Why Add a Second Level To Your Home
Adding a second level to your home is indeed quite an undertaking, and it can seem overwhelming to some. In this article, we’ll take the time to explain why building a second story can often be your best option when you need to expand your home.
Building Up Can Be Less Expensive Than Building Out
If you’re working on a tight budget, often building up instead of out on the first floor is your most economical choice. A large addition to the first floor, such as 3 or 4 rooms, means quite a bit of new foundation will have to be laid, and foundation laying can be one of the most expensive aspects of remodeling. On the other hand, if you build these additional rooms into a second level to your home, you’d be using the existing foundation instead of expanding it. This can save you a lot of money. Of course, you’ll need to first check to ensure your existing foundation can support the weight of a new second level.
In addition to saving money on the foundation, adding a second level can also spare you a sizable amount of money on roof work. By using a crane to raise the current roof off of your home where necessary, you can then build the new second level, and then reinstall the existing roof over the new second level addition to your home when it is complete. Crane rental is not cheap, but constructing an entire new roof is much more expensive than the bill you’ll pay to rent a crane.
Lastly, second level rooms are more conducive to spreading out interior completions over time. In just days, you can up to double the square feet of your home, and pay for only that. Then, over time as your budget allows, you can paint, furnish and do all other designing you’d like. Having unfinished rooms upstairs are less of an eyesore than having whole unfinished sections of your home’s first floor. Unfinished second story rooms are by nature tucked away and hidden from view. Additionally, depending on what they’re going to be used for, upstairs rooms don’t necessarily have to be as extensively furnished and decorated as downstairs rooms, so you may be able to save money here as well.
Stay in the Home and Neighborhood You Love
If your family has outgrown your home and there is no room to expanding outwards, you’ll either have to move or expand upwards. So if you love your neighborhood, the schools, the commute, the friends, etc., a second level addition to your home may be your only option to avoid moving away from the perfect setting for you and your family.
Then of course there are the intangible benefits of remodeling to stay in your home. These may not be able to be assigned a monetary value, but homes are filled with memories – memories of your children learning to ride a bike or playing in the sprinkler, teaching your son how to change a tire in the driveway, keeping the family garden and tons of other personal experiences that you can stay close to by remaining in your current home. And if you live in a close knit community, you may like that fact that everyone in the neighborhood knows each other, and that local business owners know you by name.
A second addition to your home can help you meet your needs for expansion while keeping all of these benefits of your current home and neighborhood.
Increase Your Net Worth
A second level home addition could serve as an apartment that you rent out. You can even create stairs on the outside of your home leading up to the second level, providing its own private entrance.
A nice second story also adds to the value on your home because of both the sheer space addition and the curbside appeal.
If you live in an older neighborhood or one that is more conveniently located, doubling the size of your home can increase its value much faster than a home in a newer or less convenient part of town. Sometimes, doubling your home’s size can even triple its value.
If you’re considering moving to a larger home, you may find it difficult to find a neighborhood and home that suits both your preferences and your budget, especially in growing areas. In this case staying in your current home and building up could literally be your only option financially.
More Benefits of a New Second Story
If you have green thumb, or if you’ve invested into outdoor amenities to your home, you may not want to lose them by expanding your first floor. Or maybe you just don’t want to lose yard space for the kids to play in, a shade tree, separation from neighbors or anything else. If this is you, then building a second story is your best option when faced with the need to expand your home.
Another benefit of building a second story are the structural and design options. You could extend the height of first floor walls, raise the first floor ceiling, or tear down first floor walls to make more space from bedrooms that are being moved upstairs.
Click HERE for some important things to consider when adding a second story to your home.
Reliant Construction has decades of experience in home remodeling. Contact us to get advice or a quote on your second story home addition.