You're Cramped For Space But Don't Want To Move

So you've got a baby on the way or you're getting married or you're taking on a roommate or you just plain need more space for one reason or another. Now, you have two options. The first is to move, the second is to remodel.

If you don't want to move, that's understandable. It's difficult finding a great home these days, and even trickier finding one for a reasonable price. Maybe you love the location, maybe you love the neighborhood or the view from the back porch or you just love the home itself, but the bottom line is that you really just don't want to move, you want to keep the place you've got.

So, why not remodel? When it comes to remodeling to increase the space in your home, your options are to either expand, or to renovate. If you want to expand, you need to make sure that you actually can, first. If you have your own land, then you can probably get away with building anything you like, but if you live in a condominium or in a suburban neighborhood, then you might have to resort to renovation, moving walls around and expanding or altering individual rooms.

If you can expand and add rooms to your home, you're probably going to need a building permit before calling a carpenter. In some states, you won't need a permit until you're creating something of a certain size, but you'll at least need to check before doing any building.

Either way, it's really best to talk to a carpentry and roofing expert about this sort of home improvement. If you don't know much about how homes are built and you try knocking down walls yourself, you may wind up with the entire home caving in, which isn't really much help to an expansion project.

The best way to approach a project like this is to have a good idea in mind of exactly what you want to do, whether it's knocking a wall down and turning two bedrooms into one, or building a wall and turning the master bedroom into two. You may or may not actually know a thing or two about construction, so whatever you plan, don't get married to it, don't plan too tight. What you want at this point is just a good strong idea of what you're after.

From there, you'll talk to your contractor about how to get what you're after. They may have some suggestions to help you get the best results at a lower cost or with less risk or damage to your home. Keep an open mind when talking with your contractor and allow them to guide you through the process as you direct the overall project. Call a professional carpentry and roofing company and you should be able to expand with few problems.


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At Ticos we are a Short Hills home improvement company. We specialize in building and remodeling projects including roofing and general carpentry.