Home Renovations and Home Additions, What’s the Difference?

1. Home Renovations and Home Additions, What’s the Difference?

2. If you want to make some changes to your home, perhaps because you’re outgrowing it or you want to increase its value for selling it in the future, you’ll probably consider a home renovation or addition project. While home renovations and home additions are entirely different, both projects begin with the same series of steps as demonstrated below: • Whatever the size and scope of your renovation or addition project, you’ll need to think long and hard about both what you want from it, and what you need.

3. Once you’ve ascertained whether you’re going to undertake a renovation or a home addition, you’ll need to sit down with a general contractor and their architect, to begin putting the plans down on paper. They’ll need to consider local building ordinances, and you’ll need to decide upon the style of the project, and the types of materials you want to use. If you’re undecided as to whether you want to renovate your home or undertake an addition project, the following guidance might help you decide:

4. We want to make small adjustments to our existing home This naturally wouldn’t require adding an entire room or a lot more space, and typically wouldn’t involve major changes in partitions or the overall shape of the space in question. Most likely, the electrical, plumbing and HVAC would also remain unaltered, and you may not even need a building permit. If you have a room that you want to reinvent without making it bigger, then a minor renovation project might be the best solution.

5. Our living space isn’t working for us If this is the case, then you’re probably seeking to add space or completely remodel your existing space, and a building permit may be required. Partitions might be added or removed, and this could include supporting walls known as bearing walls. You might also need new plumbing lines or electrical circuits and require new openings to be cut in exterior wall for doors or windows, and this would be classed as a major renovation.

6. We want to convert an unfinished/unused space in our home to a living area Whether you’ve decided to add space in the attic, basement, porch or garage, you’ll probably need building department approval in order to convert it to a comfortable, usable living space. Our home needs to be bigger! In many ways, while an addition project isn’t quite as big as building a home from scratch, you’ll still need new foundations, frames, walls floor and roof surfaces, along with windows and doors and wires, pipes, insulation and HVAC connections.

7. You’ll almost certainly need a building permit and a general contractor will make the entire process much smoother, as they can provide you with an architect, builders, carpenters and electricians etc. As a homeowner wanting to make some changes to your home, thinking in detail about what you want to achieve, and carefully considering your budget should help you decide between a renovation project or a home addition. When you’re ready to begin, reach out to a professional general contractor and get ready to transform your home!

8. RZ Construction Group Inc is a fully inclusive and one of the best general contractors in Astoria NY. From initial design to final clean up, our results speak for themselves. We are fully licensed, insured, and bonded to provide both commercial and residential construction services to customers in Astoria and the surrounding area. Proud to serve New York State for 25 years. No job is too small nor too big. If you are looking for home addition contractors in Astoria NY or want to know more about our wide range of professional but affordable construction and repair services, reach out to us at (718) 938-9887.