Remodeling Your Home to Expand Living Space

Remodeling your home can include remodeling existing rooms and expanding living space. When homeowners decide to increase their living space, they often face two choices. You can either construct an addition to the home (expanding outside of the existing footprint) or build up (adding a second story). As one of the premier remodelers in middle Tennessee, we at Reliant Construction Group often get bid requests for both options.

In this blog, we will provide an overview of each.

Zoning Restrictions and Permits 

Both options will require engaging an architect that will provide you with a set of plans needed to obtain the necessary permits.  A home addition, will also require compliance to property line ‘setbacks’, as dictated by local zoning and code departments. Building up may be subject to elevation approvals from the local codes office and neighborhood HOA.

Cost Considerations

A home addition requires excavation and concrete work for the new foundation. This adds certain ‘fixed costs’ to the project as well as possible delays due to weather.  Building up requires removal of all or a portion of the existing roof exposing the finished spaces of the home temporarily to the weather. This can affect both the timeline and overall cost of the project, because the contractor will likely need to make interior repairs to the existing areas of the home.

Utility Connections

Both options will require significant upgrades to the existing electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems increasing the overall costs of the project.  It is important to balance these “sunk” costs with the amount of square footage you will gain from the project.

Reliant Construction Group Is Your Trusted Contractor for Remodeling Your Home

At RCG, we are a full-service remodeling contractor, which means we assist our clients in navigating their project from beginning to end. We are experts in kitchen and bath remodeling as well as whole house remodeling, which includes adding an addition or a second story to your home. Contact us for a quote today.