Add A Master Suite?

I think these 40-50k estimates are way low if you’re adding on to the house.
My basis for that:
2 years ago we had our rotten two level balcony removed and replaced with both levels screened in and a roof added to the top level to match the existing house roof. We also replaced the doors and windows on both levels of that. Those are balconies thst come off a bedroom on the main level and a bedroom on the top level of the house. There was no plumbing or interior finish work involved other than the doors (I did the windows). that was $40k.

If you’re going to stay there, go all the way.
 
shelby27604 said:
make sure your septic, leach field, lines, etc are not in the area of your proposed addition, I once looked at a house where they built a garage / in law suite on top of the septic tank.
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Part of the line to the tank would have to be under it. But tank and field are on down the hill.
 
Point blank what you don’t want to hear…

From a purely cost standpoint point it would be cheaper to sell the house and buy what you want. No question about that.

If the home is family home or has sentimental value - I get it do you. Just know it will
Be the most expensive and never ROI compared to sell and buy something different.
 
Ron said:
Point blank what you don’t want to hear…

From a purely cost standpoint point it would be cheaper to sell the house and buy what you want. No question about that.

If the home is family home or has sentimental value - I get it do you. Just know it will
Be the most expensive and never ROI compared to sell and buy something different.
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Always come through with the hard points Ron. Not really a sentimental thing, but we are not looking to move. We are ok with "throwing away money" on it, as long as we can afford it. Thanks for your input man, always on point.
 
83oldyoda4x4 said:
Remember a closet makes it a bedroom you can frame it out and sheetrock over the closet. Cut it out after the inspector leaves.
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So from that standpoint, could one add on a "large room" and a bathroom? We currently don't have a closet and haven't really missed it. Or if you're talking about the "conversion", there won't be an inspection.
 
skyhighZJ said:
Just remember that if you should EVER decide to think it may be a possibility that you could move. If you add an unpermitted addition it could come back to bite you pretty hard upon listing and home inspection.
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Very true.
 
A nice closet will change your life! You should add one while you’re at it. I built this one in our master bedroom last year. It’s one of the best changes I made to our house.

IMG_7357.jpeg
 
skyhighZJ said:
Just remember that if you should EVER decide to think it may be a possibility that you could move. If you add an unpermitted addition it could come back to bite you pretty hard upon listing and home inspection.
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Addition, yes.
Framed in room that already looks like a bedroom? Pretty unlikely.
JSJJ388 said:
So from that standpoint, could one add on a "large room" and a bathroom? We currently don't have a closet and haven't really missed it. Or if you're talking about the "conversion", there won't be an inspection.
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I'm not sure what this buys you, aside from the septic capacity survey. Everything else permit wise will be the same. And later when you do sell it could cause problems with the listing.
 
Andy J. said:
A nice closet will change your life! You should add one while you’re at it. I built this one in our master bedroom last year. It’s one of the best changes I made to our house.

View attachment 430911
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What I see is an opportunity to collect a lot more stuff than you need :D
 
RatLabGuy said:
Addition, yes.
Framed in room that already looks like a bedroom? Pretty unlikely.

I'm not sure what this buys you, aside from the septic capacity survey. Everything else permit wise will be the same. And later when you do sell it could cause problems with the listing.
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This is what I was looking for.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I'm not sure what this buys you, aside from the septic capacity survey. Everything else permit wise will be the same. And later when you do sell it could cause problems with the listinyou
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Yes they are permitted for the number of bedrooms not baths. It's not like you are adding capacity in this situation, You would still have everything permitted on the room addition. You would just be adding an office with a bathroom instead of another bedroom.
 
83oldyoda4x4 said:
Yes they are permitted for the number of bedrooms not baths. It's not like you are adding capacity in this situation, You would still have everything permitted on the room addition. You would just be adding an office with a bathroom instead of another bedroom.
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Indeed, if this is off of the dining room already, then when you submit the plans to the county just don't frame in a closet, and call it "dining room" and rename the dining room and nobody will question it.
But again this is only helpful if for some reason you need to avoid the septic survey.
But then.... if you'd be under capacity... I'd really think about what that means for the future. Those rules are there for a reason. 3 kids close in age there's gonna be a time later with high bandwidth grey water output ;-)

Your first step is to find out what your septic capacity is. If you don't know the county should have it on file. They'll also (theoretically) have a schematic of where it and the drain field lines are. That will tell you if you have an expense to plan in that arena or not.

My house as made in 67, I learned the county has an extra record from the early 80s where the tank was replaced for some reason with a larger capacity one and they ran a new line out to it. No idea why, there's no additions here. Guessing they had some kind of failure and figured miight as well replace with bigger while doing the digging.
 
Good info so far. I had the septic data at on point, but can't seem to locate it now.
 
Without knowing how your house is laid out currently and dimensions makes it a little tough to figure out what's a good solution for adding on a master bedroom and Bath. Where you have it proposed right now, I wouldn't recommend it. From an aesthetics stand point, i feel like its gonna throw the whole thing off, and it would be a booger to tie that roof. If it were mine, this is how I would think about adding rooms on, but your interior layout is what's gonna determine which is best.


Where are you stairs to the basement? if possible, I would almost be inclined to build around those so they are accessed from the interior....


joelshouse.jpg

joelsbigbrotherspycameratopview.jpg
 
ramjo said:
Without knowing how your house is laid out currently and dimensions makes it a little tough to figure out what's a good solution for adding on a master bedroom and Bath. Where you have it proposed right now, I wouldn't recommend it. From an aesthetics stand point, i feel like its gonna throw the whole thing off, and it would be a booger to tie that roof. If it were mine, this is how I would think about adding rooms on, but your interior layout is what's gonna determine which is best.


Where are you stairs to the basement? if possible, I would almost be inclined to build around those so they are accessed from the interior....


View attachment 430953
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Looks like it’s been added on to multiple times. Wonder if it wouldn’t be best to restart with a whole new truss system and extend something out. Already looks like a roofing nightmare.
 
ramjo said:
Without knowing how your house is laid out currently and dimensions makes it a little tough to figure out what's a good solution for adding on a master bedroom and Bath. Where you have it proposed right now, I wouldn't recommend it. From an aesthetics stand point, i feel like its gonna throw the whole thing off, and it would be a booger to tie that roof. If it were mine, this is how I would think about adding rooms on, but your interior layout is what's gonna determine which is best.


Where are you stairs to the basement? if possible, I would almost be inclined to build around those so they are accessed from the interior....


View attachment 430953
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The first option you show would be going right through the bathroom.

Second option is kind of what I have in mind, and would be bringing the basement steps inside.
 
JSJJ388 said:
The first option you show would be going right through the bathroom.

Second option is kind of what I have in mind, and would be bringing the basement steps inside.
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Wait can you explain this basement step situation? Is it currently that you can only get there from an outside bilco door?

If your basement is like many from the period, Taking the time to remove, regrade and replace old basement stairs could be a pain in the ass but really change it's usability.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Wait can you explain this basement step situation? Is it currently that you can only get there from an outside bilco door?

If your basement is like many from the period, Taking the time to remove, regrade and replace old basement stairs could be a pain in the ass but really change it's usability.
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Yea it's a half basement that's only accessible from the outside. The steps are fine pitch wise, but are pretty narrow. Just wide enough for a standard door and frame.
 
I added a bathroom suite and small-ish walk-in closet some years ago to my house. Cost me somewhere in the range of $35-38k and the only thing I hired out was the slab extension. I did everything myself: the plans, permits, staking, under-slab plumbing, framing, roof tie-in, walls, plumbing connections, electrical, ductwork, drywall, tile, trim, flooring, carpet, tie-ins to the existing bedroom, etc, etc, etc. I had quotes at the time (started in 2017 of anywhere from $50-100k to have a contractor do it, the "cheap" end with spec-grade materials. I wanted "good stuff" so it would have been the higher end of that had I hired it out. I added 216 sqft to the house but kept the costing under what homes are selling for per sqft in the area. That was my "line" so to speak, I did not want to over-spend on the work so I could have a negative ROI. I splurged on a nice bay window unit and a nice plywood box vanity and quartz countertop because I saw value in those. The house only had one small hall bath and was limited in closet space so for us it made sense but had I to do it all over again I would have done a larger addition to create an office space and push the other front bedroom out as well. I would have gained a lot of square footage for not terribly much more money (probably would have gotten in around $50k) but we would not be wanting for space. COVID sent us both "home" to work right after I got the CO in 2020 and now we are wishing we had an extra office space.

Build "summary" thread here:

nc4x4.com

Three Years and Some Change Later...

So with a little help here and there I built an addition to our modest home. The house is a 1960 ranch with 3 beds and 1 bath. The hall bath is small and cramped and after my wife moved in it became clearly obvious that the house was in desperate need of a second bath. It would only get worse...
nc4x4.com nc4x4.com

If you can do a lot of the work then you can save some coin but if you do not have the skills or time it can definitely get expensive in a hurry.
 
OnlyOneDR said:
If you can do a lot of the work then you can save some coin but if you do not have the skills or time it can definitely get expensive in a hurry.
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The sirens call...."save a bunch of money, and do it yourself".....MANY of us have been there, if this is a first for you, just be aware that mentally (depending on the type of person you are), you will always be at work. I bought a house in 2009 and tore the back half of the house and roof off in 2010, I did save a TON of money on the project, but for 3 years, if I was idle at home, I felt guilty. If I had to do it again, I would probably commit myself to a second job to pay for the difference between doing it myself and paying someone. I probably would have worked less hours to pay someone than to do it myself and had a completed house a whole lot sooner.

That will probably be the only time I ever take on a major renovation while living in the house.....ultimately we still had to move out for a year for the final push due to permit issues. If the house or location isn't sentimental, I would start house shopping.
 
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