Popular Additions & Remodels Projects
Major Remodels & Renovations
Remodel bathrooms, kitchens, basements, garages, Major renovations, etc.

Minor Remodels
Includes  new walls, ceilings, carpentry,  countertops,   windows, doors, painting, staining,

Additions
Add to existing structures, build a deck, porch, sunroom, patio, garage, pool enclosure, greenhouse, etc.

Additions typically add square footage to your home. Canyon price for Additions can vary anywhere from $55 a square ft to $120 a square foot. the addition process starts with meeting with you the customer. Most Customers have a good idea what they want in there new addition. The first thing to consider is your site plan when assessing where to put your addition in relation to property lines the boundary setbacks must be taken into account. see site plan below

Click on link to see larger version

setbacks can be found on your Deed or  home documents.

Once the location of your Addition is established. depending upon whether you will have plumbing or if it consist of a new bathroom or kitchen. Connection to existing supply lines and drains will need to be ascertained. These  can add thousands to the price and depending upon the locations can lead to excavation of your existing yard. or partial demolition in interior spaces. The plumbing can be a major unknown for a new Addition. Most contractors unless they have already secured a contact to do the addition will  not assume the cost of locating utilities. Most can be done by guesswork and finding existing fixtures. a locater can also come out and find in ground drains for about  $120. the other consideration would be The electrical. do you have enough circuits in your Electrical panel to add more space on your house. you can look inside your panel and see if you have open slots. with 2 slots open you can add a new panel. otherwise your only option will be to change out the panel.

The HVACs is another component to consider. on smaller additions often if you already have enough cold circulation we can extend or add on the the existing system. otherwise you are faced with upgrading your existing system or adding another AC unit.  after figuring the above things you are ready to get started on Construction.

Depending upon which jurisdiction you live in you will  have to have plans or blueprints consisting of the following drawing. site plan, floor plan, framing plan, foundation plan, Electrical plan, plumbing plan and HVAC plan and on smaller projects they often can be combined into one drawing. Canyon Remodel& Design offers Plan and submittal services as well. once you have plans and have submitted them to the city or county in which you live in. you will receive a permit to build. (beware of Contractors that persuade against a permit. A permit while adding cost to project makes sure that the project is completed to Building codes.

The first phase of Construction is the layout of building and excavation. which will include footing excavation and plumbing and electrical. this is the Canyon Remodel & Design Construction tips for excavation on  an Addition to existing home.
Adding square footage to your home has all the problems of new Construction but the added complications of building to the existing building. Excavation is one of the first steps that if done properly will make for a smooth project. here are some of the things to watch out for. 
Depth of footing: the depth of footing should be calculated by the building codes plans  you also need to take into account the existing foundation. it is advised that you dig down to the bottom of the footing of existing foundation. 
the plans may say that you need only dig 18" or 4' depending upon your location
but you will need to attach to the existing foundation with epoxy and rebar. 
(if this is deeper than estimated you will probably billed more) 
although for most construction you will want to build it square , when adding on to existing it is much better to match existing and try to square it up as much as possible.
(if the existing building is not square you will have to string line the footing to match it
up) depending upon whether you are doing a monolithic pour or footing and stem wall 
it is important to check the elevations. “If your sub contracting, do your own checks”. The elevations should match existing. Another potential problem is over digging your footing.  footings must be on undisturbed soil. if you over dig then you either waste more concrete or you have to pound the dirt down which should be done with a jitterbug and water in layers or you can use a hand tamp. or worse yet If you just put loose dirt back and have a potential for your  foundation sinking. 
a few more tips. keep rebar off the ground you can buy cages or just use Dobie blocks or we sometimes just break up block. keep your rebar away from the forms. One trick I have used instead of form oil that works real good is 3 mil plastic sheathing over the forms. We use 2500 psi for all our footings. Once your footings and rough plumbing and Electrical are in your ready to start the rough framing.  you can frame walls up to 10' high on additions but higher than that you will probably need an engineered wall. Once the framing is completed with the roof on you will really be able to visualize your new addition. this is the phase that most homeowners will wish to make changes. as long as you don't have plans drawn by an architect or engineer they are usually simple changes. otherwise you will need to pay the Architect an addition fee to make changes.

    The framing phase is when you will attach to the existing structure. this is where good selective demolition takes place. We try to complete as much framing as possible before we demo parts of the existing structure. this helps reduce creating more work for ourselves. We use 1/2" galvanized lag screws in all our wall and roof connections.( I have seen many additions coming apart where they are only connected with nails. We sheath the entire exterior of all our additions with OSB board. it is as strong as plywood and more water resistant. In Arizona Douglas Fir is the most common framing material it is a little wet but makes for good framing. when framing for windows and doors there should be enough airspace to install some foam between the window and framing this will make and airtight seal and insulate the wall at that point. we typically use fiberglass insulation on all our walls and ceiling r19 for walls and r 30 for ceilings. a preferred method which will increase your price is to use foam insulation  on all exteriors. this creates the best seal from hot weather and insects.  on Flat roofs we will often have to frame in crickets to make sure that water drains off  the roof. Once the framing is complete the roofing and exterior lath often depending upon where you are building. We prefer to get the roof on ASAP depending upon the local you will have already had the following inspections. plumbing underground electrical underground rough plumbing, electrical and framing. Inspection can delay the project and actually they will delay the project. some cities will let you know when the inspector will be there but often you will often be in the dark. I have waited for inspectors multiple time all day long only to find out they had canceled our inspection to a later date. Most inspectors are there to help both contractors and homeowners. some cites require a lath inspection. this is mostly to make  sure you used the proper staples and to make sure you did not staple into some electrical. staples should be 3" O.C . Scottsdale requires a window flashing inspection. Make sure you have the Manufactures instruction on flashing the window or do the flashing the way  their website says to do it. otherwise if your not there to show them they will fail you and add another day delay on construction.

Now your New addition is weather tight if you had completed the roof also. the roofing is not inspected but the roof sheathing is, you should have a 1/8" gap between sheets to allow for expansion and they should be nailed to the local codes which are 8" and 12" in the field. now your ready for the rough inspections. this is the beginning of the end for construction and hopefully once you pass your new addition will take shape quickly. We do rapid construction the time to do a 1000 square ft addition from plans to completion is about 2 months and that includes the 14 day wait for a permit. We use licensed Bonded Subcontractors on all our additions. we do most of the labor and construction ourselves to maintain a consistent cost. the more people you have building a project the more potential problems you can encounter. we have more in depth information on our other pages if you have any questions give me a call Richard 480-982-9419 leave a message or email me at RemodelContractor@gmail.com