Adding On: 10 Ways to Expand Your House Out and Up
A new addition can connect you to the yard, raise the roof, bring in light or make a statement. Which style is for you?
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I am licensed to practice architecture in Illinois, Florida, New Jersey & Wisconsin and I am a certificate holder from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). Since 1996 I have worked from my home office and provide full architectural services exclusively to the single family residential market. My passion is to transform my clients' houses into their homes. I strive to have the "new" home accommodate my clients' lives without fighting them at every junction. I look to add curb appeal to encourage a beautiful streetscape. And I design any addition to look and feel like it has always been there.
Our projects have won numerous design awards as well as having...
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located... More »
So you want more space. A little extra room because the family is growing, children or parents are moving back home, you've started a home based business, you've always wanted that conservatory, or any of the thousand other reasons why your existing house just isn't big enough.
You've also lived in your house for a time and know its little idiosyncrasies. You've become really familiar with how the light changes with seasons, the best views of the yard, how movement from room to room takes place.
With all of that knowledge you decide to embark on building an addition. Maybe it's going to be a kitchen addition. Maybe a family room addition. Maybe an extra bedroom or two. Which ever the case, you'll be looking at adding on somewhere. Will it be to the back or the side of the house? Will it be above the house? Will it be separate from the house? What about style? Will it blend seamlessly with the existing house? Will it make a definite statement of its own?
To get started you'll want to interview a few architects to see what they think about the possibilities of expanding your house. Because each architect will have a different approach, go ahead and ask them where they envision the addition and how it will tie into the existing house. Find out which shares your vision.
Pondering an addition to your house? Here are 10 design options to consider.
You've also lived in your house for a time and know its little idiosyncrasies. You've become really familiar with how the light changes with seasons, the best views of the yard, how movement from room to room takes place.
With all of that knowledge you decide to embark on building an addition. Maybe it's going to be a kitchen addition. Maybe a family room addition. Maybe an extra bedroom or two. Which ever the case, you'll be looking at adding on somewhere. Will it be to the back or the side of the house? Will it be above the house? Will it be separate from the house? What about style? Will it blend seamlessly with the existing house? Will it make a definite statement of its own?
To get started you'll want to interview a few architects to see what they think about the possibilities of expanding your house. Because each architect will have a different approach, go ahead and ask them where they envision the addition and how it will tie into the existing house. Find out which shares your vision.
Pondering an addition to your house? Here are 10 design options to consider.
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| Connect to the yard. The most common addition has to be the one that attaches onto the back of the house. Usually, especially in older houses, these are kitchen and / or family room additions. A great advantage to an addition like this is the ability to strengthen the house's connection to its yard. Here, new doors lead to a new outdoor room complete with furniture. |
Use a different material. Another advantage to having an addition to the back is the chance to change materials. Rather than trying to match an existing brick, which could be expansive and problematic, the addition can be of wood. Keeping the all of the wood the same color binds each piece into the whole.
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| Mind the scale. A big addition can easily overwhelm an existing structure. So rather than create one large block, break it into pieces that relate to and don't overwhelm the existing structure (see next photo). |
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| Rather than having one large gable roof that would have peaked above the existing, the addition roof is broken down into smaller and lower pieces. |
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Create a jewel box. Like a conservatory, additions are opportunities to create something truly special.
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Filled with light and space, an addition can let you live outdoors all year round.
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Make a (small) statement. Sometimes different is better. Explore how the addition can express your own aesthetic. Certainly an addition on the back of the house can afford an opportunity to be expressive.
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| Make a (big) statement. Sometimes you'll want to really express yourself and let the whole world know. No backyard addition will do. Something clearly visible from the street announcing that this is your house lived in by 21st-century folks. |
| Create a pavilion. If the site is large enough you can extend the addition out and away from the existing house. Doing this really does give you a chance to create an almost stand alone pavilion that can be quite different from yet complement the original. |
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Stretch it out. Again, if the site is large enough try stretching the house out across the property. The advantage of this is to make what could be quite large and massive into a series of small and connected pavilions.
| Raise the roof. Look at a second floor addition in a more urban area with little opportunity to expand horizontally. This is an especially effective strategy on a small lot and the addition is quite large. |
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| Ranch up. Rather than using up precious ground area and building a foundation, adding a second floor addition to a ranch house is a great and cost effective way to get that extra space. Because this type of an addition requires a new stair be located in the house, it's a great way to fix some of the underlying deficiencies of ranches (such as the dreaded going through a room to get to a room syndrome). Are you adding on? Tell us about your project below! More: Garage Conversions Converting Attics and Basements Micro-Additions: When You Just Want a Little More Room Staying Put: Improving the Home You Have |
Ideabook updated on Feb. 3, 2012.
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Sue
Well done on your welcoming mom project - it looks lovely. How nice that you have done that for your mother and added value to your home.
Fran (in snowy England)
The cute storybook side just doesn't look right paired with the modern side to me.
Wondering if there was a homeowners association they had to clear this with.
Kandy - I doubt there was any public design review of the project as associations are typically very conservative.
As for the photo from the Texas Construction Company, though I wouldn't have designed the addition as it is, I'm sure the homeowners are delighted with their home. And that's all that really matters.
My contractor (who was also a city inspector) said the biggest mistakes homeowners make on this (he's seen it happen so many times), is they work with an architect before they figure out a budget. He said in general, architects don't know what things cost, make these grand plans from what you want, then it gets out of control budget-wise when the project gets underway and the homeowner is wondering what went wrong. Make a budget with about 30%+ padding for what could go wrong/unanticipated things, and make a dream list, but be willing to compromise.
Sweeping generalizations like that made by your contractor are way off base and more often than not simply self serving. There are a lot of really good architects who manage to achieve remarkable work (just look at all the photos on Houzz). The trick is always to find one that you can work with and shares in your vision.
And yes, including a contingency as part of your budget is always a good thing. Here's an Ideabook of a few months ago about budgeting. Hope you find it useful and informative.