Building an extra room to your house can be a bit more complicated than you think.  The first thing you need to do is look at the Property Survey (or Plat) and see what the building setbacks are.   Building Setbacks tell you where you are not allowed to build.  Look for any type of Easements or City Right of Ways on the Property Survey as well.  If everything looks good then you will need to check with your Home Owner’s Association to see what restrictions your particular neighborhood has (if any).  Doing your homework ahead of time will save you from costly building mistakes.  The next step will be to hire a licensed contractor in your area to build the new room addition.  This is the most critical part of the process.  You have heard the horror stories of construction projects that got completely out of control, about a contractor that ran off with the clients money or about contractors being full of excuses.  Ask friends, family, co-workers and neighbors if they have any recommendations for a contractor that they have used in the past.  Get online and search for yourself.  The easiest way is to use Google to find local contractors.  Example: if you live in San Antonio, Texas and are looking for a local contractor to build a room addition, you could type in: “San Antonio Room Additions”.  Make sure that the contractor is a member of The Better Business Bureau.  The reason is that if anything ever goes wrong during the construction project, The Better Business Bureau will step in and act a mediator between you and the contractor.

Always make sure your contractor pulls the proper building permits for the job.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to go back and fix mistakes made when building a home and more times than not, it started when the first contractor didn’t pull the proper permits.  Mistakes are part of construction.  It isn’t an exact science.  But, fixing those mistakes and making sure the project is completed properly isn’t always done, in my opinion.”  Danny Garcia, owner of Rhino Design Build, LLC in San Antonio, Texas.

Family Room Addition

After you have chosen the right contractor, it is now time to plan how the new family room addition will fit into your existing home floor plan.  You want the design to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing.  Make sure the contractor uses similar building materials so that the new room addition blends in to the existing home.  There is nothing worse than seeing an obvious extension of a home that doesn’t look right.  You will appreciate this warning when it is time to sell your home.  A good contractor will work with you to determine the right layout for your family’s needs.  If you don’t feel comfortable with the contractor’s idea, you can hire an architect or designer.  This can get pretty expensive and delay the project further.  I recommend choosing a “design/build construction company.”  A design/build company can do both the design and construction of the new home remodel.  Most of these companies have a designer on staff or at least someone who is creative enough to put a decent design together.