level of build to influence his plans, but the builder you hire will determine the cost of the actual build.

When I added the second story to my home the first thing one of the builders did was give me a ballpark estimate of the cost. His reason was that if I expected it to cost $60K to $80K he wanted me to know before he wasted time estimating that it would be considerably more. A wise use of his time. People in construction constantly find that others have no idea of the cost.

 

[TRWham]

This project is right in our wheelhouse, but we are on the wrong side of the country and fully booked. Based on my experience:

1. The architect is right about project cost. The lowest cost addition we have done in the last few years was just over $100,000 for about the same size. You cannot apply new home building rules of thumb for cost to additions or remodeling. The cost per square foot is much higher for smaller projects.

2. No competent GC will bid a major project without a good scope of work. Just saying you want 400 square feet added at this location is not going to be enough so you need to be prepared to spend some money before any actual construction is done. You could work with a design-build contractor who will still use a designer/architect but the GC can keep them under control. We frequently do design build agreements for planning purposes. These typically run $2,500 to $4,500 and include surveys and plans necessary to get permits. You own the plans and are free to take them anywhere you want to get it built, but our time is not wasted planning a project that will never proceed.

3. You are right to be concerned about the roof as that is a common problem with additions that are not a simple ell or an extension of an existing roof. Maybe a shed roof coming off one of the ridges and tying into the other roof would work, but it's hard to say without more information. You might very well end up reframing your existing roof.

 

[ddurrett896]

You can do it for $65K all day if you do most of it yourself. $100K or $250/sqft seems excessive, but the material and labor market is on fire right now.

Are you able to do any work yourself? Best bet is to have someone build you a dried in addition, then you do the remaining work (electrical, insulation, sheet rock, flooring, etc.) yourself.

 

[yeldogt]

You can do it for $65K all day if you do most of it yourself. $100K or $250/sqft seems excessive, but the material and labor market is on fire right now.

Are you able to do any work yourself? Best bet is to have someone build you a dried in addition, then you do the remaining work (electrical, insulation, sheet rock, flooring, etc.) yourself.

$250 is cheap in many if not most .... that's a nice garage in my area. Small is always more $$ per SF .... as the basic costs are the same.

OP -- building better is not all that more expensive. Many of the basic costs is in the main structure ....

 

[firebirdparts]

This is just my personality, but I started with having an idea of how to blend what the house already is with what I want. Understanding the way the house is supported and how the roof is supported is pretty important to making the addition compatible with the structure. Our house is a cape cod, and visually they are just really hard to expand. I had to be careful. I am the kind of person that can bend my wants to fit the existing wood.

Now, honestly, this is 100% optional. People tear houses down all the time. Money makes it however you like it.

 

[Innovate1]

A new master suite can be expensive. Lots of plumbing and fixture costs. A small job is always more per sq ft than a large job. And connecting to whats already there complicates things. What your are being told is right - you can save a lot doing it yourself if the AHJ and your SO will be ok with it. That's part of the reason I recently built a new detached garage where I could do everything myself (even though I hired out all the big stuff) over a nearby area where the AHJ won't let the homeowner do that much. And building costs are in general up right now because there is lots of activity.

 

[MattRMagnum]

Such a wild pondering question with more info missing than not....not a very concise
statement...more like a "How many pancakes can you stack on a doghouse on a rainy afternoon in the desert in the winter?"

Well, that was part of what made me post, honestly. I've looked into having garages built before, but talking about having a house addition done is a whole different ballgame. I am stacking pancakes in the desert during the winter. I'm just trying to find the right questions to ask to know the way forward. It's a matter of trying to balance "provide enough information to have people understand what I'm saying" and "don't post my name/address on the internet."

Listen to your architect. He's advising you on the "probable" cost. He's not making money from the build. You can negotiate the quality of materials & the level of build to influence his plans, but the builder you hire will determine the cost of the actual build.

She actually is. While they aren't technically a design/build shop, they do have several contractors she said they'd refer me to, and pretty thoroughly hinted that they don't want to (and/or won't) work with anyone else. I'm now getting opinions from other architects. The guy who came by today thinks that $75k-85k is far more likely what I'd be looking at than $100k+.

A new master suite can be expensive. Lots of plumbing and fixture costs. A small job is always more per sq ft than a large job. And connecting to whats already there complicates things. What your are being told is right - you can save a lot doing it yourself if the AHJ and your SO will be ok with it. That's part of the reason I recently built a new detached garage where I could do everything myself (even though I hired out all the big stuff) over a nearby area where the AHJ won't let the homeowner do that much. And building costs are in general up right now because there is lots of activity.

I don't expect it to be cheap, but I didn't expect it to be that high.

While I do have most of the skills necessary to do it, I lack the time/energy/health. Truthfully, I've been suggesting moving instead, but she's adamant we won't (this house is in a very convenient location, and anything like it we would buy now would be either further from friends/family, or $200k+ more than I paid for this place).