This is where people get in trouble. They do a renovation without an architectural plan. A good architect will save you money by avoiding change orders. Now there are books for contractor on how to generate change orders. But a stamped drawing is a legal document.

If you have the time and the inclination, function as your own general contractor. I did for a major remodel of our basement and kitchen: over 3000 sq ft.

I saved a lot of money doing this though it is a lot of work.

Anyone have a link to the wash post article?

We saved money by spending it only where it really mattereed to us. We did not, for example, put in bigger planked floors because we were happy wit putting in hardwoods that matched the existing house.

It was also cheaper to custom design a new mantle which was easy and inexpensive to build rather than buying something prefab.

We lost money by thinking we would be in the house forever and splurging on things that were not necessary (copper gutters for example). Even if you think you will be in it forever, things come up, and copper gutters will not get you anything on resale.

Good luck with your project!

Anonymous wrote:This past Saturday's Washington Post Real Estate section had a good article about building a new house. Most of it also applies to additions. One big thing mentioned that will end up costing a lot of extra $$ are "Change Orders" -- avoid them.

+1000

Don't go with the cheapest price OP. It will show a million fold - ask my neighbor!

We just spoke with an architect over the weekend. He said if you move out of the house while work is being done, that will also get you a better price since the builders will not have to spend time cleaning up every day.

OP - what is your budget and who are you using?

We are considering doing the same thing on a short sale house that we are thinking about buying. We have estimates from 200k to 500k. It's craziness. We don't need fancy finishes just more space. Thanks!

This past Saturday's Washington Post Real Estate section had a good article about building a new house. Most of it also applies to additions. One big thing mentioned that will end up costing a lot of extra $$ are "Change Orders" -- avoid them.

Hire someone you trust over the one with cheapest price. We did a bump out with a contractor that people have said, even on this board, are overpriced. We used someone cheaper for a basement reno, and they had so many unforseen add-ons that it ended up being just about the price of the other contractor. Besides, I still cringe at some of the bad work, and they didn't finish punch list stuff.

Don't add on any projects after you sign the contract, and have an iron-clad contract. Our expensive contractor gave us a 16-page contract for our bump out that listed every add on we were considering, listed every brand of material, and the allowance for every selection. Did not charge us one penny extra. The other contractor had a one page contract, and we ended up paying extra for electrical work, beam support, etc. etc. that they could have easily seen upon estimating. If you add on while folks are at work, they will overcharge you because you're likely to say yes.

Finally, making quick decisions and requiring less hand holding will save you money. If you can pick your selections, you will save money (and probably get better selections depending on your contractor). You will save in design fees this way. GL!

We're about to add a family room and master bedroom. We've never don'e any home improvement on this scale before and we're currently interviewing contractors, so we're very early on in the process.

When you added on to your house or did some major renovation, how did you save money without sacrificing too much in terms of quality, finishes, etc?

No tip too big or small! We're interested in anything you have to suggest.

Thanks.