Home addition in WF questions and G/C recommendation? (Raleigh: to rent, credit)

[68scout]

I'll try not to be long winded...i gotta ton of questions.

So the decision has been made to move the in-laws in with us. Pop cant handle the stairs anymore.

I've never done anything like this before, and I am a great mechanic and a terrible carpenter.

I've talked to a neighbor around the corner who is a builder, he says I'm looking at about $55,000 or so for what I want. I'm also on a septic system and I am learning there are rules about "bedrooms" and etc. For example I have heard that if it has a closet its a "bedroom" and the number of bedrooms determine septic capability.

He says I need an architect...other folks say I need an all inclusive company and the plans will be provided by them.

Talked to, a referral from a friend, a "drafting guy" who came out and talked to me and said it would be roughly $300 or more for him to draw something up, another $200 or $300 for engineer approval. He also stated that I needed to know septic info.

So I called Wake county, got my septic map mailed. Says 3 bedrooms, 1000 gal tank. Called the drafting guy back and had a 10 minute conversation filled with a crap load of "I don't knows" from him so needless to say I don't think I'm gonna pay him $500 up front.

So Where do I go? Where to start? Do companies come out and give a free estimate and be knowledgable about my needs and Wake county rules? I live in a 1050 sq ft Cape Cod style house...on just shy of an acre of land, in Wake Forest county but not city limits. Small subdivision with NO HOA, and at least 3 neighbors have built onto their house with large additions so it must be possible.

Please give both your advice and experiences in adding a large addition...

I did call Blue sky, but they never even called back. I figured if I'm gonna spend almost 60k or more I would get a hungry salesman...nothing.

Lastly, We plan on using the equity in my in laws N Raleigh Town home, which is paid in full this year, and then renting it out next year to subsidize their retirement, and pay for the addition.

I want to build a full mother in law suite on the bottom, and upstairs will be the new master bedroom for us...I have been told by many people that it is cheaper to build 2 story than one which I find odd...but good for me

Questions/Comments/Advice/LOCAL Builder Recommendations Welcomed!

[BoBromhal]

A draftsman and an engineer aren't going to know about your septic system.

If a licensed builder around the corner told you that a # and to contact an architect, that might be a good plan.

It's not $ to $ cheaper to build a 2-story home/addition, it's cheaper per square foot. The digging, engineering, and building of a foundation is always there, and the framing of the 2nd story is much less - you still have a roof either way.

But yes - the first question you will need to answer is :

Can I and how much to upgrade the septic system to 4 bedrooms (or more if you need)?

[68scout]

I talked to a septic company, but they can't say anything without knowing what I am trying to build.

It seems everyone I have called in my preliminary research tells me "I don't know". So far


My neighbor the builder I am unsure of his license and what not....he does build houses, but I guess he gets the plans from someone else and doesn't design? He came over and talked to me for a couple minutes

[leighbhe]

This may or may not help, but FWIW, here goes.

We are also in wake forest, and last year (about this time) we added a pool and detached (very large) two story garage. We are also on septic. So, we had to have a septic designer come out (it was 800 dollars) and we walked the lot with her, and told her our plans (at the the approximate area we were planning on building). We wanted to eventually add an additional bathroom in the detached garage so we had to accommodate that as well.

She came up with a plan, told us where we needed to place the property and designated a new "repair area" on our lot. We had to move one septic line and add an additional pump (new regulations from when our septic was placed 7 years ago). Moving of the lines, etc was done by a septic company and was different than the septic designer. The septic designer gave us a write up of her report, filed it with wake county and we incorporated that into our design plans.

For the design of the pool and garage, my husband was able to do it on sketch up (he understand construction and enjoyed it), and then we had those plans sent to a friend who could draft up the plans. You definitely need someone to draft the plan.

My husband acted as the general contractor because we were doing the work on our own home. He took the plans to the permit office and got the building permits. My husband than we about hiring all of the different people to do the various aspects of the building. We had separate people to do:

Footings, and any other concrete work
framing
roofing
electrical
plumbing
windows

and probably so much more that I cannot remember since he took care of most of it. With all of the contractors, we paid them half when the job was complete and the other half when it passed inspection. The sub contractors scheduled the inspections.

We probably saved between 5-10 thousand by being our own contractors, but it was a lot of work that was made easier because my husband understood all of the aspects of the building process. We were very happy with the subs we used, and would recommend almost all of them (the electricians were so so).

First thing you need to start with is septic. You need to know if you can even put an addition on the house! We started with septic and then moved forward from there.

Leigh

[68scout]

Wow, so $800 just to have someone come out and "talk" ??

[caspian65]

I'm in the process of doing a rather large addition/renovation project on my house. If you search 'RDUBiker''s posts here, you can see the work his contractor did, which is the same one I chose for my project... Joseph Grantham. I also would probably categorize myself as a great mechanic, but sorry carpenter, so I had to hire someone competent like Joseph to take care of most everything. There have been a few things here and there that I have done like remove a section of fence and helped with some concrete.

Not sure how you plan on financing this, but there are options other than using equity. We got a construction to perm loan that was based on the appraised value of the home after the improvements are made. Was a very easy process with BB&T and would recommend them.

[68scout]

Originally Posted by caspian65

I'm in the process of doing a rather large addition/renovation project on my house. If you search 'RDUBiker''s posts here, you can see the work his contractor did, which is the same one I chose for my project... Joseph Grantham. I also would probably categorize myself as a great mechanic, but sorry carpenter, so I had to hire someone competent like Joseph to take care of most everything. There have been a few things here and there that I have done like remove a section of fence and helped with some concrete.

Not sure how you plan on financing this, but there are options other than using equity. We got a construction to perm loan that was based on the appraised value of the home after the improvements are made. Was a very easy process with BB&T and would recommend them.

Pm me his # and I will call them....will it cost $ for an initial consultation?

My father in law is footing the bill, using the equity in the paid off town home, which we plan to rent out after they move in....there is no way my wife and I qualify for the $ needed on our own, but he has equity, no bills to speak of, and stellar credit approval....talking to my own banker he says this is a good way to go....

[leighbhe]

Originally Posted by 68scout

Wow, so $800 just to have someone come out and "talk" ??

No, the 800 dollars was for her to do a septic design for us, which we had to have in order to prove that we could build the structure. we gave that information to wake county when we applied for the permit.

Leigh