Have you ever had an addition put on your home?

[Snipe Hunter]

We're considering having an addition put on our smallish family room. The room is 13 x 18. The addition would make it closer to 28x13. We had a room like this in the old house and really miss it. This would include new foundation, framing, possibly upgrading heat-pump, install a fireplace, lots of windows and a few exterior doors, tie in new roof and all the finishes inside and out. Crawlspace, no basement.

If you've done this before, how did you do it? Did you act as the GC and hire subs or did you hire a GC? Did you contract with the architect or did you use the contractor's architect?

Did you have problems that could have been avoided? Any advice?

I sold commercial construction for about 6 years in the 80s so I'm familiar with the process, I've just never managed a job of hired multiple subs etc. I don't know subs in this area although I do know guys who could point me to some decent people.

I hesitate to ask what you paid, this part of the country tends to be higher than most. A typical house around 2000 sq ft in a halfway decent neighborhood will run $425k to $550k depending on the area.. Not California high but certainly not Texas cheap either.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Wood'N'Scout]

I can't answer most of your questions, my last remodel at the scale you're talking about was 10 years ago.  However, I'm just in the process of finishing an interior remodel of my house that included removing walls, drywall install, taping, and painting, and removing tile and carpet floors and laying all hardwood.  I've been acting as my own general contractor and have been fighting delays in getting the subcontractors to my "little" job.  I ended up doing the demo. and reframing myself because every contract I called was too busy to even come and look at the job.

Every carpentry, electrical, and plumbing contractor I know of is starving for qualified labor.  Little jobs like mine come at the back of the list.  It's been a small victory even to get a contractor to call me back.

I'm in the western suburbs of Chicago.

[goaliedad]

I think letting the GC handle the subs makes sense. He keeps them busy- they need to respect his timeline. He has the ability to get them involved if there are issues down the road.

Unless you have a compelling reason to use "your" architect I would go with the GC's. See above

I have done two major remodels- doing almost all of the work myself. And had a custom house built. I really wanted to be involved with the new build, but realized I could not make sure I wouldn't be holding the pro's up. I watched.

[MikeBob]

I was a hands on GC. You have some tuff dissions/choices. It is a crap shoot, if you go with a GC get many references.
Roof tie ins are tuff, good ones no leaks, bad cheap ones, a crap shoot.
If you go with a GC that you like, ask about his subs and there qualifications. I only used the best/reputable, I may have payed more, I knew that and they did stand behind there work if a problem arose. It was about my reputation and satisfied clients. They want it right the first time.
Cheaper is not usually better or equal.
Usually if you act as your own contractor, you are hind tit to subs, a one shot deal, if they are busy they take care of there regular "bread and butter" General Contractors.
If you act as your own when hiring a sub, put in a price performance in the contract, X$ for the job on time specs, less by a set % if not done on time.
NEVER, EVER pay all in full when the job is done, hold out at least 25% for 30 days upon completion. That way if you find a problem with there work, big leverage, paid in full on completion, then again you are a real hind tit.
I only asked for a minimum down payment, depending on the job and up front materials. Exp, new patio door X$ 50%, Addition, 50% labor after I order materials plus the material cost, 30% when roughed in, the remaining after 30 days of finished.
Any adds were a 50% up charge Labor and Materials, for my inconvenience, and time set back to the next booked client. A real profit maker.
No guilt on that, next client was promised a start date, I had to make the phone call to them, apologize and give them the option to go with someone else and loose that job. Promise them the same. Never lost one, I guess I had good referrers!!!

[fredhargis]

I haven't added on a room, but we did an extensive remodel and I acted as my own GC. Never again! Pretty much what was said above. Trying to coordinate the schedule and keep everyone in line with the work sucks. Then if a problem arises later, you're faced with the subs blaming each other and denying responsibility themselves. Let the GC handle it.

[daveferg]

Had a room addition put on the entire back of my house, included a family room/dining area, laundry alcove and master bedroom with large closet. Also had a corner fireplace with a raised hearth that I still miss having now. Roof tie-in, but was on a slab. $25,000, but, that was in 1978!! ???

I hired a general. Not without problems, but didn't have to hire or deal with subs. I will say you need to do daily inspections to make sure they're filling the plans. For example luckily I checked the rough plumbing drain lines before the slab was poured and found the laundry drain was in the bedroom. Also, when they open up your roof for the tie-in, insist they tarp it each night.

[Jack in omaha]

I would hire the best contractor in your area.
And get his design team or professional team involved in your vision. This is an ideal time to do this. you may want a new mortgage as the low interest rates will not last It may be you have just a small bump. I would put a basement under it for a shop.  Good design and planning will be worth the effort. Do not neglect the outside with consideration to access, landscaping and hardscaping.   The low interest rates allow you to a much larger project than when interest rates were at say 6.75%.
 Good luck.

[Snipe Hunter]

I'm not much of a borrower, I'm more of an investor so we'll pay cash for the remodel. I'm not a big fan of high mortgage payments if they aren't needed. We budgeted 75k for improvements. We've already spent 10k of it moving the laundry room and re-doing two bathrooms and water treatment. We expect to spend another 15-20k on the kitchen and master bath. I'm doing this work myself so it comes to less than half what a contractor would cost. We expect the addition will push us a little over the 75k. More like $85k - 95k if we replace the heat-pump (it's old and a tad small for the addition). I'm also considering a complete re-roofing and residing.

[Snipe Hunter]

If I were building a house, I'd be more inclined to be the GC. But since we're living in it, I want it to go as quickly as possible.

[Woodjets]

1. If you want to be your own GC to save money it won't work. Everybody thinks if they're their own GC they'll get it done cheaper. It's not usually the case.
If you want cheaper then find a GC who doesn't sub everything, that is, one who has a crew that is employed by him. If he has a good crew then he won't have to sub much if any.

2. The tie-ins are critical. Depending on whether your house is brick, stucco, wood... Where the add-on meets the old home needs to be done correctly or it will crack/separate or look bad eventually. What I see often are additions on stucco homes where the chicken wire on the add-on wasn't tied to the old home's wire. This will crack since the add-on will settle at a different rate than the old home. Similar issues can occur with other materials as well.