5 Useful Tips to Help You Get Started with Adding a New Room for a More Comfortable Home

What you can do before starting the construction of an additional room to your house is to visit your local zoning officer; develop a room plan; make a checklist of the details and specifications you want for your additional room; contact remodeling contractors, ask for quotations, and select the best one; and obtain a building permit. After all these, you will be ready to start with your home remodeling.

Just like building a new home, adding a new room to your house involves some planning and requires construction permits, which are required by law and needed to make your home remodeling successful. To help you get started with your room addition, here are some useful tips you can consider:

Visit your local zoning office

Every neighborhood has a zoning office that you need to acquire permit from every time you fence your home, add a swimming pool, add a new room to your house, or make other relevant renovations to your home. Aside from being a law, zoning is important in order to maintain a healthy environment. It will prevent your neighborhood from undergoing uncontrolled changes that could result to its deterioration. Asking opinion from your zoning officer will help you determine the maximum area you are allowed for your additional room. To do this, you need to show pictures of your house in different angles, including any fence you have. Include the measurements from the exterior walls of your house to your property lines.

Develop a room plan

Now that you have an area to work on, you can start developing a room plan. It could be just a rough sketch if you do not intend it to be complicated. You can also make a nice and simple room plan by using free planning software you can download from the Internet or pay an architect to do it for you. I suggest you do it yourself to save on costs and so you can develop a plan that you really want for your new room. In making the plan, make sure you consider your needs, your taste, and most importantly, the budget you have.

Make a checklist of the details and specifications you want for your additional room

Before you start asking for quotes from addition contractors, be sure you make a checklist of the details and other specifications you want for your additional room. This will ensure you will not forget to instruct your contractor anything you want your room to be or how you want their work to go about.

Contact remodeling contractors, ask for quotations, and select the best one

The next thing you can do is to contact different contractors within your area. Ask for recommendations from neighbors, relatives, and friends. Better yet, check the Internet and go to Better Business Bureau. You will find different remodeling contractors as well as their respective ratings, reviews, and customer complaints, helping you make better decisions. Once you have contractors on your list, call them and ask for quotations. Do not hesitate to ask any question you have for them. Once you have compared and evaluated the contractors, select the best one based on your needs, your budget, their services, and their reputation.

Obtain a building permit

Now that you have developed a plan and you have a contractor to do the remodeling, you can obtain a building permit to get started with your additional room construction. To do this, you need to get an application copy from your municipal building department. Fill it up and submit it back to the office with your room plan. There are some details that need to be filled up by your remodeling contractor, such as those regarding wiring and plumbing. Finally, pay for any fee necessary to process your building permit.

After obtaining your building permit, you will then be ready to start remodeling your house and add a new room. Just make sure you choose the right contractor to do the job well and to do things right on time. It might be a bit costly and hassle for the time being, but in the end, you will experience great comfort. All the money and effort you spend will all be worth it.