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In addition to the economics of adding a second floor to an existing first floor and dismantling and re-building a roof versus jacking up the original first floor and building a new first floor under it and not having to dismantle and build a roof, after mentioning this to someone offline, it was suggested that there is also the issue of whether the existing first floor can take the weight of a new second floor on top of it, and this may be why it is important to seek the advice of an architect prior to hiring a contractor.
In addition to the economics of adding a second floor to an existing first floor and dismantling and re-building a roof versus jacking up the original first floor and building a new first floor under it and not having to dismantle and build a roof, after mentioning this to someone offline, it was suggested that there is also the issue of whether the existing first floor can take the weight of a new second floor on top of it, and this may be why it is important to seek the advice of an architect prior to hiring a contractor.
Thats what MICROLAMS were built for. all contracting companies use an architect.
To the OP, we have a two story cape with an addition. Due to structural insuffiency and sagging of the entire second floor and roof (the people who built our house used 2 x 6's to frame the second floor, and span 14 feet) we decided to tear off the second story---open to the sky, and reframe from the floor joists up...using 2 x 12's, and a truss roof. We had an engineer blueprint, and permits from the town, as required.
We also raised the downstairs' ceiling height to regular height, as it was a little low, which made it difficult to find replacement doors. We also put in a new kitchen, including tile, cabinets, an island, a desk nook, and a small bump out with a skylight (6 x 14), a 8 x 12 deck with an anderson patio door, a new downstairs bathroom with 6 foot jacuzzi tub, dual vanity, separate shower, (used a small bedroom and converted it...didn't change walls, just added plumbing), a new bathroom upstairs, dual vanity, tub/shower surround (but no master bathroom, which is making resale a b*tch) all anderson windows, and resided the top half of the house, and reroofed the addition to match. We added gutter guards, no air conditioning, but a whole house fan. We have six panel wood doors, stained golden oak, and a new oak staircase, We have all stained trim, except for in the downstairs bathroom.
We lived in the addition during this mess, which was a good six to eight months, with some items never finished by our contractor after we had paid him. There are five of us who live in the house. It was not easy stumbling over boxes and climbing down a ladder in the middle of the night to use the bathroom downstairs. It's also not fun to have people in your house all the time, with little privacy.
This cost us around $120,000 for the construction, but we paid for the extras, such as new lighting, carpets, painted ourselves, paid for some of the new copper pipe, paid the plumber extra, paid the son of the contractor extra for ceiling fans, etc., which probably all came to an extra $15,000.
We now have a nice solid house Like my Daddy always said, leave things better than you found them. Good luck to you with your house purchase. If you would like to see my house, it is listed on the MLS, as it is for sale, and I could give you the listing number just to see how it turned out.
To the OP, we have a two story cape with an addition. Due to structural insuffiency and sagging of the entire second floor and roof (the people who built our house used 2 x 6's to frame the second floor, and span 14 feet) we decided to tear off the second story---open to the sky, and reframe from the floor joists up...using 2 x 12's, and a truss roof. We had an engineer blueprint, and permits from the town, as required.
We also raised the downstairs' ceiling height to regular height, as it was a little low, which made it difficult to find replacement doors. We also put in a new kitchen, including tile, cabinets, an island, a desk nook, and a small bump out with a skylight (6 x 14), a 8 x 12 deck with an anderson patio door, a new downstairs bathroom with 6 foot jacuzzi tub, dual vanity, separate shower, (used a small bedroom and converted it...didn't change walls, just added plumbing), a new bathroom upstairs, dual vanity, tub/shower surround (but no master bathroom, which is making resale a b*tch) all anderson windows, and resided the top half of the house, and reroofed the addition to match. We added gutter guards, no air conditioning, but a whole house fan. We have six panel wood doors, stained golden oak, and a new oak staircase, We have all stained trim, except for in the downstairs bathroom.
We lived in the addition during this mess, which was a good six to eight months, with some items never finished by our contractor after we had paid him. There are five of us who live in the house. It was not easy stumbling over boxes and climbing down a ladder in the middle of the night to use the bathroom downstairs. It's also not fun to have people in your house all the time, with little privacy.
This cost us around $120,000 for the construction, but we paid for the extras, such as new lighting, carpets, painted ourselves, paid for some of the new copper pipe, paid the plumber extra, paid the son of the contractor extra for ceiling fans, etc., which probably all came to an extra $15,000.
We now have a nice solid house Like my Daddy always said, leave things better than you found them. Good luck to you with your house purchase. If you would like to see my house, it is listed on the MLS, as it is for sale, and I could give you the listing number just to see how it turned out.
I think this is a lot of work for the money ... then I noticed the location is hudson valley. Things will most likely be much more expensive in long island for regional prices.
I think this is a lot of work for the money ... then I noticed the location is hudson valley. Things will most likely be much more expensive in long island for regional prices.
I was thinking that too. I got excited when I saw how cheap it was, but then looked at the location.
All of this information is really helpful though, because it gives me an idea of the experience during construction.
I had a friend with a ranch on a crawl space below it. The foundation was shot and needed to be replaced anyway. So she had it jacked up about 4 feet (the crawl was about 4 feet high already, replaced the foundation at the same level as before, left the house up high and and framed out a lower level and turned it into a bi-level. Left the rooms upstairs the same except for sacrificing a tiny bedroom which became the stairs to the lower level. Added a family room, bedroom and full bath in the "new" lower level. Came out nice for a tight budget job.
I am actually surprised this doesn't happen more around here. There are thousands of ranches on crawl spaces that could be expanded this way.
You could remove the basement and have it placed on top of the first floor.
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Like my Daddy always said, leave things better than you found them. Good luck to you with your house purchase. If you would like to see my house, it is listed on the MLS, as it is for sale, and I could give you the listing number just to see how it turned out.
