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As I now consider a porch and an attached garage, I have to ask how is cost per square foot calculated?
Do I just take the cost of the addition only, and divide it by the total square feet?
Do I take the cost of the addition plus the cost of the garage plus the cost of the porch and divide it by the new total square feet?
Isn't garage or porch square feet less expensive?
What about if I want to improve some of the existing structure by adding new floors and new siding to match the addition? Since the existing structure costs have nothing to do with the addition, how can that cost be part of the addition cost?
Bottom line is if I decide to do it all, do I still simply divide the total cost by the total sq ft of area touched?
Things like this need to be addressed before you get started. The calcs and foundation analysis should come from a registered PE. That is the only way you can protect yourself from liability. I'd have a structural engineer personally check out the foundation as well. Its one thing to say, yes under ideal conditions, the foundation could support the new structure, only to find out its cracked or bowing etc and can't actually support the new structure.
Your contract needs to be IRON CLAD putting all of the risk on the contractor.
does it make sense to hire somebody who works independently to manage everything? i thinks someone came here in the past and said you should get a construction manager to oversee all this. that would probably work for me to reduce the headache and potential problems of running the show myself (im considering building a home).
Why did you hire an architect if you're not going to use their services asking them these questions specific to your town code?
Not sure what you are asking.....I mentioned earlier that the Architect is associated with the construction company and if they win the bid I will be using their services...
If they don't win the bid, the architects drawings are still valid and I am already using his services.
Personally I'd tear down the whole thing dig a real foundation(designed specifically for the load you are putting on top of it) with full basement and go from there. In for a penny, in for a pound.
Not sure what you are asking.....I mentioned earlier that the Architect is associated with the construction company and if they win the bid I will be using their services...
If they don't win the bid, the architects drawings are still valid and I am already using his services.
Key1
My point is that the architect is the person you should be asking these question to about how they determined their square footage and how it fits under the code that is specific to your town. For example, I can create a 100 SF shed in my backyard and not have to tell anyone about it and it counts against nothing. But the minute I call it a garage it counts and I need to comply with the building code. But that's in my town.
does it make sense to hire somebody who works independently to manage everything? i thinks someone came here in the past and said you should get a construction manager to oversee all this. that would probably work for me to reduce the headache and potential problems of running the show myself (im considering building a home).
For something as large as a home addition, I would spend the money on a GC to manage every thing.
Not sure what you are asking.....I mentioned earlier that the Architect is associated with the construction company and if they win the bid I will be using their services...
If they don't win the bid, the architects drawings are still valid and I am already using his services.
Key1
Which is why you need to be asking the architect all of these questions. He or she does this for a living and knows the cost per square foot.
Something I learned with my construction? Take your final & approved plans to a place like Staples to get copies to give to contractors for bids. It's cheaper (it was cheaper for us) than going through your architect.
I work in construction management (commercial). This contractor could also be bidding low becuase of the previous relationship (and trust) from doing the drawings. They win the work and then BOOM, the change orders and extra work tickets start hitting.
Well,
Things have drastically changed in the last few days. When my architect showed my wife and I what was possible we were like kids in a candy store...totally out of control. Our current leading design candidate expands what we thought was a straight forward addition to include a 600 sq foot attached garage, and a covered front porch, and new wood floors everywhere in old and new area, new siding on old and new area, and a finishable attic, large kitchen island, wood cabinets, nice finishings throughout.
We expect to live here at least another 10 years if not longer.
I have no idea how to estimate and share with you the initial total cost per square foot of the addition since now a garage, a porch, and the existing structure are all part of the remodel.
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Here comes the Boom
