Home addition plans

LOL kick the kids out and no need to build!!!

Rick

Can anyone point me at good sites for doing home
addition plans and design?
I always like to think twice and build once!

No kids. Need more room for our cats! LOL!

LOL kick the kids out and no need to build!!!

I tried that but they keep coming back. One even brought back more baggage than she left with.

I don't think you would get much help from a web site. The design would be based on needs and your existing house and property. If you live in town you may be restricted to a design that fits the neighborhood and building codes. If you could sketch a floor plan of your house and give everybody additional information, I'm sure there is a lot of people here that would help. Nobody even knows what your house looks like. The best home addition is one that nobody can tell the house was modified.

New plans are readily available, but addition plans would be site and local code specific. I bought a $40 program that allows you to take a picture of your house, and modify the picture to your addition. I have not figured out that part of the software (as I was designing my kitchen, and did not use the picture modify part). Might need to hire the plan part out, or get your own software and play around with it.

Try "Punch Super Home Suite". It"s software that allows you to sketch things out. We used it while building a house recently. Our was a gift but I don"t think it"s very expensive.

You probably should talk to an architect. You don't want the addition to look weird and take away the value of your property. Hal

(quoted from post at 08:00:58 12/18/11) I don't think you would get much help from a web site. The design would be based on needs and your existing house and property. If you live in town you may be restricted to a design that fits the neighborhood and building codes. If you could sketch a floor plan of your house and give everybody additional information, I'm sure there is a lot of people here that would help. Nobody even knows what your house looks like. The best home addition is one that nobody can tell the house was modified.

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Good advice!

El Toro , mentioned talking to an Architect, also good advice. In this economy, many are available. Some aren't Architects... Some are just designers, yes they are available. I am not a good designer, and this I know about myself. A few $$ spent in the planning stages will pay for itself quickly.

Yer addin' a burlap sack to yer house?

Just kidding. What county are you in? (I'm thinking Kitsap for some reason) In Pierce County I normally recommend folks go down to the county planning and land services office and talk to the folks there. They will often give you a bunch of handouts that will let you know what kind of restrictions you might have. I added on a couple years ago, discovered there was all kinds of new regs since I built the house 15 years ago. Ended up costing me quite a bit to comply, had to scale down my plans a bit, add a monitored fire alarm, leave some low spots in my fence (for elk migration) etc.

And after you talk to those folks, make sure you go home, take a shower and leave your clothes out on the line to dissipate the smell of brimstone...

I am an engineer and design houses on the weekend. What I tell people is to start with a sheet of graph paper and sketch out your new plans to scale. MAKE SURE IT IS TO SCALE! Then, if you live in the country and don't have to submit the plans to anyone, get with your local building contractor and go over them in detail. He will be able to spot any issues with your design. Keep in mind the roof design usually determines most additions unless you go for a major remodel. Most contractors can build off your sketch. I strongly suggest working with a designer or architect though. They do this everyday and can come up with some cost saving ideas. They will also provide some type of rendering to show you the exterior views after the addition.

If you live where you have to submit your plans, check with your local and state building code requirements first.

Good luck.

(quoted from post at 07:44:34 12/18/11) No kids. Need more room for our cats! LOL!

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get em a housetrailer :shock:

I have students in a Senior project class. (This class has had homes built from it in the past that I have stayed over night in. beautiful buildings with geothermal heat, and SIP panel construction. Say yes, draw up a set of graph paper plans, send a picture of similar homes, and we will make it happen. We deal with material strengths and loads, as well as electrical ETC. You will need to set up a Skipe account to work through the internet, but that is useful and free. The class starts in January, but I will need to know your intent befor Jan.8. We always need building projects for Senior Projects class, and we teach BS Majors in Construction Management. Jim

When adding on to an existing home, your biggest challenge will be to work around what you already have, existing doors, windows, trees, well, septic, gas lines, distance from road, distance from a property line. Then you have to come with a plan. I use graph paper and lay out the addition to scale. Start about a year in advance with the drawing. After about the 6th drawing, then start building. My last addition, I put a lot of windows on the south side for passive solar heat. BTY, if you go with a solar room, install the windows lower than normal. In the winter, you don't want the eves to shade the windows. Don't put a door on the hidden side of the house. This will give thieves a place to break in. Don't put a lot of glass on the north side of a house, nothing but a heat loss. Know what your building inspector wants before you start designing. My inspector wanted the old septic permit, which we were able to come up with. Otherwise, we would have to install a new septic. Put a lot of thought in to what you want. Then buy the materials when they on sale and store them inside. So you may want to first build a large pole barn to work out of.
George

Do you recall the name of the program? Sounds
interesting and some of what I am looking for.

(quoted from post at 07:50:10 12/18/11) LOL kick the kids out and no need to build!!!

I tried that but they keep coming back. One even brought back more baggage than she left with.

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LOL got a friend who after his last left home sold and built a new house. It has 3 bedrooms. 2 have no closets and no furniture other than a bed. He claims that anyone who comes to visits gets tired of living out of a suitcase pretty quick!

Rick

(quoted from post at 07:44:34 12/18/11) No kids. Need more room for our cats! LOL!

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Chris, get some Korean neighbors......ROFL

Rick