Why not build an addition

It’s been a while since I posted anything on the blog.  We have done a few projects which I need to get posted.  The biggest one which will be blogged about first is the addition.  After long debate we decided to add on to the house instead of buying a bigger house.  This made financial sense.  Since I would do most of the work myself we would save a ton of money versus buying a newer, bigger house.  The housing market in my area was and still is experiencing a shortage of homes for sale which obliviously inflates the prices.  The other reason we chose to do the addition is that we love our neighborhood.  We didn’t think we could find one that would match our current happiness. 

Addition details:

We decided the main things we wanted were a larger kitchen and a first or second floor laundry.  After finding that moving the laundry from the basement to the 2^nd floor would be too difficult, we decided to include a laundry room in the addition on the first floor.  The addition basically bumps out the majority of our back wall 8ft.  Our total SF (not including finished basement) before the addition was ~2323.  After completion of the addition our total SF is ~2650.    

Here is the layout:

I wanted to provide some pictures we used as inspiration for the design:

 http://www.houzz.com/photos/247957/Craftsman-Charm-transitional-kitchen-los-angeles

http://www.houzz.com/photos/209764/Ackerly-Park-~-New-Albany-Ohio-traditional-kitchen-other-metro

http://www.houzz.com/photos/382924/Kitchen-Transformation-farmhouse-kitchen-burlington

After we had the layout down I went ahead and submitted a permit application.  This was actually easier than I thought it would be.  I performed the project as a homeowner builder and did not hire a contractor.  This made the permit process easier and I believe less expensive.  The permits cost me a total of $500.  The permits I needed to pull were - electrical(3), building, and plumbing.  I also had to provide an energy model showing which types of insulation and windows I would be installing.

In this post I will share pictures of the first activities.  The first thing I had to do was relocate the underground electrical service to the house.  The existing meter and service were located on the wall that I had to demo, thus the reason I had to relocate it.  I contacted the electric utility and had an onsite consult. I learned that I would have to do most of the work to relocate the service.  They only pull the new wire from their pedestal to the meter and disconnect panel.  They also relocate the meter from the old location to the new.  They charged me $800 to pull and terminate the wire!  I had to rent an excavator, excavate a new trench, install 2-3" conduits, and backfill.  I had an electrician friend install the new panels and sockets.  Here are some pictures:

Back of house before addition:

 You can see the old meter above.  Right in the middle of the wall I needed to demo.

 The second thing I needed to do was relocate my AC compressor.  I hired an HVAC company to come and move the unit.  I poured a new concrete pad and they came and moved the unit and also installed new line sets to the new location.  Here are some pics:

 In the next post I will get into the addition excavation and footer installation.

Thanks for reading. 

Basement build: Basement is finally complete!!

 Well it's finally done!  After four months of construction I can now share the completed pics!  Couldn't have done it without the help of friends and family, especially Kim.  Okay so here are some pics we used for inspiration:

And here is a reminder of what the basement looked like before the build:

Stair nook before carpet and furniture and then after:

 

The bench seat is operable and functions as storage:

Hallway to laundry area and bathroom:

 Kim ended up wanting an area to put a beverage fridge and a popcorn maker.  I bought the cabinet and fridge from Home Depot.  The butcher block counter top was purchased from IKEA.  We originally wanted to paint the walls and cabinet some shade of grey but we ended up using white semi gloss Behr paint from HD.  We believe it makes the basement look brighter and bigger. 

Stair area:

Bathroom:


Fixture photos from first basement post:

Finished bathroom:

 I am so happy I ended up installing the cork flooring.  It was very easy to install and provides a warm soft floor when exiting the shower.

Play area:

Kim came up with the idea of painting a chalkboard area on the wall.  We ended up making it magnetic also.  Both types of paint were bought at HD and required 3 coats of each.   I framed the board with pieces of 1x3 mdf.

We ended up choosing a light grey color for the exposed ceiling.  We painted everything - wiring, duct, copper, and plastic.  I bought a used Wagner paint sprayer on Craigslist in order to get the job done.  Once the drywall was complete, I taped plastic to all the walls and went to town for a few hours.  It took about 3 gallons of paint.  I love the way it turned out:

 We bought the track lighting at Lowes.  The space required 3 fixtures: one 3 bulb and two eight bulb units.


Someday down the road I want to turn the area into a theater room complete with projector.  I ended up installing boxes and conduit in the walls for future use:

 Bedroom/tv area:

 Kim painted the accent wall.  I think it turned out awesome!

 The furnace and water heater are located behind this grey wall.  To provide access, in case they ever needed serviced, I glued laminate flooring to 1/8 inch luan.  This combination was then Velcroed to the metal studs:

 We bought the sofa bed, end table, and tv stand at Ikea.

 Kim painted her old papasan and bought a new cushion from world market.

Here are some other misc. pics.  Thanks for reading!!!