Anyone have home addition/remodel tips?

[Poohgirl]

I am about to embark on a very scary journey....building a garage addition which will include a family room/mastersuite. I am very excited at the prospect but terrified at the same time. I will be meeting with a building designer to draw up the plans shortly. I have a basic wish list and style. Any of you that have been there done that, any suggestions, things you would or wouldn't do again?

 

[Lorix2]

Well, I have some advice for you from recent experience I'd like to share with you.

1. Middle of the road or lowest price isn't always the best way to go.

2. Be the builders employer, don't try to be a buddy.

3. If you make "punch lists" for the builder, be sure they are taken care to you're satisfaction before any more payments are made to them.

4. If something doesn't look structurally sound, bring it to the town inspector's attention. Ours unintentionally overlooked a few things we had to point out to him and he agreed needed to be addressed.

5. (most important) Be sure to obtain a Certificate of Liability from their insurance company before you let them work on you're property.

Keep mind too that here in NH, builders DO NOT have to be licensed and if they give you plans to submit to the city, they should be stamped by a licensed engineer. The town would tell you that anyway.

In a nutshell, we hired a middle priced quote contractor who framed in a 2nd floor for us and cut corners every where he could...windows weren't nailed and wrong size installed, joyces weren't nailed in sufficiently, nails completely missing the studs using a nailgun, rows of them, lack of an LVL beam to support roof ridge for vaulted ceiling, stairway didn't meet code, and tons more which I photographed. The stamp on the plans we paid for was bogus and I "set him up" with the city and they pointed out all the problems and they have banned him from obtaining a permit in our city. This was final payment day and he did not pass inspection with the building dept and I kept my money. The bogus stamp is a misdeamenor and would not reveal the name of the engineer I supposedly paid through him. He has to deal with that now, but he's still out there building...

I filed a claim with his insurance company a year later because while taking walls down downstairs to increase living space (which was accounted for on the building plans and that my DH would do), we realized he didn't support the 2nd floor sufficiently and we were at risk for a collapse over time. His insurance came out and took notes, photos, measurements, etc. and paid us a month later. It took my DH months to resupport all the walls while working his day job too and we're just ready to put the hardwood floor down this weekend.

PM or email me for his name and company name if you'd like. He's not far from you in Hudson.

Best of luck to you and hope everything works out fine.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

Get the best you can afford and think about quality of materials. You want this to be there for a long time. Don't skimp. You don't want to be looking at it in 5 years saying, "We shoulda.." And I would stay away from trendy finishes and fixtures, since you don't want it to look dated in a few years.

Have fun, and keep the checkbook open!!!!!!!!

 

[golfgal]

Make it bigger then you think you need and plan on spending at least 10% more then you think you will spend.

 

[crs7568]

My husband and I have a formula we use on all home renovations. It is called the 3, 2, 1/2 formula:
It will take three times as long as you anticipated, cost twice as much money as you expected, and look half as good as you hoped!

Seriously though, good luck with the renovations.

 

[Mercy]

My tip would be to make sure you get what you want, don't skimp. Remember you're only going to do this once. Like someone else said, you don't want to say down the road..."we should've done..."

But my best tip is this message board... When we were remodeling our kitchen I spent tons of time on the Kitchen's board here. This one's for Remodeling (in general).
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/remodel/

 

[missypie]

Check with the city on what can be built and where. We had these dreams of a huge family room - but it had to be three feet shorter than we wanted because of the city set back requirements. We thought we could just line up the back line with all of our neighbors...but it turns out that those homes were all in violation of the set back! We tried to get a variance (holding up the project for a few months) but it was denied.

While you don't want to give your contractor a blank check, when he says "that would be expensive" to an idea you have, ask HOW MUCH. We had some tall kitchen cabinets where we wanted the shelves to roll out. The contractor said that the hardware was "very expensive"...yes, I guess $30 for a pull out shelf is "very expensive" compared to pennies for the normal hardware...but we were certainly willing to spend the $30 to have the pull out shelves!

Don't skimp on electricity. Our electrician tied everything together instead of putting in more (of whatever-I don't speak "electricty"). There is not enough power - we cannot have all of the lights in the first floor of the house on at once. (You think you never need to, but wait till you have a party!)

Good luck!

 

[Poohgirl]

Thank you all for the good advice. But your scaring me to death!!! Ok I guess Ill just budget in an additional 10% off the top...

Lorix2.. I knew it was important for the builder to HAVE insurance, but your post just proves HOW important!!!

Mercy ... Thanks for the link I'll be sure to check it out!

I do really want to "get it right" the first go round. That's what's got me so worried. Im playing 10 different layouts in my head trying to figure what will work but, Im sure the building designer will straighten me out on that.

and yes...the checkbook is open, wide...but I will eventually have to put two children through college...

 

[Poohgirl]

Don't skimp on electricity. Our electrician tied everything together instead of putting in more (of whatever-I don't speak "electricty"). There is not enough power - we cannot have all of the lights in the first floor of the house on at once. (You think you never need to, but wait till you have a party!)

Good luck!

Very good points, thank you! Electricity...this is the one area I WIN!!!! My dad is a master electrician. Lights and outlets galore!

 

[KelNottAt]

We're halfway through a garage addition/expansion project right now. We have really lucked out and have a great contractor. We were 2 weeks ahead of schedule and $3,000 under budget at the end of March. Then his wife delivered their second child...the nerve of her. We're still under budget, but have fallen behind on the schedule.

Anyway, what has made our project so satisfying is the GC's no-nonsense billing method. He gives us all the originals of his subs' invoices and then just tacks on 18%. We interviewed 5 other GCs and he's the only one who bills this way. All the others estimated our project at $225,000+ and they wouldn't reveal one bit of their costs. Jack's estimate was $165K, and like I said, he's been right-on so far.

Another key to our success (so far, knock on wood, don't jinx us) is that we used an architect from the very beginning. Other than the obvious design and spec role, she does and excellent job of being the "bad guy" on construction stuff. (There really haven't been any construction issues, but she's can definitely spot stuff that we can't.) LVLs v. steel beams, 8.125" risers on the stairs v. 7.5", etc., etc.

Our project involves a complete demolition of the "old" 2-car garage. In its place, we're putting a new private entrance that leads up to DH's new home office. So, essentially, the new office is as large as a 3-car garage. The office has DH private space plus a "public" area for meeting clients, editing video, kitchenette, full bath, and lunch table area. Oh, and I get an 11 x 13 space on the ground level for a new laundry/mud room.

I've put a couple pictures in this album. The "before" shot was Jan 21. The other was March 30. We hope to have use and occupancy by Mother's Day.

Album: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CbN2rhuzasJo&notag=1

As for any other tips, I have to agree with what everyone else has already said. I can't think of anything else, but will post if something comes to me.

 

[Brianne]

I definitely agree with the tacking on of at least an extra 10%---that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of this thread. We've always managed to stay pretty close to budget but it's tough to stay ON budget! Something always happens.

Good luck!

 

[Poohgirl]

We're halfway through a garage addition/expansion project right now. We have really lucked out and have a great contractor. We were 2 weeks ahead of schedule and $3,000 under budget at the end of March. Then his wife delivered their second child...the nerve of her. We're still under budget, but have fallen behind on the schedule.

Anyway, what has made our project so satisfying is the GC's no-nonsense billing method. He gives us all the originals of his subs' invoices and then just tacks on 18%. We interviewed 5 other GCs and he's the only one who bills this way. All the others estimated our project at $225,000+ and they wouldn't reveal one bit of their costs. Jack's estimate was $165K, and like I said, he's been right-on so far.

Another key to our success (so far, knock on wood, don't jinx us) is that we used an architect from the very beginning. Other than the obvious design and spec role, she does and excellent job of being the "bad guy" on construction stuff. (There really haven't been any construction issues, but she's can definitely spot stuff that we can't.) LVLs v. steel beams, 8.125" risers on the stairs v. 7.5", etc., etc.

Our project involves a complete demolition of the "old" 2-car garage. In its place, we're putting a new private entrance that leads up to DH's new home office. So, essentially, the new office is as large as a 3-car garage. The office has DH private space plus a "public" area for meeting clients, editing video, kitchenette, full bath, and lunch table area. Oh, and I get an 11 x 13 space on the ground level for a new laundry/mud room.

I've put a couple pictures in this album. The "before" shot was Jan 21. The other was March 30. We hope to have use and occupancy by Mother's Day.

Album: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CbN2rhuzasJo&notag=1

As for any other tips, I have to agree with what everyone else has already said. I can't think of anything else, but will post if something comes to me.

The pic's are great! Oh my goodness, KelNottAt your addition is extremely similar to what Im planning except I have a cape roof w/dormer in the connector section not a full 2 story.... It is beautiful!!!

 

[offwegotoneverland]

also when people are saying don't skimp....keep in mind the no fun stuff is the most important not to skimp on.

Better windows = lower heating ac bills

Better venting/studding etc = less work down the road.

Better flooring = longer time to keep it.

Also make sure you don't just call the ref. go see the work. This is critical to get a sense of the style as well as the costs and work ethic/habits.

The best contractor in the area could be on time on budget and neat but not do the kind of work you want (perhaps finishing is too old school for you etc).

Be sure to go look and get permits!

 

[mtdevine615]

I'm glad you're budgeting in 10% more, but from my experience that's only part of it. You need 10% for incidentals and 10% for accidentals. It's funny but oh so true.