For some families and homeowners, home addition becomes necessary after a certain period of time. The reason for building home addition might be that their family is growing or they simply need more space. While some prefer to do it on their own, others hire a contractor by paying a bit more money. If the former is your preferred option, you will need to consider several factors. Let’s discuss!

The Beginning: Permits, Plans & Specs

Before you proceed with your home addition process, you need to go through the planning, specification, and permit phase. The reason is that in some states, home additions tend to be more complicated than building a new property due to stringent building rules and regulations.

With that said, you will need to consult an architect or engineer and share your ideas so that you can be aware of the pros and cons in return. Even though several homeowners are of the view that they can do without consulting an engineer or architect but that is simply very risky.

Home additions are not as easy as they seem and you will need to submit your plans to your local building and zoning department. These departments go through the plans and make sure everything lies within the rules & regulations. These rules & regulations are mostly pertinent to the security and safety of the surroundings. Anything that compromises or threatens the nearby properties or neighbors might face legal action down the road.

Home Addition Preparation

The next most important step of the process is preparing for the home addition. As mentioned earlier, home addition is a fairly complicated process and requires a lot of digging and excavation. You need to be extra careful and supervise the process to avoid damaging the power or gas lines.

Meanwhile, at the same time, you should also contact your local power or gas department and let them know that home improvement work is about to begin. As a result, the utility companies will mark the buried cables or pipes, helping the contractors avoid them.

Many people believe home additions are not rocket science until the process begins. Therefore, it is important that you hire the right person for the right job. Do not go for someone who is offering a price that is lower than the average market price. Instead, opt for someone who possesses the relevant experience to carry out such tasks with minimum risks.

The Real Deal

Assuming that you have gone through the framing, foundation, and roofing phase on your own, but you need to keep in mind that you will need to install HVAC, gas, plumbing, and electric wires and pipes before you can insulate. Then again, you might be thinking of doing it yourself.

There is no harm in carrying out such tasks on your own but there are a lot of risks involved. There is a reason that contractors employ skilled experts who complete the process step by step so that nothing is left out. If something happens to be left out, you will need to dig everything again and start from scratch.

On the same hand, the foundation and roofing need to be done the right way. You should mentally be at peace knowing that the roof above you or the foundation will not collapse. These are tricky and extremely detail-oriented situations that demand only professionals working on them.

The Final Work

In some cases, the main tasks are carried out by the professionals while the finishing touches are done by the homeowners. Painting the trims, installing the cabinets and fixtures is relatively easy but can quickly turn into a headache. Plus, it needs to be kept in mind that it is the finish that attracts attention. Even if the contractors have done a marvelous job, a poor finish will ruin all the hard work and investment.

Therefore, you need to ask yourself whether you have the right skills and experience to put an impressive final finish. If you are skeptical about your abilities, you should let the experts handle them.

Conclusion

Concluding, a DIY home addition project will no doubt get you excited. But you need to face the facts as well. Your mistakes may cost you more in the long run and that is why you need to be sure of your capabilities and consider the factors mentioned above. If you believe you can do it, you should go ahead with it. However, if the case is otherwise, you should search for home addition companies DC.