Additions are a great way to add space and value to your home. But if you don’t plan carefully, they can easily start to veer over budget. Here we take a look at 4 types of Portland home additions. We also provide some ranges for what each type may cost you in the Portland area — along with tips on how to budget for your home addition with confidence.
At Lamont Bros., we commonly work on 4 kinds of home additions:
- Master suite addition
- Kitchen addition
- Large scale addition
- General extra space addition
Each one comes with its own benefits — and challenges — and their budgets can vary widely. Let’s take a closer look at them using case studies of additions we’ve worked on for clients.
Case Study: Master Suite Addition
Our first Portland home addition involves a master bathroom suite. We used an existing bedroom area to add a new bathroom and convert the space into a full master suite. We added a spacious tile shower, double vanity, added windows to bring in some natural light, and created a laundry area.
Project cost for this master suite: $160,000.
Generally, master suite additions can range anywhere from $130,000 up to $320,000, depending square footage and types of materials, and complexity of the project.
Case Study: Kitchen Addition
Next, let’s take a look at a kitchen addition. For this project, we added to the footprint of the home, designed and built a completely new kitchen, and performed some other upgrades including redoing flooring throughout much of the house.
Cost for this kitchen addition: $340,000.
Costs for these types of Portland home additions can also very widely depending on how much space is being added to the home and how much you invest in your kitchen. Very high end cabinets, countertops, and appliances can quickly push the budget higher. It’s also common for projects like this to grow in scope. What may start as a kitchen addition can spread to include new floors in the home, as this one did, or other upgrades like new doors or windows that were originally not part of the project. These also add to the overall bottom line. Typically though, you can expect to pay between $290,000 to $405,000 for kitchen additions.
Case study: Large scale home addition
A third common type of addition we do are what we call large scale home additions. We define these as projects that significantly increase the square footage of the home — say adding 1,000 square feet or more — or ones where we’re creating several new spaces. This can include a new kitchen, plus a new master suite or bonus room, and possibly an additional story.
In this case study, we did an addition on each side of the client’s home and redid everything inside. It involved 4 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a new master suite.
Cost for this large scale addition: $870,000.
We usually place an addition in the large scale category if they cost more than half a million dollars. And since they can include so many variables when it comes to square footage, usage, and materials, the range for them is pretty big, around $580,000 to $1,740,000 in many cases.
Case study: Extra space addition
Our last case study involves a project where the client primarily wanted to add square footage to the home for various uses. Here, we added about 500 square feet, which included a bonus room, a bedroom, and space for a future bathroom.
Cost for this addition: $310,000.
The amount of square footage in these types of projects can be major factor in the price. For example, we’ve done a small 80 square foot addition for a home office that cost around $115,000. However, if you want to add 750 square feet, your costs obviously will be higher. There isn’t a direct correlation between square footage and price as materials and complexity, but the more features you add, like a second story or a balcony, for instance the higher your expenses will likely be.
Budgeting for an addition: Decide who will do the work
As you can see from the case studies, Portland home addition costs can vary quite a bit. So, how do you start planning and budgeting for one accurately?
The first step is to decide who will do the work. This usually falls into one of three categories:
1. Project manage it yourself
With this option, you source the materials, develop and manage the project, and do much of the work on your own. We really don’t recommend this for additions. Other types of home projects, like kitchen or bathroom renovations can be do-it-yourself depending on the scope. But home additions are usually large, complicated projects. From sourcing materials, getting permits, hiring and managing subcontractors where necessary, and just staying on top of all the moving pieces, these projects can be very hard to manage on your own. And DIY-ing an addition will very likely significantly extend your timelines. So unless you absolutely need to for budgets reasons, we suggest going with one of the other options.
2. Hire an Interior Designer and General contractor separately
Another option is hire a separate interior designer a general contractor. This usually works best if the general contractor is brought on as early as possible so they can advise on the budget throughout the planning process. If you don’t, costs can quickly balloon as the design process may become out of line with the actual construction work.
3. Use a design/build firm
Another option is to work with a Design/Build firm, which is what we are at Lamont Bros. Our advice for you if go this route is to do your homework. Interview several firms and make sure the firm you choose does both design and construction well. Some companies that bill themselves and design/build may be great at design but have less experience in building; others may be the opposite. You want a company that has a proven track record of doing both and has a portfolio of projects that clearly convey their work.
The budgeting process
Whether you hire a separate interior designer and contractor, or go with a design/build firm, it’s important to work with a partner that’s honest and up-front about the construction costs. This means they have a clear budgeting process.
If you find that they can’t show you their budgeting process or tool, or you can’t understand how they’re determining their budget figures, consider looking for a different partner. Otherwise, you may be in for some surprises down the road. You want to make sure you always know what the costs are up front and that you can stay in control of the budget if something on your project needs to change.
We have proprietary budgeting tools at Lamont Bros. that interactively create a budget with you. It makes the process really transparent so that you know exactly what’s included in a budget—and what isn’t.
Get Started With Your Custom Budget
If you’re planning an addition and want some budgeting advice, schedule an appointment with us and we’ll create an interactive budget specifically for your remodel.
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