Out of space? Did you buy a two bedroom house and you are suddenly faced with the prospect of a three bedroom family?
You could move, and many people choose to buy a new house and sell the old one. But buying a home isn’t as easy in 2014 as it was in 2007. Credit is tight and banks are still cautious about writing new mortgages. And you may not want to move. If you are already in a great neighborhood and your kids have access to a great school why would you move?
There is another option: add a room. 
Room additions are often overlooked as an option for a growing family. “Oh, the city of Los Angeles would never let me do that …” “My neighbors will hate me.” “There is no way I can add a bedroom onto my home.” On, and on, and on.
But there is less to fear, in most cases then you think. Here is what the basic process of adding a room onto your house looks like…
Hire a General Contractor
Unless you are extremely experienced in construction, you will want to hire a reputable general contractor. (Psst, Precise Home Builders has been doing room additions for over 20 years in the Los Angeles area.) You’ll want to solicit a couple of estimates from a couple of contractors. The general rule of thumb is to get 3 estimates per job. For larger jobs, like adding a second story onto a house, you may want to solicit up to 5 or more estimates. Once you’ve selected a contractor (you know, like I dunno, Precise Home Builders) you move onto the next step…
Planning, Blueprints, and Permits
A room addition isn’t like laying down new tile or changing out a kitchen sink. A room addition is major construction. And major construction takes time, planning, and forethought. Luckily, a good contractor will hold your hand through that process. You can plan on several meetings with your contractor and an architect to finalize the plans for your room addition. Your general contractor will handle pulling of permits from the proper authorities to ensure that your room addition is done to code and legally.
During the planning stage you may want to do some personal planning yourself. Construction can be disruptive to your day to day life. You may want to make arrangements for your kids and pets (a trip to Grandma for Sonny and a trip to the pet hotel for Fido). You may also want to plan for having some temporary disruptions, like going without power or water for a day.
Ask your general contractor about what they need to do and how it might effect your life so you can plan accordingly.
Construction
And then we get to part of the program that you’ve all been waiting for: Construction! Adding a room takes time. Construction can last up to month or more depending on how extensive a room addition you have planned. Once construction your room addition will also be inspected multiple times by the proper authorities to ensure everything is up to code.
Only Three Steps
Well, not really. A lot goes into a room addition. A lot of planning, time, sweat, and nails. But, yes, the actual process is pretty simple.
If you need a room addition and you want a simple process, call Precise Home Builders. Precise Home Builders specializes in building great rooms while making your life simple.
