How to Build a Room Addition – Working With Contractors

Seasoned contractor Larry Mock, owner of Portland Oregon's Cascade Custom Remodel & Construction, offers advice on building a room addition. Mock has four decades of experience in the construction industry.

Though it seems preposterous, most contractors do notwant you to hire themfor this crazy enterprise if you arenot 100% certain. If you jump on the first contractor that comes your way, you may get cold feet later on. Contractors do not want to be the first one that you choose; instead, they want to be the chosen result after all of your careful research.

Soliciting over 5 or 6 bids wastes time--your time and the contractors'. Mock advises:

If you have chosen the contractors well, most of the bids will fairly close within the same range:

When you get that too-low bid, this may be an indication of a problem. It may not necessarily indicate a scam operation. It may just mean that the contractor doesn't fully understand what you want and is bidding based on a scaled-down idea of your vision. Mock recommends:

Contractors are in the business of construction and remodeling, not nursemaid, psychologist, and therapist. He says that:

Due to the price and complexity of building a room addition, you shouldexhaust every possible solution to your space and living issuesbefore undertaking this project.

Your relationship with this contractor hinges on how well your personalities mesh. But do not expect to become great pals during this project; this is primarily a business relationship.

No doubt about it: sunrooms are attractive. They cost less than full-scale room additions, and they give you just as much square footage.

But sun rooms are just that: sun rooms. Most do not have plumbing, showers, bathtubs, toilets, and other essential services. Most significantly, they are usually not conditioned (heating and cooling).

Build a sunroom if you want a conservatory-type feel, but not because you think they will substitute for a real addition.

Are you putting on the room addition purely for your own benefit? Or do you care about resale value when it comes time to sell?

Even though you cannot do things just for the benefit of some nameless, faceless potential buyer sometime in the distant future, you do need to give some thought to resale value. Not all room additions give back adequate resale value.

The Realtor who sold the home to you will be more than happy to tell you how this added square footage (and the type of square footage youre thinking of) will benefit you in the long run.

A room addition involves all of the same things that you find in new home construction: foundation, footers, framing, zoning, permitting, HVAC, flooring, plumbing, electrical, new windows, etc. The list goes on and on.

Even if you are building a great room or living room (i.e., a room addition without services such as plumbing), you still haveother services that you cannot avoid (electrical, heating, cooling, and more).

Room addition building is complex. The only way to make sure you are comparing contractor estimates on a level playing field is to compare on a dollar-per-square-foot basis. But youll want to make sure that all contractors are bidding on the same thing, or your square footage cost comparisons will be all wrong.

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How to Build a Room Addition - Working With Contractors