Home additions and second stories

Why add on

When is a home addition the right answer?

When you like where you live but the house has run out of room. An addition grows the home itself, so a new bedroom, a bigger kitchen or a primary suite opens straight off the hallway you already walk every day, without selling, packing and starting over somewhere else.

The household outgrew the floor plan

A baby on the way, a parent moving in, two people now working from home. The rooms you have are all spoken for, and the one you need does not exist yet.

The lot or the roofline has space to give

A deep back yard, a wide side yard or a single-story roof is room waiting to be used. What your city lets you build on it is the first thing we look at together.

What you get back

New square footage that reads as part of the original house, inside and out: the same ceiling heights where they can match, floors that meet without a step, and a roof and siding that carry on the old lines.

Who you deal with

Us, from the first visit to the final walk-through. Design is part of the job: the layout and the finishes, drawn before anything is built.

Out, up or inside

Which kind of addition fits your house?

Most additions go one of two ways: out across the lot on the ground floor, or up as a second story. A third way uses space that already has a roof, the garage. Each solves a different problem and asks different things of the house and of the city.

A ground-floor room addition
New rooms built out from an outside wall on a new foundation: a family room behind the kitchen, a bedroom and bath at the end of the hall, a sunroom off the back. It uses yard space, so setbacks and how much of the lot may be covered come first.
A small bump-out
A few feet pushed out from one wall to give a cramped kitchen, a bathroom or a dining area the room it lacks. Smaller than a full room, but still new framing, roof and foundation joined to the house.
A second-story addition
A new floor built over the rooms you have, often bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. It keeps the yard, and it changes the most about the house: the roof over that part comes off and a stair has to land somewhere downstairs.
Over the garage
A room or a suite built on top of an attached garage, which already has walls and a slab under it. The garage below still has to carry the new floor, so it is checked like any other foundation.
Inside the garage instead
When the extra room fits inside the garage walls, a garage conversion may be the simpler path, and when the space should be its own home, see ADU construction.

Building up

What does a second story ask of the house below?

It asks the walls and the foundation to carry a whole new floor, a roof and everything in the rooms upstairs. That is why a second-story plan starts with the structure, not the finishes.

Weight on the foundation

The footings and walls were built for one floor. The structural design shows whether they can carry two as they are, or what has to be added below before the framing goes up.

Where the stair lands

A stair to the new floor takes space from a room downstairs or from the entry. Placing it well is one of the first design choices, because every other room upstairs follows from it.

The roof comes off

Over the part being built, the old roof is removed and the new floor framed in its place. Plan with your contractor how the rooms under it are kept dry and usable while it is open.

How it goes

How a home addition goes, from the first sketch to the new rooms

We look at the house and the lot
The foundation, the roofline, the yard, how the new rooms would join the old ones, and what you need the extra space to do.
Design
The layout, windows and doors, the stair if it goes up, the rooms inside, and the finishes. Design is included.
Plans and permits
We prepare the plans and handle the permits your city asks for, then quote from those plans.
Build and join
Foundation, framing, roof, windows, insulation, drywall, floors and paint, then the opening into the old house and a walk-through with you.

The first consultation and quote are free.

Request a consultation Call (281) 671-7777

Permits

What will your city want to see before you add on?

Plans. An addition is new construction on a house people live in, so cities want to see drawings before the first footing is dug, and they inspect the work as it goes.

In the Bay Area

The City of San José, for one, says that a building permit for an addition, or for a remodel with structural changes, needs project plans submitted with it (City of San José, Additions & Remodels). Each Bay Area city sets its own setbacks and lot coverage.

In Dallas–Fort Worth

The City of Dallas keeps a separate application checklist for an addition to a one- or two-family home, including energy code and green building documents (City of Dallas, Residential Permits). Its neighbours each run their own permit office.

We handle the permits and plans; your city decides what it approves.

Finishes

Making the new rooms match the old house

Roof and sidingThe new roof tied into the old one, and siding or stucco carried across so the addition does not read as an afterthought from the street.

Floors at one levelHardwood, tile or the floor you choose, set so you walk from old room to new without a step.

Windows, doors and paintWindows and doors picked to sit with the ones you have, and drywall and paint finished like the rooms next door.

Simple and practical or fully high-end; the finishes are yours to choose and we build with them.

Cost and planning

What sets the price of a home addition?

Size, and out or up

How many square feet you add, and whether they sit on a new foundation in the yard or on top of the rooms you have.

Structure

What the foundation and framing need, how much of the old roof comes off, and how the new walls tie into the old ones.

Rooms and finishes

A bedroom costs less to build than a bathroom or a kitchen, and the floors, fixtures and windows you pick move the number most.

The first consultation and quote are free. Our work comes with a written warranty, its terms set in your contract, and financing is available through our lending partner.

Services that go with a home addition

Where we build home additions

We build additions in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Dallas–Fort Worth, under each city's own permit rules. See the cities we serve.

Questions

What people ask about home additions

Do you build second-story additions?

Yes. We build home additions on the ground floor and as second stories over the house you have. A second story puts new weight on the walls and foundation below, so the plans for it carry the structural design your city asks to see before it issues the permit.

Is a home addition the same as an ADU?

No. A home addition makes the house you live in bigger: the new rooms open into the old ones and share its kitchen, front door and address. An ADU is a separate small home on the lot, with its own kitchen, bathroom and entrance. We build both; tell us how the space will be used and we will say which one fits.

Do I need a permit for a home addition?

Yes. Cities treat an addition as new construction: San José asks for project plans with the building permit application for an addition, and Dallas keeps its own checklist of documents for an addition to a one- or two-family home. We handle the permits and plans for you.

Can an addition have its own bathroom or kitchen?

Yes. A bathroom is one of the most common rooms in an addition, often with a new bedroom as a primary suite, and a larger kitchen can be built into the new space. Plumbing, power and the heating and cooling for the new rooms are planned in the design, which is included.

How is a home addition priced?

From your house and your plans, never from a price list. The size of the addition, whether it goes out or up, what the foundation and framing need, the rooms inside it and the finishes you choose all move the number. The first consultation and quote are free.

Don't Wait—Call Remediate.

Tell us what the house is missing

The rooms you need and whether you picture them out back or upstairs. We come and look, then tell you plainly what it takes.

Call (281) 671-7777

Home additions: more room on the house you already have