Home Addition Plans in Maryland
Annapolis | Bethesda | Crofton

Are you looking for home addition plans in Maryland, Annapolis, Bethesda, or Crofton?

This article discusses the different things homeowners should consider when adding an addition to their current home. Some topics covered include: different types of home addition plans, benefits of remodeling, and how to choose the right contractor.

If you’re a Maryland homeowner who is considering a home addition and living near areas such as Annapolis, Bethesda, Bowie, Crofton, or Silver Spring, read this article to learn some important information about the home addition process before beginning your remodel.

Wait! Before You Remodel…

Before you hire a contractor and start the excavation process, there are a few things you should consider regarding your future home addition plans.

Local Area Requirements or Restrictions: Before the dirt starts flying, you should do some research into your city’s building codes, including requirements for building setbacks, height limitations, and usage. You want to ensure that your new addition does not violate any building codes to avoid future obstacles.

Current Home Foundation: Determine how the foundation for your addition will join your existing home’s foundation. Knowing how the new foundation will affect the existing foundation ensures that the necessary measures are taken to prevent damage to your home during construction.

Home Addition Materials: The building materials outlined in home addition plans greatly impact the quality and appearance of the new addition itself. You will want to ensure that your new addition is able to seamlessly blend into your existing home. Try to choose materials that are stylish, yet durable and cost-effective.

Design Decisions: Because there are a lot of design decisions to be made when incorporating an addition into your existing home, you should develop the theme for the new space in advance to ensure that construction progresses in a timely manner. The type of ceiling, trim, lighting, and fixtures being used in the space should be included in this theme.

Types of Home Additions

There are a variety of home addition plans to consider when adding space to an existing home. The most popular plans include:

Outward Addition: Allows homeowners to add additional space at the front, back, or side of their homes for use as a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, or other multi-purpose room.

Upward Addition: Allows homeowners to add a second or third story to their home. Involves adding more structural support to the existing home, but often provides a better way of gaining space than other types of additions.
Attic Conversion: Allows homeowners to essentially add another useful story of space to their homes without the need for additional structural support.

Basement Conversion: Allows homeowners to add an additional story of space to their homes, and is often preferred to an attic conversion because basements are more structurally sound than attics.

Building a Separate Structure: Usually not the best idea. Involves extending utilities many feet from the existing home, which can be quite costly. This type of home addition plan also does not provide as much resale value as other plans.

Benefits of Adding a Home Addition

As almost all homeowners know, a home addition can be a great investment and offer other benefits to the occupants if done properly. Some of these benefits include:

Cost Effective: It is almost always cheaper to incorporate home addition plans into your current home than it is to buy a new home.

Addition is “All You”: You may live in an old house designed by an unknown architect, but this new addition will provide a space that is uniquely you.

Best Way to Add Space: When you look at all of the available ways to add additional space to your current home, building an addition clearly comes out ahead of other methods, including basement or attic conversions.

Choose the Addition that’s Right for You

When deciding which home addition plans to implement, it is important to make sure you choose wisely. To find out if your new addition will add to the resale value of your home, first look at other houses in your neighborhood.

For example, how many bedrooms do homes on your block typically have? If you’re house is the only two bedroom house on the block, and all of your neighbors are listing their homes with three bedrooms, this would be a smart addition to consider.

To help homeowners remodel wisely, Remodeling magazine conducts an annual survey that compares the costs of different home addition plans with their associated resale values.

Over the past four years, the magazine found that home additions associated with bathroom and kitchen remodels have consistently shown the best returns on investment. Some home additions that should be avoided include:

Sunrooms: Cheaper alternatives to building a standard home addition. Do not offer the same benefits.

Home Office: Always cost the homeowner money that cannot be recouped.

Decks: While fun, they do not enhance the value of your home.

However, if you plan to live in your home for years to come, you will not want to add an addition solely for the purpose of increasing resale value. Be sure that you choose the addition you can afford and that makes life more convenient for you and your family.

Find the Best Contractor for the Job

Once you’ve decided what type of home addition plan you want to incorporate into your home, it’s time to choose which contractor will be helping you implement those plans. To find the best contractor to build your home addition, follow these steps:

Plan Your Project: Planning your home addition ahead of time will help you provide potential contractors with the best idea of the final product. Make sure you approve any architectural plans involved with the home addition before the contractor begins work.

Check References: Ask potential contractors to bring a list of references and a portfolio to accompany their resume during an interview. If possible, visit and inspect the contractor’s previously completed projects.

Get Multiple Quotes: Always compare costs before making a commitment. Do not always choose the lowest price. One contractor's bid could be higher than another’s bid because the materials are of a better quality or because the work will be especially thorough and require more labor.

Establish Deadlines: Work out a timetable for the completion of your home addition project. Incorporate the minimum amount of time a contractor will need to complete your project with the maximum amount of time you are willing to allow work to continue.

Sign the Contract: The contract should include a description of the project, start and end dates for work, and a payment schedule. Never pay a contractor for the entire job in advance and avoid paying in cash whenever possible.

Cunningham Contracting, Inc. is on the Job!

Cunningham Contracting, Inc. is a general contracting firm serving the Annapolis, Bethesda, Bowie, Crofton, and Silver Spring areas. We have over 25 years of experience in remodeling homes, designing and building home additions, kitchen remodels, and bathroom renovations.

At Cunningham all of our work is quality craftsmanship guaranteed. We also provide timely work at a reasonable cost. We want to make renovating your home fun and easy.

Just read what one of our clients has to say about our work:

"Last year, my husband and I hired Cunningham Contracting, Inc. to add a second story home addition to our Bowie home. We cannot even begin to say how wonderful it was to work with such a knowledgeable group of people! Our general contractor was great! He answered all of our questions and took everything in stride, even when we wanted to change the layout three times! Without a doubt, we will be hiring Cunningham Contracting, Inc. for all of our future remodeling projects. We would highly recommend them to anyone looking to finish a home remodeling project of their own."

– Liza Gibbs, Bowie, MD

We sit down with all of our clients and listen to their needs in order to assist them in the designing of their new space. We also have a well-known reputation for quality staff and work.

If you’re thinking about adding an addition to your current home, call Cunningham Contracting, Inc. for more information or a free estimate at 410-721-8757.

Cunningham strives to exceed our customers’ expectations and will do everything we can to make your dream renovations a reality.

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