Adding A Floor To A Ranch House – Adding a second floor to a farmhouse is one way to double the living space of a modest home, but it’s not a project to be taken lightly. Editing requires professional involvement, careful and realistic planning, and a willingness to overcome certain challenges and difficulties.
The walls and foundation of your farmhouse are designed to support only the weight of the roof. When you add a second story to your home, you’re adding additional framing, siding, furniture, mechanical systems, and more, and the existing building structure may not be strong enough to handle all the extra weight. Before you seriously consider adding a second story, consult with a structural engineer to find out what you need to do to make your new two-story home compliant and structurally sound with local building codes.
Adding A Floor To A Ranch House
In addition to the extra weight, you also take up a lot of space in your home, and your mechanical systems can be strained by your load. Your current HVAC system may not be able to adequately heat and cool the new second floor, and you may need to upgrade your electrical service as well. If you are adding an additional bathroom on the second floor, a larger water heater may be required. Remember to consider both cost and space for mechanical upgrades when planning your addition.
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If you are working in a house with low ceilings, you have several options…
With the addition, you save space, but the stairs you need to get to the second floor take up a significant part of this space. A staircase can take up as much space as a small bedroom on the first or second floor, and finding a way to fit it into the floor plan can be challenging. At the beginning of the project, the architect you hire will help you find a staircase design solution that will work.
Adding a second floor is not the type of renovation project you can afford. In addition to the noise and chaos associated with the job, your home’s mechanical systems can be offline for long periods of time during renovations, and this problem is unbearable for most homeowners. More importantly, adding a second story requires removing the roof of your home, and the interior will be unusable until the new roof is completed. Until you move into your new two-story house, the best solution is to find another place to live.
Evan Gillespie grew up working in the family hardware and home improvement business and is an experienced gardener. He has been writing about home, garden and design since 1996. His work has appeared in the South Bend Tribune, Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Arts Everywhere magazine and many other publications.
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Click here to add to our database for live shows, lectures, festivals, sporting events, tournaments, fundraisers, classes, tours and more. A great way to increase the square footage of your home is to add a second floor. . Instead of building extensions that eat up valuable garden space, building can bring financial and practical benefits to your property.
Since adding another story to your existing home is a major undertaking, it’s important that you understand the different options, challenges, and possible time constraints.
In this article, we will look at some important things to consider before you decide to add additional flooring to your home.
With all the expense and confusion involved in a major home improvement project, why would you consider building a second story?
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Location is everything. This is especially true when you have close friends and family. When you love your home and neighborhood, there’s good reason to want to stay. That’s why increasing the size of your property is an affordable and valuable way to stay where your heart is.
However, you may want to consider selling at some point in the future. Adding square footage to an existing space without taking up valuable garden space will definitely increase the resale value of your home. In addition, many potential buyers are looking for larger properties, and the extra level makes your home a more attractive option.
Many of us tend to our yards. These are places where you can relax, play games, feel close to nature and entertain guests. Building eliminates the need to extend your home into your garden. Instead, you get the best of both worlds by keeping your exterior space and gaining more interior space.
Another benefit of adding a second story is the ability to address issues in other areas of your home. Part of the design and construction process involves upgrading and strengthening the rest of the building. This means that if you think that the ceiling on the first floor is too low or that an internal wall can be removed, it is perfectly reasonable to address these issues in the design and construction process.
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There are several different ways to add a second story to your home. The type of addition you choose will depend on your preferences, budget, local building codes, and the basic building code requirements of your facility for a second floor addition.
Complete Second Floor Addition: Here, the existing roof is completely removed and a brand new top floor is installed and built from scratch. Such an option is suitable if the design of the new floor in a one-story building or in the estate is different from the one below.
Replacing Your Roof: A roof replacement strategy is a logical way to go when you want to add more floor space based on the size and design of your existing property. This will be temporarily removed by adding another level before the existing roof is carefully installed.
Extension: The second floor extension is to be built, but the new addition can be extended laterally. This is where you can add another room to a flat roof garage or add square footage by building directly onto the balcony.
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Our experienced design and build development team will recommend the best option based on your circumstances and goals.
Adding a second story also affects the mechanics of your home. The various major systems running in your home are often hidden. These systems include electrical panels, boilers, pumps, pipelines and generators, heating and air conditioning systems.
All these systems work according to the square footage of your house and the things in it. Such systems should be upgraded because you are effectively doubling the amount of space in your home.
Various upgrade options are available, including upgrading electrical panels from 100 amps to 200 amps. New heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (known as HVAC) zones must be added, and decisions will likely be made to choose between forced-air or radiant heating systems.
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Adding an extra floor to your home is also a good time to install energy efficient heating, hot water and air conditioning systems. These options include solar water heating, energy-efficient ventilation, geothermal or waterless heat pumps, and grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.
Building can save space, maximize square footage and offer great views, but it comes at a price. Adding a second floor requires structural strengthening and conversion to other floors.
Adding additional structural features and components will naturally add weight to the walls and foundations of the main floor. Engineers must calculate this additional weight (including the weight of the components used) and determine where structural reinforcement is needed.
With a new floor comes the need for a new level. This means you may lose some prime floor space to accommodate stairs. In addition, existing premises and traffic flows may be affected and may require upgrading.
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The chimney is another feature that affects many levels of the house. When adding a new story, there is a choice between removing the chimney completely or building a new roof. Your preferred interior design styles and current use of the fireplace may influence your decision.
A general home renovation is also a good time to improve other structural features. From windows to doors to shutters to interior walls, a secondary addition focuses on what can be improved, replaced, built and replaced.
For example, will your existing siding be stretched or completely replaced with a new design and material? Are your main floor windows and doors looking a little tired and in need of a refresh? If you want the house to look perfect, it’s important that the windows below match the new windows upstairs.
Adding a second story to your home is a big project and will definitely require you and your family to move in temporarily. A typical project of this type can take six months
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