Types of Room and Home Additions

The Space Your Home Needs

Is your home feeling cramped and too small for your current needs? Although you may love your home, sometimes you simply outgrow the square footage. And if you’re reading this article, that is likely an issue you are experiencing.

Your solutions come down to three options: living with the dysfunction, moving, or adding onto your current home. Depending on your desires, we strongly encourage you to look at the value a well-designed room addition can add to your home. See our home additions guide for more in-depth information.

As a skilled home additions contractor, we at Lakeside Renovation and Design know that tailoring your current home is often the best solution to your lifestyle woes, especially if you already love your home. No home will ever be perfect, unless you modify it to be exactly what you want.

Let’s look at some common types of additions that bring value to your home.

Value-Adding Home Additions

1. Traditional Room Addition

The most common type of room addition is the traditional create-an-entirely-new-structure home addition. With this type of home addition, homeowners hire a contractor to add a completely new room onto an existing area of their home. Common rooms that are added to homes include:

• Additional bathroom
• Extra bedroom
• Family room
• Great rooms

The key to a traditional home addition is hiring a contractor who can create a plan to make the new addition match your existing home in flow and style. A contractor that specializes in both home exteriors and interiors can help achieve this goal.

2. Bump Out Add-on

Bump out additions are a simple addition of a couple of square feet onto an existing room. They are the perfect options for areas of the home that simply need a little more space, where an entire room addition is not necessary.

One of the most common types of bump out additions is a kitchen extension. Another common option would be a bathroom extension to either provide a little more room or turn a half bathroom into a full bathroom. Both rooms are heavily utilized in a home and require space for ease of function.

Bump out additions add square footage at a lower investment cost than a traditional addition.

3. Basement

Instead of expanding outwards, basement additions allow homeowners to expand downward. They are a great option for homeowners who do not have the ability to expand outwards due to yard sizes, covenants, permitting, etc.

For homeowners with existing, unfinished basements, basement renovations mean no new exterior structures have to be built. The space is already present, and by hiring a professional home additions contractor, you will achieve a well-insulated, well-designed room that can be transformed into a plethora of rooms.

4. Season Room

The benefits of a season room include adding a sense of indoor/outdoor living to your home and a, typically, more affordable price tag than a traditional add-on.

Some important terminology with regards to a successful season room addition include:

• Three season room— A seasonal room addition such as a three-season room is a walled-in structure that is filled with numerous windows to open the space to the outdoors. It can be used for three of the four seasons.
• Four season room— An insulated sunroom created to withstand the weather of all four seasons, meaning the room can be used all year-round.
• Prefab— Season rooms can be purchased pre-fabricated, which entails a kit with the necessary framing and parts to construct the sunroom.
• Custom— For a season room that is unique to your home, custom builds are an option. They can be specifically designed for your home and are typically built with higher-end materials.

Learn more about the difference and the value that a three- or four-season room can add to your home.

5. In-Law/Aging-in-Place Suite

As your parents age, there may come a day when they need extra care and attention. And if you want them close to family, sometimes the best solution is to have them move in.

This can, at times, require a home addition complete with a kitchenette and en-suite. Sometimes, it simply requires a separate room for them to sleep in. No matter the level of need your in-laws or parents require, aging-in-place additions are becoming more common and can enhance the value of your overall lifestyle.

6. Garage Conversion

Another lower-cost room addition comes in the form of a garage conversion. Your garage already has a laid foundation and an existing structure. With the help of a professional to enhance the insulation and get the room up to code, you can save costs while adding square footage to your home.

The main issue for Missouri homeowners would be losing the overall coverage of your vehicle during the harsher weather months of tornado season, which can bring with it heavy wind and hail. This should be a major consideration if you believe you will be selling the home anytime in the near future. Prospective buyers are often accustomed to a garage, so weigh the benefits and the negatives before committing to this addition.

To combat the weather issues, consider installing an awning or covered parking area in place of your newly renovated garage.

Discover How Additional Space Can Enhance Your Life

To begin your home addition process, take some time to assess what type of space your home needs. Based on the overall needs of your family, you’ll be able to determine what kind of addition is warranted for your lifestyle. See our three steps to prepare for the perfect home addition.

If you are ready to increase the space and function of your home, call a skilled home additions contractor for your needs. Our Lakeside team couples design with construction in our dual design-build team to achieve a cohesive addition that matches your preexisting home. Discover how we can add value to your home through our home additions services.