Eventually, the time might come when you need to make a home addition. When you bought your house, it was large enough for your requirements. But thanks to children and hobbies, it’s starting to feel a little cramped.
At that point, the time has come to make a new addition to your home, often in the form of a new wing. It sounds like a grand project – and it is. But it can also make a world of difference in your quality of life. Here are some dos and don’ts for adding a new wing to your home.
Do’s of a Home Addition
Here are some things to strive for when adding on to your property.
1 – Do Let It Blend In With The Rest Of The Property
Nothing is more glaring or awkward than an extension that looks like it’s been tacked on without much thought. It makes the property look ugly and disproportionate, wrecking the aesthetic.
So if you decide to extend, be sure that it blends in with the rest of the property. Deliberately keep all of the details consistent and do whatever you can to emulate the proportion of the old house.
Remember, additions usually go wrong when they look like an afterthought. Ideally, you want a design that feels as though it has always been there.
2 – Do Keep It Subordinate
When it comes to adding a new wing, the extension should remain “subordinate” to the main property. In other words, it should appear considerably smaller (at least when viewed from the front of your home).
3 – Do Treat Your Roof With Care
When adding to your home, always consider the quality of the roof. If you don’t care for it adequately, you could wind up with leaks in the future. And that could lead to longevity issues for your extension.
Don’ts of a Home Addition
Here are a couple of mistakes you should avoid.
1 – Don’t Use VOC Paints On The Interior
Volatile organic compounds are nasty substances that some paint manufacturers put in their products to make them more lustrous and long-lasting. Today, though, thanks to technology, they’re no longer necessary. However, they are still in common use by builders today and adversely affect new construction indoor air quality.
Where possible, you want to avoid these compounds. If you’re building an extension, tell the contractors to avoid using them at all costs. It’s much better to use natural paints that won’t out-gas over the following weeks and months, potentially causing you health problems.
2 – Don’t Ignore Materials And Details
When it comes to a home addition, nothing is more important than the materials and details. Ideally, they should be consistent with the original building.
Achieving this, though, is challenging. Even if you manage to track down the original manufacturer and create a building that looks practically identical to the original, you still have to deal with the effects of aging. Tiles, bricks, and windows all start looking different as they get older. They don’t stay the same.
The trick here is to choose building materials that look the same as their aged counterparts. Some builders will artificially age building components for you. And others will offer to scrub your existing tiles to make them look new again. Either approach will work.
