Anonymous wrote:To show how times have change my old house had a “Florida Room” small unheated extension around 8x10 in back of house that leaked, floor crooked, uninsulated with no permits.

I actually did get a permit as inspector just signed off.

Anyhow my older neighbor told me laughing year around 1978 my neighbor threw a BBQ with free beer and burgers feel free to invite wife and kids and bring your power tools.

He said they threw that thing up half drink in a few hours.

And imagine today it costs 50k to 100k.

My favorite they framed it and used vinyl siding inside and out no insulation. Literally vinyl on inside and outside. Roof was plywood worth tarpaper. Too bad neighbors are not helpful anymore

Was it in Florida? The building code is there to keep people from being hurt when the thing collapses under snow or blows away in a hurricane, and to keep neighborhoods from being devalued by rotting tarpaper plywood sunrooms. In the vast majority of the country you can more or less do what you want. If you want to live in a dense area, there are rules.

When I travel internationally I’m always reminded that building codes and enforcement of them are one of the primary differences between highly developed countries and not. And that’s the parts I can see walking around (like buildings not falling down and the air not filled with the smell of sewage or dust). The invisible parts are worse, as in Turkey right now.

To show how times have change my old house had a “Florida Room” small unheated extension around 8x10 in back of house that leaked, floor crooked, uninsulated with no permits.

I actually did get a permit as inspector just signed off.

Anyhow my older neighbor told me laughing year around 1978 my neighbor threw a BBQ with free beer and burgers feel free to invite wife and kids and bring your power tools.

He said they threw that thing up half drink in a few hours.

And imagine today it costs 50k to 100k.

My favorite they framed it and used vinyl siding inside and out no insulation. Literally vinyl on inside and outside. Roof was plywood worth tarpaper. Too bad neighbors are not helpful anymore

Our neighbors just enclosed their carport to make another room, which didn’t require a roof or foundation, and it still cost between $70-$80k.

Anonymous wrote:Our duplex is tiny and we’re adding about 250 sq ft. It will be a finished room with a full bathroom. I believe it will come to about 70k. We considered a sunroom, but thought that a real room would be more useful for us. We thought about moving, but between transaction fees etc, we figured that building an extension would be cheaper.

Who are you using? Are you in DC?

Our duplex is tiny and we’re adding about 250 sq ft. It will be a finished room with a full bathroom. I believe it will come to about 70k. We considered a sunroom, but thought that a real room would be more useful for us. We thought about moving, but between transaction fees etc, we figured that building an extension would be cheaper.

Dear OP - I feel ya. We have gotten so 4 quotes to do something similar. All were six figures to only add 150 sq ft. It's awful. We are going to abandon this project. Moving makes more sense at those prices.

Anonymous wrote:We added a room for a very small performance pool.
It's about 15' wide by 22' long. Concrete floors. This didn't include the pool, decking material around it, light fixtures or fans. It just included a concrete floor which we have to tile later.

My husband installed the pool and did most of the electrical and HVAC. We added a deck above this room.

It was $145,000.
I had it painted myself too. You get very little for your money.

We had many issues and we were on our own to diagnose and repair them. Contractors really don't do much these days and very few oversee the work - they just coordinate the trades coming in. You need to hire an inspector or know how to supervise the work yourself.

15x22 is small?? And you put a deck above the pool room? Yes I can see why it was $145k.

Perhaps this could be an option
https://struxure.com/

We added a room for a very small performance pool.
It's about 15' wide by 22' long. Concrete floors. This didn't include the pool, decking material around it, light fixtures or fans. It just included a concrete floor which we have to tile later.

My husband installed the pool and did most of the electrical and HVAC. We added a deck above this room.

It was $145,000.
I had it painted myself too. You get very little for your money.

We had many issues and we were on our own to diagnose and repair them. Contractors really don't do much these days and very few oversee the work - they just coordinate the trades coming in. You need to hire an inspector or know how to supervise the work yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just had a screened in porch put in. We upgraded and put in EZ breeze windows and a fireplace. The quote for the porch itself (without electrical work, painting, the windows and the fireplace) was 45k. Our total was more around 90k with the upgrades we did. However, I think even with only the basic screened in porch and just hanging some string lights having or just having a little electrical work done the extra space would still be a game changer if you have a small space. Our contractor works in the Fairfax area and we were very happy with work, I can put his info if you want it.

Np. I live in ffx. Would appreciate his info.

They were great. Very old school (the contractor mails you the quote) and very good
https://www.fairfaxdeckdesigner.com/

PP here, also, buying furniture that is space conscious and just the right size helps a lot.

Absolutely not.

That said, you'd be amazed how much roomier your home can feel if you clear out a lot of your belongings are get really good at organizing what you have.

It's a lot less expensive and time consuming than renovating or moving.

Can you go up? Finished attic space can sometimes be done affordably.

Two or three years ago, our neighbors used this company to add a very basic 13x15 screened porch on their house. I believe she said it was about $35K.

https://economycraftsmen.com/

Also depending on where you are in Moco, you may not be able to add on no matter what you spend depending on the lot. Chances you can easily add a prefab sunroom are slim. That’s much easier in places with more land, no snow (because of the roof issues), and less strict building codes.

It’s better to move. For $50k you can probably move to another house that is bigger by one room that will be reasonably close to where you are now.

You were just wrong about this. Time to adjust your thinking.