Adding a second story addition

[EilonwyWanderer]

Yeah we have a second floor that we'd like to just raise up (I think it was an attic at one point and my husband constantly hits his head and the ceilings are too low for bunk beds or ceiling fans) and I talked to a few contractors who were basically like "You might as well tear down and rebuild." Which obviously wasn't the answer I wanted but with costs so high...yeah

 

[jo-jo]

I want to say I'm shocked, but I was just recently talking to my husband's cousin who was floating the idea of pushing out a wall on their 2nd story to slighly (I think by maybe 250sq ft) add some space that extended over their garage so they could make their kids bathroom a little bigger and they wanted just shy of $200k to do it; my jaw dropped. I know it's been a while since we did ours but, holy moly.

One of my grand plans is taking the dining room, bump out the wall about 10 ft, make a studio apt for me and let DS have rest of house. Maybe I should buy a large shed and add port-a-potty.

 

[mefordis]

A friend of mine said if I wait costs should go down because he anticipates an extreme slow down of spending. However, if things get that bad, who is to say they won't get bad for us as well? We are getting 2 other estimates but I don't think they are going to be much better, and could be even higher. I need to find 100k somewhere.

 

[longboard55]

The problem is those home improvement TV shows. The costs they quote are totally unrealistic. Just the windows will cost more than the entire budget they give

 

[tvguy]

The problem is those home improvement TV shows. The costs they quote are totally unrealistic. Just the windows will cost more than the entire budget they give

I don't know, if you want to live in Laurel, Mississippi, those costs are spot on. But you have to want to live in Laurel, Mississippi.
Window costs do baffle me. They have soared since I remodeled 9 years ago. I replaced a few single pane windows with dual pane and a standard 60" x 44" vinyl window made my Milgard with a life time warranty was $500 installed. Now that window is about $2,500

 

[_19disnA]

The cost of adding a second story will depend on where you live as well as the existing home you are proposing to do the add on. Is the lot large enough or will the finished home seem out of place with homes in your neighborhood? Having a large home on a small lot or being the biggest home on the block probably does nothing for resale. I would first start with a contractor who can do some sort of assessment and tell you if this is even feasible as well as what the building codes are in your area. Structural engineers will have to determine if the existing home will be able to support the added weight or be able to give you an idea of how much it would cost to beef up the foundation.

If you add a second story, I would suspect you will have to move out during construction. The cost to rent/live elsewhere will be part of the total cost you would end up paying. Likely that will take several months and I don't know what all would be involved in preventing rain from damaging existing drywall once they remove the existing roof or how much of that would also need to be redone.

The total costs and added complications might be such that moving to another home and/or building a new house elsewhere might be more cost effective.

 

[mefordis]

We got our first ballpark estimate from a contractor. $362k. Yikes. That probably means 400k, when all is said and done, because...

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS HAVE NOT BEEN INCLUDED​

There is no allowance for permits included.

All steel and engineered beams will be priced out upon final drawings.

Home owner to purchase all appliances, plumbing fixtures, shower doors, tile, cabinet pulls and all door knobs.

There is no driveway paving. Landscaping, plants, sod, and sprinkler system will be done by other.

There is no drywell allowance included.

An on-site inspection will need to be done by my HVAC contractor to confirm exact sizing.

There are no walk-in closet shelves included.