Ok, I am poor. Like many I actually expected to be selling my home, but alas the real estate market in my neighborhood has tanked and now I have decided to wait.

My current home is small, and when the current market comes back, I want maximum RTI out of it of course....


Cut to the chase John!!!


I have decided to add on to the house. The current home, nor the neighborhood require anything fancy. The homes in the neighborhood are plain as hell small ranch, 2 bedroom, 1 bath. So I am looking at a pre-fab home or sorts to add on to my existing home.

The cost benefit of this is pretty amazing, but I am unclear how to proceed to mate it with my current home and I would like to avoid further design costs if I can. The permit for the pre-fab alone seems easy enough in talking with the city people. But they were not much help at all in giving me any direction on joining it to my current home.

In short I am looking for general links on the subject? Or heck, maybe even some reading material geared towards this sort of thing, I'd be willing to buy some books.


This is what I want to add...

http://www.shelter-kit.com/lh_floorplans.html



I want to add the LH16 and LL16 off the back on my current single section ranch at a right angle.... The current roof is a single pitched room with eves running the other direction.


Thanks in advance,
JOHNnDENVER

The roof line of the addition would need to be lower than, or even with your existing roof peak. You would set the addition in place. Extend the addition roof out until it meets the existing roof. Remove the shingles under where the roof extension will fall. It would be helpful if you could order the addition with no roofing shingles and roof on site. Right angle additions drive up cost. No chance of putting the addition on length wise?

No chance on installing it length wise as I have a neighbor going that way in the way... But alas....

I am breakng down here I suppose. I just talked with a different city guy and he said in the city where I live, you cannot get any building permit without a city licensed contractor involved period. <sigh>

UUHHGGG


I was browsing Bob Vila, Lowes, Home Depot and came across a dormered corridor connection that may just work out here. In that scheme it seems only an 8' section of connection is required and I can build the new structure unattached and then connect it and the dormer does not have to go to the existing roof peek.


But never the less, I have contacted two different contractors this morning about the project. Money is of course tight here. Hope'n to get it in for about $30K-ish, making every cost shortcut I can possibly make. :)

The contractors should have plenty of ideas. I would think you could get into an addition of that size for 30k. You may want to keep the addition looking conventional (meaning tying in the roof) for resale value.

Bob Vila=LOL

Could this be the same Bob Villa who asked me 20 some odd years ago, in Oyster Harbors, Osterville, MA, how long it was going to take myself and another small guy to carry 4 lifts of 5/8" drywall up 2 flights of stairs to the second story of his garage, as I was standing in front of my boom (crane) truck, drywall in the air lined up with the window and the window in the upstairs of his garage popped out? I really didn't mean to laugh at him out loud........

This is really the type neighborhood, that you would just polish up a turd if this was flip that hourse. :)

I think the idea will look fine. The potential families that would move into this neighborhood would be lower income and looking for SQF, bedrooms, and bathrooms as long as it doesn't look totally horrible.


I am slowly getting on a path here to get this off the ground so to speak.

They say in general my city Lakewood, Co is a royal PITA to build in. many contractors just don't take any work at all if it's within my city's limits. :(

I know that there have been lawsuits brought against municipalities that have similar licensing laws. I don't know what the rulings were, but you may want to look into it. The city may not have a case to enforce that rule.

I did take some exception to the fact that they said "You had to have a city licenses contractor" Seems unconstitutional. :)

You know what really gets me about projects like this and home theaters the most?

Nobody gives you the entire story of what t's to cross and i's to dot. Sometimes the story varies some from person to person even in the same city department.

My number one rule when dealing with city code inspectors is make them cite the section of the code book, and if you disagree, take it to the chief building official.

Many of the field inspectors have complexes and delusions about how much power and authority they think they have.

Good luck with your dealings with them.

Thanks, I can already tell that luck of the good sort is somewhat needed in these things, at least sometimes. :)