Prefab Addition Ideas for a Cape Home

Family Room

• If you worry about not having enough family living space, adding a family room equals a fabulous choice. Check with the prefab supplier to be sure, but prefab home additions usually eliminate the hassle of home construction. For example, you don't have to wait as long for the family room order to be filled, shipped and erected on your property. While adding a prefab addition requires local permitting, it does not depend on a long line of subcontractors to complete their step in construction. A family room comes in pre-designed models, but if you want to pay more per square foot, you can get a custom design for your family room addition.

In-Law Suite

• The prefab addition is easy to match to the clapboard or shingle exteriors of many Cape homes dotting the American landscape. Consider the easy addition of a two-story, in-law suite. The top or bottom floor offers additional living space for the whole family, and the other level of the home comes equipped with a bedroom, private bath and miniature kitchen. When you consider whether to add an attachable addition or a two-story addition to a cape home, consider that adding as much space as you can afford eliminates the wait time for a future addition. Why not build all at once?

Changes to Premade Floor Plan

• Prefab addition manufacturers have standard additions they will attach to your Cape home or add on the second floor. A big consideration involves the ability to swap around rooms, increase or decrease the quantity of rooms and change other architectural features. The overarching concept involves keeping the total dimensions of the addition the same. Remapping the second floor, for example, might involve cutting a master bedroom in the addition plan into two smaller bedrooms that share a large bathroom. You might also want more storage space and to add the porch on a different side of the home. Work with your prefab supplier to discuss all of the possibilities before you sign a contract ordering the home addition.