What we build · Additions & Second Stories
Adding On — The Existing House Has a Vote
An addition is constrained by a building that was designed for a different life. Whether the existing foundation and structure can carry the new load is the first question and it is not always answered yes.
Bring the drawings at whatever stage they are. An honest range and the decisions that move it, before anyone quotes.
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Self-perform
Dewatering, SOE and deep foundations in house
Leadership
Delivered Fifth Avenue and Central Park West interiors
Open book
Where the contract is cost-plus, the books open
The house was not designed for this
A second story imposes loads the original foundation may never have been designed for, particularly on older Florida slabs. The existing walls may need reinforcement or replacement. And in many jurisdictions an addition beyond a certain value or area triggers requirements across the entire existing structure — not just the new part.
What has to be established first
- Existing foundation capacity, which needs investigation rather than assumption.
- Structural adequacy of the walls that will carry new load.
- Whether the addition triggers upgrades to the whole house.
- Setbacks, lot coverage and height limits — often the binding constraint.
- How the roofline and envelope will actually tie together.
How we handle it
- 01Structural investigation of the existing house before design.
- 02Zoning review for setbacks, coverage and height.
- 03Establish what the addition triggers across the existing structure.
- 04Design the tie-in properly — envelope, roof and drainage.
- 05Build while keeping the existing house weathertight and livable where possible.
The tie-in is where additions leak, and it is the detail most often drawn loosely and resolved on site. Where a new roof meets an old one, where a new wall meets an old slab, where the drainage of both has to work together — those details deserve real drawings.
Said plainly
Where we stop
If the existing foundation cannot take a second story without underpinning that costs more than the addition, we will tell you. Sometimes the honest answer is out rather than up.
FAQ
Common questions
- Can my house take a second story?
- It needs investigation, not assumption. Older Florida slabs frequently were not designed for it.
- Will it trigger upgrades to the whole house?
- Often, past a value or area threshold. Establish that before design, because it changes the budget significantly.
- Can we live in the house during it?
- For a ground-floor addition, usually. For a second story, rarely once the roof is open.
- What is the most common problem?
- The tie-in between new and existing — roof, envelope and drainage. It deserves real drawings, not a site decision.
The decisions
Fixed Price or Cost-Plus
The contract type decides who carries the risk of the unknown, and both answers are legitimate. What is not legitimate is a fixed price on drawings that cannot support one.
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Choosing a Builder
Three builders will show you three beautiful portfolios and three numbers that differ by a lot. The portfolio tells you what they photograph, not what they are like to build with.
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Allowances & Selections
An allowance is a placeholder for a decision you have not made. A contract full of them is a contract whose final number has not been decided.
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The Program
Every owner is told a number at the start and most projects take longer. The gap is usually permitting, long-lead items and decisions — rarely the building itself.
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Change Orders
Change orders are normal. Designs evolve, owners change their minds, and buildings reveal things. What is not normal is finding out about them at the end.
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More what we build
Custom Homes
A custom home is the only project where every decision is still open, which is exactly why it is the easiest one to lose control of financially.
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Waterfront Construction
On a waterfront lot the building is often the straightforward part. The water table, the seawall, the flood elevation and the permitting are what decide the program and a large share of the cost.
Read more →
Whole-House Renovation
Renovating an existing house is harder to price than building a new one, because a meaningful part of the scope is behind finishes nobody has opened.
Read more →
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.