In article ,
Ignoramus18484 wrote:
In article , AJScott
wrote:
In article ,
Ignoramus18484 wrote:
Some pictures of my house are at:
http://igor.chudov.com/misc/house/cascade/
This is actually a three story house. The third floor is basically one
nice big bedroom, plus a shower, a bat, and toilet. 5 bedrooms, 4.1
bathrooms. 3400 square feet above ground plus basement.
The wall studs are 2x4s spaced 16 inch apart.
What I am thinking is
1. expanding second floor to continue over the garage and
2. making this third floor the same dimensions as the whole house,
instead of it being one big room it would be much bigger, same size as
first and second floor.
My questions a
1. Is this feasible architecturally/structurally?
2. How much such a thing could cost (some top limit).
3. Am I likely to get a permit for it?
4. Is this so crazy that I should give up even thinking about it?
5. How much value would be added to the house, compared to the amount
spent, given that the house is in a nice neighborhood comprised of
nice but not excessive 4 bedroom homes.
Thanks!
I'm not in the trades, so I'll leave questions 1-3. But I am a homeowner
(and one considering a major expansion as well), so I'll give my take on
4-5.
Is it crazy? Not if you really need the space. You house *looks* pretty
castle-esque from the outside, but people don't live on the outside, and
photos can be deceiving. If you're just wanting to expand for the sake
of expanding, it just means you have too much money 
The reason why I am thinking about it, is that I want to put a library
and a nice study there. Your comment about money is applicable, but it
is applicable to most home improvement projects to some extent.
Is there "not enough space" in the house? This is like asking if I
have enough guns. Of course the answer is no, but quite frankly, there
is plenty of space for normal living.
I think "value" is something that people who want to expand wrestle
with all the time, but it's kind of hard to answer in one specific
way because "value" means different things to the people who live
there, to the banks, to the resale buyers, and to what the local
market will bear.
There are enough buyers of expensive homes, as such. But, perhaps,
these buyers are only interested in buying expensive homes when they
are surrounded by other expensive homes. Or, perhaps, buyers of
expensive homes are interested in buying "flatter" big homes rather
than "taller" big homes.
Even major expansions that would be outlandish and
foolish in one neighborhood would make total sense in the
neighborhood right next to it.
good point.
The final authority would be the bank
because they're pretty sensitive to the cost/value equation
involved, but other than that, I think the answer lies more in
whether you'd be expanding to bring your home more in line with the
others in the neighborhood (i.e. making a 3BR into a 4BR in a hood
with 4BRs), or expanding to give your place more bang for a
*reasonable* more buck -- in other words, raising its value without
making it *too* valuable and so inconsistent with the neighborhood
that it'll end up being something of a white elephant.
it's definitely going to be out of line with neighborhood home values,
although like I said, this is a very nice neighborhood.
Kings don't live with the middle class, and the middle class can't
afford to live with kings. Likewise, if you're going to be doing
something with all that space that has some broad appeal that no
other houses in the neighborhood offer (i.e. in-law suite, etc.),
Well, I want to build a library and a study there.
If you know with 100% certainty that you'll never move and have cash on
hand to finance pretty much all of the expansion, "value" becomes a moot
point. You're doing it just for you, and if you're going to die there,
then it's not all that crazy. But just remember -- when you're 90 years
old, you'll still be dusting and vacuuming all that empty space that
used to be filled with kids and their stuff.
My desire is to never move and never sell, and if I am to do this,
I would pay for it out of pocket, if and when I have enough money to
be allocated for it. That said, obviously, life is unpredictable and
there is a possibility that one day we may want to sell the house.
i
Well, libraries and studies *are* pretty popular among the high-falutin'
folk, LOL
You didn't mention whether you have kids or your age in either post, and
I think this might have some influence on it, because expanding for a
library/study makes more sense -- or less sense -- depending on where
you are in your life now and where you figure you'll be when the day
comes to do all this with cash on the barrelhead.
If you have kids and they're pretty young (anklebiter to pre-teen) and
you're pretty young yourself (20s-30s), then doing it makes more sense
because the house will be pretty full for a good while yet. If you're in
your early 40s with young 'un kids like that, it might even make sense
to do it now with a bank loan instead of waiting until you get the cash
because, well, AARP membership and the grim reaper is kinda right around
the corner, old chap. Enjoy it now while you can get the most enjoyment
out of it. But if the kids are teenagers, they'll (hopefully) be out of
the house within 5-10 years -- in which case you can eliminate the whole
"value" concern by converting one of their rooms into your study/library
when the first one flies the nest. Makes for a convenient excuse for
them not to come back, too
Another tidbit for thought: Just because your neighborhood is nice now
doesn't necessarily mean it will always be in your lifetime. The
country's seen some of the finest neighborhoods go from longtime jewel
to **** in as little as 10 years. And I don't necessarily mean the
buildings going to seed, altho that's often the case. There's plenty of
riff-raff able to afford nice houses (or move in with parents able to
afford nice houses), and landfills don't always end up next to ghettos.
AJS