Planning for Home Additions in Four Easy Steps

Adding a primary bedroom, bathroom addition, or family room can be a great way to stay in your home for many years. Imagine if you and your spouse didn’t have to use the bathroom in shifts, if the kids had their own space for crafts, and if you had a guest bathroom or even a mudroom to help make family and friends feel more welcome.

Home additions and their designs are limited only by your imagination and, of course, your budget.

But let’s not get bogged down with the legalities and discuss some of the first steps homeowners in Westfield, New Jersey, and surrounding communities can take to add living space to their home.

post-construction of home addition

1. Draw Boundaries

First, draw boundaries – with your property lines and where they are located. From there, develop a plot plan which would include your home, landscaping, and the location of the utilities.

That is important information because local codes restrict how close you can build to your neighbor. For home additions in Westfield, New Jersey, and surrounding communities, click here for information.

2. Develop a Design

Second, develop a design that complements your current floor plan. Look at the structure and the floor plan of your home. With the help of a Contractor, develop a plan to provide the most attractive, functional, and blended addition to your home. Don’t just think about how you will live in your home addition; also consider how it architecturally affects the look of your home from the outside.

Home Addition Entryway

3. Implement Your Design

Third, design your home addition to your heart’s content.
The last step before work begins is to make final selections on the materials to be used. Your Contractor will use this to pull the scope of work and home addition design together. You’ll then be presented with the cost of your home addition project. At this time, your selections might need to be scaled to better align with your budget. We cover more on this in the next section.

4. Know Home Addition Costs

Homeowners always want to know what home additions cost and how to reduce the final price tag without sacrificing the selections they’ve fallen in love with. The truth is that unless money’s no object, you will likely make some cuts to get what you want, so enter this process with that in mind.

According to Hanley Wood’s 2023 Cost vs. Value report, the average cost for a home addition in Westfield, New Jersey, and surrounding communities runs from $80,065 to $300,621. For more home addition costs for projects in Westfield, New Jersey, and surrounding communities, click here.

Home Addition Railing
Home Addition with Many Windows

Additional Thoughts on Planning Your Home Addition

Getting so caught up in the planning process and going overboard with the design is easy. During the research part of your home addition project (step number three above), you may save pins with great flooring, furniture, electrical advantages, and new paint because you have the budget. The problem with entering your home addition project with this “fantasy project mindset” is that you may envision a home addition that doesn’t fit the rest of the home. Rather than an extension of your home, it’ll look like you are walking out of one home into another.

black oil rubbed bronze shower fixtures

Final Thoughts

Talk to your Contractor and share what you want and need out of your home. They’ll be able to provide insight on ROI best practices for Westfield, New Jersey, and surrounding community projects and guide you in the best direction for your needs and budget.

For more information on home additions, click here.

 
exterior home addition westfield nj

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