A NJ Architect for Home Additions and Add-A-Level projects
One of the most common questions homeowners ask contractors is, “Should we hire an architect or a designer for our project?” For most small projects, such as enlarging a window opening or removing a non-load-bearing wall, the answer is no. The contractor and homeowner can handle both the design and construction end.
But for large additions, whole-house renovations, or raising the roof you should consider hiring an architect to help plan the project. In a million ways large and small, an experienced architect can make your project go smoother and insure that aesthetic considerations meld with the structural requirements of the project and that the space is both liveable and aesthetically pleasing.
Additionally by recommending and specifying certain construction materials and methods, a home addition architect can sometimes save you significant money during the construction phase of the project that will more than offset the cost of hiring one.
Below are just a few of the dozens of projects we’ve done that fall primarily into the category of “Home Additions”. As you can see, most home additions will also involve renovations and tie-ins to the existing home, an important consideration when thinking about aesthetics.
Architectural Considerations for Doing a Home Addition
There are a number of things a home addition architect can help you with. Here’s just a few things you will need to consider carefully.
- What will the addition be used for? What are my goals for the space?
- How much total budget do I have and how will I finance it?
- Where will I add on? Am I going out the sides or back of the house, or raising the roof? Depending on the New Jersey town you live in, there may be zoning, septic, wetland constraints, or road and structure easements that must be considered. This is in addition to the normal structural and land use considerations and the normal permitting process.
- Special Requirements – Is my house a turn of the century, 100 year old plus home? Considerations of aesthetics and structural updates in these beautiful older homes require an architect with special understanding of these types of projects. Seth Leeb for instance, is in fact a specialist in these period based projects.
- What is the timeframe? Do I need to be done by a certain time or date? Do I know for sure that I am hiring a reputable contractor who will do what he says for the cost specified?
Home Additions For Your New Jersey Home
There are many, many kinds of home additions that can be done and each is unique. Below are some of the most common additions that we see.
Family Room & Kitchen Additions
This is one of the most common additions we see because it updates two of the most frequented area’s of the home while adding more living space for a family. Usually we achieve an upgraded integration of the kitchen and family room that creates a more open, accessible feeling with many built in cabinets and other carpentry tricks that improve livability. See these examples below.
Bedroom Additions
For the growing family there can come a point where having 3 kids sharing a bedroom just isn’t cutting it anymore. At that point families really want more space and often another bathroom to boot. Depending on your home style, an add-a-level can be great for this, especially in traditional colonial or cape-cod style homes. We’ve done dozens of these projects and we pride ourselves on how much creativity we can bring to these projects for relatively little cost.
Add-A-Level
Doing an Add-a-level addition is a great way to increase living space when land or architectural considerations prevent other types of additions. Raising the roof is not as hard or crazy as it sounds but certainly requires consultation with an architect skilled in the nuances of this kind of addition. An Add-A-Level addition will generally cost less and be faster to complete than a separate room addition, however it may be more disruptive to your life while its going on…
Garage Addition
Garage additions can be a great opportunity to add both room for cars, and additional space overhead for bedrooms or a workshop. Sometimes they can be expanded to include pool house or other auxiliary functions. They can be attached or detached but the best garage additions look like they’ve always been there and are seamlessly integrated to the surrounding home. Extended breezeway’s can be designed to attach a separated garage to the home at ground level or even one story up!
Sun Room Additions, Pool Room Additions, Treehouses, and much more!
The team at Leeb Architecture has over many years, designed some very specific and unique additions and other structures. Often these structures were the result of intense collaborations between the homeowner and the architect who really helped turn the sketches of an idea, into an exciting tangible reality. Many of these are small undertakings but they are actually some of our favorite projects owing to the creativity and design challenges they present. You can see some of these below.
Hiring an Architect for your Home Addition
Whatever you are building onto your home, having the right relationship with your architect is where it all starts. You need to “click” with whomever you hire and feel confident that they will be there to take you all the way through the project, whatever it takes, while designing your addition so that it exceeds all your expectations.
Call Seth Leeb Architecture for a free consultation on your project today.
