Architext #1305: Ask the Architect! Watch What You Add

I often get asked by prospective house buyers:

Can we add a garage?  Do you think we can put a family room and two bedrooms on the back? Would the attic work as a master bedroom?

These are loaded questions and often involve deeper issues than simply the technical aspects of roof lines and foundation walls. Here are some insights into why you have to Watch What You Add!

I recently looked at a house with a young couple who was shopping for their first home.  They originally planned to buy one of our stock plans and build from scratch, but the cost of land caused them to begin searching for existing houses.  They had retained me to provide guidance as to the potentials and limitations of the houses they were looking at.

They had seen this last house twice before inviting me to look at it, so I knew they were serious about it.  It was a relatively small house with only two bedrooms, so their initial interest was in adding two more bedrooms over an existing garage.  My brief look told me it might be possible to add the two bedrooms, but a bigger issue immediately became obvious.  Although the two bedrooms could be added, making the total four–the rest of the house was too small to support them.  In other words, the house's core spaces were undersized for four bedrooms and the resultant number of people (4-6) that would eventually have to use them.  The small eat-in kitchen, the one and a half baths and the modest living room would soon be overloaded with people and stuff.

So the message is simple: Watch what you add! In this case, more bedrooms mean more people, more clothes, food supplies, toys to store and more space to accommodate different, simultaneous activities (tv, computer, school work, friends, etc).  My advice to this client was that, yes, they could probably add two bedrooms but that might require adding a bath, increasing the size of the kitchen’s food prep area and expanding the eating area.  They quickly understood and concluded that this house wouldn’t work for them. 

A holistic approach, even when the initial need appears quite focused, is often the most effective way to plan.

Hope this helps your planning effort. Good Luck. DN

Dom Narducci is a practicing architect in Southbury, CT.  He provides complete architectural design and construction management services (Freestone-inc.com) and offers a line of stock house plans (FreestonePlans.com). Additionally, Narducci teaches and writes on design and construction issues. Comments are welcome. If you have a question for Ask the Architect!, contact Dom at: dnarducci@freestone-inc.com.