We're thinking of adding onto our house, but would this make a wierd floorplan and negatively affect resale?!?

Question

We live in a 900 square foot 2 bedroom house. The current layout is this - You walk in the front door into the living room. From the living room, you walk into the dining room, and from the dining room to the kitchen (these rooms are all one in front of the other in a straight line, with the kitchen being at the back). There is a hallway off of the dining room off of which are the bathroom and 2 small bedrooms . We are thinking about adding onto the back of the house (25 to 30 feet) - making the kitchen bigger, making a family room and master bedroom and 2nd bathroom (the kitchen extension and the family room would line up with the present kitchen), but would it seem wierd to have to walk through the kitchen to get to the addition which would accomodate the family room, master bedroom and 2nd bathroom (the doors to the bedroom and bath would be off the family room)? Would this layout affect the resale value of the house negatively? Help please! Thanks in advance!

My husband is a carpenter, he'd be doing the work - we drew up floor plans, total material cost would be $14,000 with us doing the work ourselves (which we are going to do as we have lots of construction experience. Would it still be worth it?

yes I'm sure $14k is the total material cost - we took the plan to Menards (a store that carries everything we need) they gave us the estimate - with lighting, flooring, electrical, ductwork, lumber, harware, roof, windows, right down to the last cabinet and door knob, the cost was $11,000 for ALL of the materials. We already have had a few contractors bid the cost for digging the basement which will cost $900, and the cost for pouring the basement and reinforcing the existing basement wall is $2,500. My husband and I will be doing all of the construction (he and my dad have built 2 houses together), so we won't have to pay for labor, so yep, that's it - $14,000.

Answer 1

In most cases any improvments to a house only help it's value, it doesn't harm it. The catch is doing an Improvement that you like that other people will also like. if your planning on being in this house for a while, I would do the addition how you see fit. If your planning on selling soon, i would hit some open houses to see the different ways homes are laid out and compare what you are trying to do to what's on the market. I've been in lots of house that the layout just didn't make sense. I would recommend that you combine your current living area and dining area into a large family room. Move your dining area to the new section and ad a den/office with any extra space rather than moving the living area to the back. Another option is to not have a seperate door for the new bathroom and make it a strictly 'master bath' off the master bedroom. Your house is laid out almost exactly like mine, so the added area should not take away from where the current bathroom is as an inconvienance to get to. I know I'm totally redoing your plan, but that would make more sense to me as a potential home buyer. well that's my $.02 worth. Good luck on your addition!

Answer 2

My own feeling is that $14,000 is way too low. You need to add a foundation, first of all, a major expense. And have you factored the costs of expanding the heating and a/c? You may need larger water heaters, furnaces and central a/c units; you may also need to heavy-up your electrical system to handle the increased load.

Secondly, the new plan is awkward, people don't like going thru the kitchen to get to other parts of the house. Why not try to extend that hallway to the old 2 bedrooms so that it leads to the new addition, instead of having to go thru the kitchen? Or, just open the family room to the kitchen.

A possibility is to go UP not out. You'll need a stairway.

Having said all this, adding a third bedroom and a second bath are two of the things most likely to add to the value of your house. People these days expect at least 3-4 bedrooms and 2-3 baths. So the added value should cover the costs, but the house will still be harder to sell than one with a more typical floor plan.

Answer 3

My house has an odd layout, but it's very typical where I live. We live in a split floor plan where the kids bedrooms are on one side of the house and our bedroom is on the other side, but it's right off the kitchen! I absolutely hate it. There's no privacy. Your best bet would be to ask an architect his opinion or ask some friends and family. You can design rooms on sites through Home Depot also. Nothing worse than getting a house with an odd floor plan that you can't sell later. It's really hard to picture your plans without looking at some drawings. You are questioning the plans, so maybe you already have your answer. Could you possibly add a hall off the family room so you don't have the same problem I have? Sorry I couldn't help more, but I mainly wrote to warn you about the privacy thing.

Answer 4

You gave a good description, but still it's hard to visualize the house and the addition you want to do.
In general, if the result looks as if something was not there before, it makes the house less attractive (and getting to the addition through the kitchen is not the best thing to have...)
Will you built everything yourself or have a good licensed contractor do it? I'd suggest bringing an experienced contractor in and ask him how to do it. You' be surprised how a professional can give you an idea, which escaped you.
I needed to put up a simple dividing wall in an awkward place in one of my properties recently. I had 10 ideas of my own on how to do it. A contractor showed up and came up with the best solution within 2 minutes...

Answer 5

The majority of family rooms are located near the kitchen and opposite of the living room area, but a master bedroom off the family room: well, I wouldn't like it.
I'd want my master bedroom/bath to be located away from the general living quarters. Privacy and less sound.
Like most homeowners, your choices are limited so you'll have to work with what you have and still accomplish what you need.
As far as re-sell, like the others have mentioned, don't expect to get in return what you put out.

Answer 6

I don't think that would be too weird. I have seen lots worse!

There are many remodelers who can help you with the floorplan. Since you won't be able to recoup the entire cost of the addition anyway, just do what makes the most sense for your family.

At 900 sq ft - just about anything will be an improvement that will increase your resale value, but don't expect it to be increased dollar for dollar. At best, you could expect about 50% to 75% return on your investment.

Make sure you check with your city, county, and any local units of government to make sure you can build that far out on your lot. Most city lots have setback requirements that might cause you some problems.

Answer 7

It sounds as if you are in a modified "shotgun" house (all the doors link up from front to back, if you shot a gun you could go all the way through without hitting a wall).

It does sound kinda weird, unless you created a second hallway that would bypass the kitchen & dining room. Sketch it out on paper and decide whether you would buy a house that was laid out that way.

Can you go up, instead of out?

Answer 8

does the $14,000 include foundation costs for the extension? If yes, I don't see how you could lose if you're add master bedroom and 1-1/2 new baths - the house would have to increase at least that much in value

Answer 9

It could affect the resale price negatively. When I say negatively, I mean that the price would not go down, but you may not get out what you put into it. If you spend say 50,000, there is no guarantee that you will get 50,000 or more back out of it. Do not build something that prices potential buyers out of the neighborhood or market. You may also have trouble find comparables in your area.

One thought would be to not add on, but put the investment into a different home purchase.

Answer 10

Your house sounds a lot like mine. It had an addition already built when I bought it. The addition goes all the way across the back of the house and is a large master bedroom, walk-in closet, and bathroom. The layout you have planned sounds to me like it would work great. If you have second thoughts about the layout, do what was done at my home and make one of the bedrooms a cozy family room.