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Do you ever feel like your home is too small? Perhaps the home that was perfect for yourself and your spouse when you were first married now seems tiny with the addition of pets or kids (or both). Or maybe you just want a bit of extra space somewhere – a few extra feet added onto the kitchen or a small home office as you make the transition to working from home. You could move - but house prices have gone way up since you bought your home, and you really love your neighbourhood. Fortunately, there’s another option – speaking to a Toronto home additions contractor. If you’re trying to decide what type of home addition is the best option, this article is for you. Keep reading for some of the factors to consider when you’re thinking of building an addition. Where Do You Have The Most Room? An important question when considering an addition is “Where are you going to put it?” Things to take into consideration with this are where your property boundaries lay, the overall size of your lot, and how you use your land. Do you love gardening or spending time in your yard, but adding an addition would take away from the space you have for these activities? Perhaps you have quite a large lot and can add-on while still maintaining your outdoor space. If the size of your lot is an issue, maybe you want to consider building on a second story or perhaps finishing your basement. What's The Problem You Want Your Addition To Solve? What is your goal for this addition? Yes, you want some extra space, this much is obvious. However, how do you plan to use your newfound space? Maybe you want to add an extra bedroom, as your kids out-grow sharing a room. Perhaps you want a better office for your home-based business, something more than sitting at the kitchen table with your computer. Defining how you plan to use your extra space can help to determine if it would be better to build up, or out. How Big Does Your Addition Really Need To Be? When considering an addition it can be really tempting to want to think big and go all-out. But do you really need to do this? Sometimes all you need is an extra few feet of storage space in a kitchen or a small sun porch at the front of your home in order to ease congestion. What's The Simplest Option, Structurally? If you have enough space in your lot to build out, versus up this is often the easiest and simplest option, structurally speaking. Adding a second floor generally will require a number of structural considerations, including potentially adding or moving walls, and retrofits which can reach down to the foundation. As well, you’ll have to replace the roof, since Ontario building code forbids you from reusing a roof once you’ve removed it. Building out on the main level will require you to connect the new addition to the existing foundation, but this is generally much simpler than having to build up. What's The Most Cost-Effective? Generally speaking, building out will be more cost-effective than building up, and is the easiest way to add some space to your home. Things can change, however, if you live on a steep slope, are adding on below-grade, or are adding-on in a difficult to access area. All of these factors can cause the cost to quickly skyrocket and may end up even more expensive than building up in some cases. Discussing these factors with your architect and contractor can give you an idea of what will drive up the cost of your house addition, and help you to make decisions which will help keep you on-budget. Contact Keystone Ridge Developments Are you tired of a home that feels like it’s always about to overflow? Do you need more space, and aren’t sure if you should add a second level or build-out? Whether you need another bedroom because your family is growing, or you want to build-out the kitchen for some extra space, Keystone Ridge Development can help you to determine the best house addition options for yourself and your space. Contact us today to find out how we can help create your dream home.

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