Adding onto your home in Delaware is an effective way to ensure the space conforms to your evolving lifestyle needs, family dynamics, and personal tastes.
Room additions not only increase the value of your home, but they also add comfort and convenience that enriches your way of life during the years spent residing in the house.
How Do I Prepare My House for an Addition?
As a major home improvement, a room addition requires careful planning and preparation to maximize your investment. The process involves identifying your priorities, exploring home expansion ideas, and designing a plan that is suitable for your property in Delaware. As part of your house addition planning, here are a few things you should know beforehand:
1. Where Your Property Ends
Even if you feel certain you know where the boundary lies between you and your neighbor(s), it doesn’t hurt to double check as you develop your room addition plan. Crossing a property line or not maintaining the proper setback can result in legal and financial issues in the future. Even if your home is surrounded by a significant amount of property, you should inform your neighbor of your plan to add a room to your home as a courtesy. That way they can prepare for construction noise and commotion.
2. If Your Project Needs a Permit
Many home improvement projects in Delaware require you to obtain the proper building permit. Some professional home addition contractors will handle preparing the necessary documents and pulling permits for you, but it is still a good idea to familiarize yourself with the process and be aware of what your particular project will require. You also should look over the permits and make sure they are posted in visible location for the duration of construction. Even if your project doesn’t require a permit, your room addition plans still must comply with the applicable county and local construction and zoning codes. Also keep in mind that electrical permitting and inspections are handled through the State of Delaware rather than the county.
3. The Cost of the Project
This may seem like a no-brainer, but budgeting carefully and correctly is critical if you want to avoid an unexpected price tag when the project is all said and done. In general, the average home addition costs about $40,000 to $60,000. As part of the project budgeting process, take into account what is feasible on your property, as well as what it costs. For example, building out is typically less expensive than building up. However, if you don’t have exterior space to expand your home horizontally, you must consider what additional expenses are involved in building vertically. The primary expense for home remodeling projects comes from the materials you choose. You can best control costs for your room addition by nailing down these selections during the design phase and not making changes once construction is underway.
4. How to Prepare the Site
Site preparation is one of the first steps to building an addition to a house in Delaware—and a critical one. If the land is not properly cleared and leveled, it undermines the integrity of the new construction. To get your exterior ready for adding a room onto your house, remove or demolish old structures and equipment, as well as plants and trees. The site may also require grading to a create a platform of level, bare dirt on which to build the house addition. Your fencing may also be taken down temporarily to enable your contractors to bring heavy equipment on and off the site. As far as the interior, consider how the project might change your daily routine or impact your ability to access certain parts of your house and make a plan for maintaining a comfortable home life during the construction.
Expanding Your Home in Delaware
There are numerous ways to expand and enhance your home in New Castle County, such as adding on square footage to an existing room, building a new upstairs bedroom, or constructing a simple sunroom off the side of your house. These projects add varying degrees of value to your home and your life, but the investment still requires due diligence and careful planning. Bromwell Construction Company possesses a wealth of experience and expertise in home remodeling to ease the process of creating the ideal addition to your Delaware home.
