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Choosing The Right Mortgage For You
This article will help you understand the differences between a variety of mortgage options. There are many different mortgage products offered by the various lending institutions in Canada, so you may not know what features to look for.
As...
First Time Real Estate Purchase
Nothing can be more exciting & terrifying at the same time than buying your 1st home. Everyone talks about all the advantages of buying real estate such as the tax benefits, appreciation etc. But there are some risks involved and the more knowledge...
Getting An Appraisal On Your Home Or Property
Getting an appraisal done on your home or property is one of the first things you want to take care of when you decide to sell. Just because you think you have some idea of what your home or property is worth, the dollar amount that you come up...
Pricing You Home To Sell
When it comes time to sell your home, settling on your list price is one of the most important decisions you will make. All sellers want to command the highest price possible, while all buyers, of course, want to buy a house for the lowest amount...
Swimming Pools – Important Facts And Aspects
Swimming pools are very popular in the warmer parts of the United States because they provide great opportunities for entertainment, fun, and exercise. There are two basic options when it comes to buying a swimming pool for a private home – above...
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Building A Garage Addition To Your Home
One of the most rewarding home improvements I made to my house was to build a garage addition. For years I contemplated building a garage addition while I scraped the ice and snow from my cars and waited for them to warm up during the winter months. About 5 years ago I finally made the decision to build a garage onto my home.
The first big decision I had to make after deciding to build the garage addition was to determine how large to make it. I wanted a large enough garage to fit two cars comfortably and that would be of proper proportion with the rest of the house. I also wanted space to include a work bench and to allow room for the lawnmowers or snow blowers. I decided on a 26 foot wide, by 24 foot deep garage. Since my house was 36 feet in width, this gave me a garage that was about 2/5ths of the entire home frontage.
I also needed to make sure that the roof pitch and the elevation of the garage would be consistent with the rest of the home.
After taking these issues into account, I created some drawings of the garage including: the foundation size, the location of the garage doors, the maintenance door and windows, and the height profile of the roof. From these drawings I was able to discuss with a number of general contractors my garage and home plans.
After selecting my general contractor, I generated some additional drawings that provided all of the framing details necessary to pull a building permit. Because of the specific contour of my property, my garage plans also included a bonus room that would reside above the garage. Thus, I needed to include additional drawings of the bonus room, e.g. interior walls, doors, windows, closet, and entrance way and stairwell to/from the main house.
After excavation and installation of the foundation, the framing crew had the garage frame up in about a week. Three
weeks later I had a completely enclosed garage, with all the outside doors and windows installed and the shingles installed on the roof.
From this point forward, I took over the electrical and insulation work, after filing for these specific permits.
Once the insulation was installed and approved, I called in the drywall contractor to install the drywall, and to tape and mud. I also had them apply a coat of primer and one coat of builders grade paint. It is well worth the money to have them do this.
I then finished the electric, installed the stair railing, interior doors and baseboard trim and the garage was nearly ready to move in.
The finishing touch was the installation of two garage door openers and a final application of paint in the bonus room.
The total cost of my garage addition was about $30,000. I had been quoted as high as $50,000, however with a little negotiation and sweat equity I was able to get a lot of garage for a reasonable price.
A few years have gone by since I completed my garage addition and every winter when I see people standing by their cars in the driveways scraping, I am reminded of one of the best decisions I ever made.
About the Author: Over the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has been involved with building homes and additions to homes. His projects have included: building a vacation home, building additions and garages on to existing homes, and finishing unfinished homes. For more information visit: http://www.homeadditionplus.com and http://www.homeaddition.blogspot.com
Source: www.isnare.com
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