How to Design Your Own Home Additions

First determine why you are going to the expense and the inconvenience of adding on to your house. Maybe you have outgrown the house because there are now more people in your household, and you need more room but would rather not move. You might be making more money and can now better afford the additional space. Whatever the reason, you need to commit to your decision because your life will probably be disrupted for several months.

Make sketches of your "dream" design, even if you think you cannot afford it, because you can always cut back on the addition later. Once you are satisfied with your work, invest in a software package that will help you turn your sketches into into plans that your builder can follow. The software also can show you the addition in place, and even show the addition for several angles. Furthermore, many software packages will help you estimate the addition's cost and approximately how much time will be needed to build it.

Be sure that the addition will conform to the building codes in your area. For many, home additions have been turned down because they failed to meet the code regarding set-back. If that is the case with your addition, you can either file for a code variance, or alter your plans to fit the code's requirements.

Pay close attention to how well your proposed addition will adapt to your home, because it needs to be proportioned to the existing structure. For example, if your addition will actually be larger than the original building, it will be unattractive, and one too small will add nothing to the house's appearance. How well the addition blends into its surroundings will be an important factor when you decide to sell your house.

Decide how you are going to pay for your addition. Most people must borrow the money because they do not have the cash. If you have an existing mortgage on your house, you can talk with your lender about renegotiation your loan to accommodate an increase. Your lender will want to see your plans. And since you will need to pay your contractor during construction, you should make a temporary loan which will be folded into your new mortgage once the addition is finished. By the way, if interest rates are below what the were at the time you bought your house, your monthly payment will reflect it. Or you can make a second mortgage loan in the form of a home equity line of credit that will make it unnecessary to renegotiate your original mortgage.