I live in a subdivision that has various sized houses. Some around 1500 sq. ft. to 4000 sq. ft. We moved in, ours was 1900 sq. ft. w/ an unfinished upstairs. So, we finished the upstairs and turned our deck into a dining room. NOw, we are currently at 3100 sq. ft. w/ a one car garage (good sized one). Johnston County tax accessor came out this past year as we checked off that we had done remodelling. Now, we are going to have to add a little more space as we'll have 10 kids this coming year. We are trying to find the most economical & also, not make our home look out of place in the neighborhood. Ideally, it would be to add a garage but at this time, we can not. So, we have decided to turn our garage into 1 bedroom. We would not be adding a bathroom. The garage is already finished inside. We'd have to obviously add a floor as it is currently concrete. This expense should not be too bad. My questions are 1) assuming we have to permit the work. Though nothing structurally would change. (husband says we have to permit, I'm verifying--LOL). 2) how much does a permit cost nowadays? 3) have any of you replaced your garage door & put a wall up? This is the major thing we'd have to do. If so, could you give a guesstimate of costs? 4) trying to decide what to do about our heating/ cooling situation. That is of a major concern. We have a heatpump that is 16 years old & been on it's last leg for years now. It was sizedf or the original 1900 sq. ft. home. So, when we finished the upstairs, we added baseboard heat & window units. Trying to decide what to do for the new space. Costs are a huge factor. So opinions needed. Would you go w/ a new heatpump sized to heat/cool the whole house or do some type of separate heating/ cooling as we did before? Right now, simply collecting information & ideas. If we do this change, we realize we most likely would never be able to sell this home which is another option...move. We would be able to find a bigger home for the same monthly payment or less. However, we truly love the 4042 area and our neighborhood is one I really don't want to leave. Kids have friends here, we have firends here & neighbors that don't complain about kids playing outside. So, we have pretty much decided to stay and some how make room. Just looking at ideas of how some of you may have added onto your home or made space where it was limited. Rough estimates is what are needed. Worst case... we just add the floor & change out the garage door. My husband has some great ideas but I feel the more ideas & those thinking out of the box we get, the more we'll be able to make a better decision. MOst the time, you change something in your home, you are stuck w/ it for quite awhile. Hope you don't mind me asking for some ideas. I know others on here have added on or changed a room. We do all work ourselves to cut down on costs. Husband used to work on houses. He does all electrical and carpentry stuff. I know many rules have changed since we last did any work ourselves. So, are you even allowed to do electrical on your own now or do you have to hir someone? Sorry for all the questions. He can not do plumbing or roofing. He said he feels more comfortable leaving that to professionals. Me too--LOL. Though this current project would require no roofing. So, any ideas, send them my way. Got to get some work done today so will check this thread later tonight. Thanks in advance. Stephanie--mom to 7
Stephanie - I know my hubby is super busy this week and we're out of town next week, but I could see if he could come by and answer some of your questions after we get back. I know you said you'd do it yourself (which is totally fine) but he could probably help you with ideas and tell you how to keep costs down, if nothing else.
