The 5 Home Addition Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid

The 5 Home Addition Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid Even minor mistakes can affect your enjoyment of your Northern Virginia home addition. Avoiding these five addition mistakes will help you ensure that your new space is practically perfect.

Too Many Compromises

Cutting a few corners may seem like an easy way to keep costs under control, but it’s rarely effective. Once construction is finished, you may regret some of your compromises, particularly those that limit your square footage or affect the quality of finishes, fixtures or appliances. Fortunately, your contractor can help you explore creative solutions that may help you include the bulk of the features you want without affecting the quality of your addition.

Increased Costs Due to Change Orders

A few changes to the original plan may be inevitable during the building process. After all, it’s difficult to visualize your new space even though your renovator may show you a 3D representation when your plans are prepared. Unfortunately, change orders add to your costs and also extend the construction timeline.

Taking a little extra time to carefully consider all of the features you need or want during the planning stages can help you avoid costly change orders.

Not Adding a Cushion to Your Budget

Experts recommend allocating an extra 15 to 20 percent for unexpected expenses during your renovation. Although your renovator will provide you with a realistic estimate, it’s impossible to predict issues that may increase your prices.

For example, when the plumbers attempt to tie in your new plumbing to your existing plumbing they may discover that your interior sewer line is cracked. Hopefully, you’ll never need your cushion, but it’s always a good idea to include a little extra money in your budget.

You’ll also need to set aside a little money for landscaping and furniture. Existing furniture, even if it’s in good condition, may not be the ideal choice for your brand new space.

Relying Too Heavily on Trends

The hottest trends can become hopelessly outdated in just a year or two. Although you’ll certainly want to include the features you really want in your addition, sticking with classic cabinets and neutral flooring options will ensure that your new space still looks good 10 years from now.

Choosing the Wrong Contractor

You probably wouldn’t trust the guy who works at the local oil change franchise to replace the engine in your car. Although he would certainly charge less than an experienced mechanic, you might risk an unfortunate break down in the left lane of I-66 one day.

It’s also not a good idea to choose a contractor who has never built a home addition. Remodeling a kitchen is much different than building an addition from the ground up. Quality problems, delays and snafus with permits and inspections can be issues when you choose a novice contractor to build your addition.

An experienced remodeling company can show you photographs of other additions they’ve built, provide references from satisfied customers and offer suggestions that will help you get the most value for your money.

Have you been having trouble finding a renovation company that can design and build your addition? The team at Schroeder Design/Build has extensive experience in both renovations and additions. Let us know if we can help you create the ultimate home addition.