construction gurus....ever add a 2nd story?

[Kmatts]

Greetings all,
has anyone successfully added a second story to their home?
I have a small 1940's craftsmen in W Seattle. House has good solid foundation but its very small. If I could somehow add a second story, it would be the perfect size. not to mention, the views would be wonderful. any ideas at all appreciated. and no, I can't afford to move and buy another house....the market is just too high for my income.
Cheers,
Kyle.

I've added seconds on houses that were built in 70's-80's. These were houses on slabs in Dallas area. Cost was about $125 psf 5 years ago and closer to $175 today. Add GC O&P to that. For an old house, you can count on reinforcing the foundation and extensive work on the first floor to support the second. If the plumbing and electrical are original, count on upgrading them as well. Plan on packing your things and moving out for 6-8 months.

[Kmatts]

well aware of permits and having a structual engineer approve plans.
my neighbors work for the city building dept. what i'm really worried about is cost.
thanks for the info Mark!!!

[930addict]

It'll cost you nearly a $100k in my neck of the woods. We were looking into it but I couldn't justify the cost. We would have to reinforce all of the exterior walls with shear wall and make other structural changes to the first floor. This price was to add a 20x20 section up on top.

[BRPORSCHE]

We did it about ten years ago. Lived in the house two more years then got transferred to Louisiana.

We cut costs by living in the basement while renovating the first floor and adding the second floor. Hired an architect; best 2k I ever spent. He saved me ten times his fee.

Another thing we did to cut costs--we set up two big saws; one to rip and one to do cross cuts. We re-sawed all the old rafters for interior framing on the second floor. We used the plywood from the old roof for the new attic floor.

[HardDrive]

Funny, wife and I are considering doing the same thing, and we are in Seattle too!

I know what you mean about housing cost. We bought our house 2 years ago in kind of rough shape, and spent around $10k making it liveable. Now, we could not afford to buy in our own neighborhood.

If you are just doing a renovation, the city of Seattle is pretty liberal. Definitely ask around and shop for an architect. You might be able to save some $$$ by doing some work yourself, or handling the management aspects of it yourself. Bid out the jobs seperately. Framing, sheetrock, roofing.