Minneapolis/St. Paul Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Anyone built an addition on their house?
We are thinking about it and would like some recs.
Weighing options between moving and adding on. . .sometimes being an adult is not fun.
Re: Anyone built an addition on their house?
We are in the same boat (adding on versus moving). If you do not mind sharing, could you include how many sq ft you added on and how much it cost? (or you could pm me too).
My parents recently added on to their house. They love the location and setting of their house and knew they wouldn't be able to duplicate that elsewhere, so they added on instead of moving. They live about 55 miles outside the Twin Cities, and used a local contractor in their area, so I'm not sure recommending their contractor would help you guys.
I just wanted to add that whatever you do - get multiple bids! My parents got four bids and the prices ranged from $65,000 to $140,000 for the same project.
Also, my parents worked with an architect to draw up the plans for the addition before they called any contractors for bids. That helped in the bid process since each contractor was bidding on the exact same project because they had specific information to work with. It wasn't just "hey, come over and see what it might cost to add on a family room", they had actual architectural drawings and measurements so they knew all the specifics.
My parents added on about 1500 SF and they paid about $90,000. They added a family/great room and a formal dining room on the main level (they already had a formal dining room, but have always used it as a music/piano room instead). They also added a workshop in the lower level. So, it was about 850 additional SF to the main level and 650 SF in the basement.
I'm not sure how prices for construction work vary across the state, I'm guessing they would have paid more if the house was in the Twin Cities.
Mr. Sammy Dog
That would equal $60 a square foot and would definitely be a low figure in the cities.
In the cities I would estimate additions to start at $100/sq ft. and go up from there depending on the materials chosen, craziness of the roof, structural issues etc.
Yes, you're right.
Also, the workshop area in the basement was only "partially finished" by the contractor, so that kept the costs lower. It wasn't 1500 fully finished SF. Plus, they weren't adding any rooms that required plumbing (no kitchen/bath/laundry areas) so that also saved money.
Mr. Sammy Dog
Gotcha! Well that sounds just about right then. :-) Messing with plumbing always ups the cost significantly!