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Room Additions


Room additionAdding square footage to a home with a room addition is one of the most popular home renovation projects. With the proper design and construction, this can make a big difference in how you use the space. Like any project, however, it requires planning and expertise to ensure that changing the home’s configuration doesn’t compromise its structural integrity, or have a negative impact on the overall design.

Room additions vary greatly in terms of complexity and price, with overall cost being largely determined by the purpose of the room addition (kitchen, bathroom, office, bedroom) and extent of the renovation. The purpose contributes to the cost quite a bit due to the cabinetry, plumbing, and electrical costs associated with a project like a kitchen addition. Other factors to consider include how much demolition is required, and whether it’s necessary to move or remove load-bearing walls, electrical components, or plumbing.

Room additions sound like they can be overwhelming as it’s definitely a structural construction job, meaning we will need to bring in structural engineers to determine how much retrofitting is necessary to support the additional square footage to your home.  In many cases only a few small square feet change the whole layout of a home.  Often times, homeowners don’t immediately recognize the amount of additional support is necessary to add on to your home. It’s not just the framing, drywall, skim coating, beams, and roofing.  Rather you are adding additional structure that does not have a slab under it to support the weight as well as even out the flooring surface from existing structure to new.  When you add on to the roofline, you are also adding stress to existing structure elements that need reinforcing in the sub terrain in the form of pads that are dug a minimum of 18 inches under the ground.  This means your existing homes’ flooring will need to be penetrated and this is a consideration as you make a decision to add on space.

Structural engineering for room addition
A recent remodel Sea Pointe Construction designed and built in San Clemente is an excellent example of the extra support necessary for additional structural support. This home was on a hillside and adding on 2 decks that would cantilever over a hillside to extend their ocean view and guest capacity.  To the left you can see the additional paddings added (visible in yellow highlight) to support the room addition in the front, roofline change, and 2 decks on the backside of the house.

Once you understand the engineering process, it’s much easier to decide where to add space and how much. Working with a design-build firm gives you the advantage of value engineering.  With all of your construction professionals under one roof, you can leverage the collaboration to design with an engineer guiding you towards the most cost-effective methodology of adding space.

Read the complete San Clemente Double Decker Room Addition case study.

We’ve done several projects where we enclose a balcony, a niche, partial porch enclosure, or other indented areas in your home’s footprint to complete a space and relocate the function for that space so it is easier to use.  You can read a recent case study on two small space enclosures that enabled a small kitchen relocation to be a grand open-concept kitchen plus the addition of a laundry room.  The client walks you through her experience with Sea Pointe Design & Remodel for her Tustin remodel as a repeat client and you really get a feel for how it is to work with us as a design build firm and the planning and organization that goes into our remodel approach.  Our aim is to take the client inconveniences out of remodeling to the best we can.  After all, it  is still construction and there will be people in your home to do the construction work and with current work from home orders, it may be inconvenient, but we do our best to shelter you from this with plastic walls with zippers, proper taping, and 100% construction clean up every single day.

Tustin kitchen renovation with small room addition

 Case Study of Tustin Room Addition: Small Square Foot Space Addition Makes Big Impact

Planning A Room Addition

While a few room additions may be completed by Do-It-Yourself homeowners, the majority of these projects require professional involvement due to their complex nature. Sea Pointe Design & Remodel makes the process simple. With an experienced design-build team, we can coordinate and execute the entire process from start to finish. That means all of your design, engineering, and construction needs are met under a single contract, and a single point of responsibility and accountability, keeping your project on-budget and on-time through your whole room addition project.

As a General Contractor and design build firm, Sea Pointe Design & Remodel coordinates all phases of construction, beginning with an analysis of building design and continuing through home remodel project completion. Our Project Managers oversee general day-to-day job site operations, ensuring quality construction and compliance with the project timeline. We have an intimate understanding of local building requirements and general systems for obtaining permits in any Orange County city where you choose to build. Efficiently handling such sensitive issues is part of our building contractor package.

Master suite room addition

Having your whole room addition remodel project with one company enables us to provide you value engineering which you cannot find outside of a design-build remodeling company due to the logistical imitations with traditional general contractor remodeling.  Value engineering starts with your designer evaluating your home’s entire footprint for the most cost-effective way to deliver your desired space. In a traditional GC model you would tell your architect that  you’d like to add on a space to build an additional bathroom; your architect will draw it just as you requested and you hand the plans off to your contractor to build.  In the value engineering model, your designer looks to leverage existing construction and minimize the costs; this includes evaluating your as-built blue prints and discussing the options with our structural engineer to add this bathroom in the  most cost effective engineering available.

We want to ensure we get you the best value out of your remodel and this is why we collaborate and have a team of design and construction professionals to support your remodeling needs.  We reference multiple construction professionals on our team to deliver your design and build options.  Our goal is to deliver quality design and build options that take the hassle out of remodeling while giving you the best value available.  Once your designer and you finish your design, you’ll know the exact cost of your room addition; no change orders here. Transparent communication to ensure we maintain our repeat and referral customer rate over 50%.

Sea Pointe takes the hassle and jargon out of building your remodel; you won’t need to know or even understand the city building codes.  The building department of Mission Viejo has 20 different building codes from 7 different city legislation departments for a kitchen remodel. We will take care of the details while you enjoy designing your space addition.

Sea Pointe is one of Qualified Remodelers TOP 500 contractors in the U.S. (out of 600,000 national contractors) because we follow a very basic construction and remodeling philosophy. We will provide the best team of professional construction management and field personnel possible to meet your construction quality demands and schedule objectives in a cost-effective manner.  In addition to earning this construction award, we have been honored by Professional Remodeler Magazine with the annual Top 50 award, ranking us in the top 50 remodeling companies in the United States.  Orange Count Register has also named us top kitchen and bath specialists year after year.  Take a moment to browse through our portfolio of recently completed projects, and then give us a call to let us help you complete your room addition project with ease.

“Jim – I wish to express our appreciation for the many months of hard work you spent on our home remodel. With a job the scope of this, it could be a bit overwhelming, but you made it as bearable as humanly possible. Your organizational skills and expertise were invaluable. We are ecstatic with the results and appreciate and enjoy our “new” home each and every day.” Jim & Melanie Burian, Mission Viejo

Q: What does it cost to add a room to a house?

A: Room additions vary like any construction remodeling project. The variables included in a room addition costing analysis include:

The city you live in and the permitting and zoning requirements can impact cost by requiring you to build up as opposed to out on the first floor. Building up is more expensive and has additional costs associated with retrofitting your home to support the additional construction materials and living weight.

This can include needing more pads dug under your home, including cutting into your existing ground floor to dig the necessary locations for reinforcement which will also necessitate new flooring in the area that will not be “touching” the room addition. You may find that certain cities also require different levels of structural integrity than your neighboring city.

Your current available lot space is limited or expansive; the general rule of thumb is that building out is more affordable than building up. If you have expansive space, it may be more affordable.

The condition of your existing home and year built will have additional consideration to costs as certain cities will require more retrofitting based on year built or current condition is not sufficient or reasonable to add on to.

What will this space be used for? If you are looking for a bonus room with nothing but lighting, electrical outlets and proper egress, then this will be much more affordable than adding a bathroom with plumbing, tile, electrical, vanity, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures, and even to a greater expense, a kitchen will cost much more than a bonus room as it is cabinet intensive and this is where most of the cost of a remodel comes in.

There is a lot to consider when developing your remodel budget for a room addition. The best way to budget for a room addition is to work with a designer / builder to design your space, work with the city, and determine an actual cost of the remodel rather than guessing and providing change orders the whole way through; surprise cost increases are never pleasing once you think you know what your room addition project cost is. When you work with a design build firm, you’ll know all your costs up front, saving you time, frustration, and money.

Q: How long does it take to build a room addition?
A: Again, this depends on how much you are adding and where. We have done dozens of small space additions that enclose a porch or window seat to make a single straight wall; sometimes these small enclosures can add only 3-4 weeks to your typical kitchen addition. If you are building up, it may take an additional 3 months to get the necessary supports in place with proper approvals from your city.
Q: Are there ways to save money and make a room addition more affordable?

A: Absolutely. You can add onto the space already in your home footprint. Here in Orange County, the only available space is inside our garage. This is a perfectly great space to turn into additional living space. This type of remodel is called an Accessory Dwelling Unit and as of late very popular in southern California as legislation just passed requiring all cities to set requirements enabling home owners to leverage their garage space into living space in an effort to combat the shortage of affordable living in California. In addition to using your existing space, you can design your interior with affordable materials and finishings. You can also leverage your existing HVAC and electric panel to save some money.

Q: What inconveniences come along with adding a room addition to my home?
A: With current shelter in place orders, you will find it very noisy to be home during the day and live / work through the building noise. You will be able to live here through the beginning phases, though at a time, you will want to move out to get the job done. If you are adding space on to your existing kitchen, you’ll need to be prepared for no access to a refrigerator as all of your electrical will be rewired here to meet existing code and we don’t want to damage any appliances while in demo and remodel mode. This may mean eating out more, planning for a mini fridge, or meal planning at a friend’s kitchen. You also want to consider your pets safety during this time as construction professionals come in and out of your home to construct your room addition. Sea Pointe Design & Remodel aides you in making a lot of these decisions through the process as well as we have a comprehensive home guide to know your pets names, your children’s names, where to enter and exit, as well as who we may let in and who does not belong in your home. We’ll ask you about nosey neighbors, parking, and many more home keeping needs to ensure we treat your family and home with the most respect as we construct your room addition.

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Room Additions was last modified: March 30th, 2023 by admin