Home Remodeling
Ideas for a Second-Floor Home Addition
If you want to build a second-floor addition to your home but you are not exactly sure what you want to build, there are several creative ways to turn that elevated space into a relaxing or multipurpose addition that takes advantage of new technologies, better views and open skies.
Multipurpose Room with Retractable Roof
If you want to build a second-floor addition that is versatile and simply different, look into retractable roofs. Depending on size and materials, retractable roofs can run from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars.
But retractable roofs also can save you money because you can use one room as an office, sun room, observatory and gym, based on your mood and changing requirements. In his article “Retractable Roofs for Your Home?,” Marcus Pickett writes: “Polycarbonate (PC) sheets offer incredible advantages when applied to retractable roofs:
Their light weight allows for easier mobile assembly, their UV resistance allows you to enjoy the sun without frying your skin in 10 minutes, their insulating value works for all climates, and they have comparable impact and fire-resistance to other forms of roofing.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Home Addition Tips
The main home-addition tip is to know what you want. Go into a home-addition project without a clear plan and you end up building on-the-fly, and that gets expensive and troubling.
Follow these tips on doing thorough research and planning in the early stages so you understand exactly what you are getting into and what the rewards will be.
Value
Check with local Realtors and appraisers to find out if the size and style of home addition you are considering makes good economic sense. They will be able to advise you about home values nearby, the market value of your home and how the addition will add to the value.
In some cases you may find out the cost of the addition will not raise the home’s value significantly enough to justify it.
This is not as important of a consideration if you just want the addition to increase the livability of the home for yourself. In this case, make a pros-and-cons list to help you visualize the positives and negatives you will get from the addition, compared to its cost.
Costs
Costs go hand-in-hand with value since it is possible to spend so much on an addition that you cannot recoup the cost when you sell. Check with local builders to find out what a typical square-foot cost is for the kind of addition you want. Read the rest of this entry »