Foundation, framing, building envelope, plumbing, electrical and finishes — planned around the household living in the property.
An addition is not a separate building placed next to a house. It has to carry load with the existing structure, share a building envelope with it, match its floor levels, and take heating, water and power from services that were sized for the original footprint.
Most of the difficulty in an addition sits at the join. Everything else is normal construction.
Architect drawings and structural engineering, sized to the existing building rather than designed in isolation.
Submitted, reviewed and issued before work starts. Timelines here are outside a contractor’s control and are treated as a schedule item, not an assumption.
Footings and stem walls for the new footprint, engineered to work with what the existing house sits on.
Floor, walls and roof framed, then sheathed, weatherproofed, flashed and tied into the existing envelope so water goes where it should.
Plumbing, electrical and mechanical run through the new framing and connected to the existing systems, with capacity checked rather than assumed.
Inspection first, then insulation, drywall, flooring, millwork and paint, carried through so the addition does not read as an afterthought.
Where a household is staying in the property, the job is planned around that: dust barriers, a protected route through the house, services kept live except during planned shutdowns, and the noisy structural phases grouped rather than spread across months.
The single most disruptive day is the one where the existing wall comes out. That gets scheduled and told to you in advance.
Structural framing and foundation work on a larger project can be seen at Funston Street and Dundee. Related services: foundations and structural work, ADU construction, whole-home remodeling.
Often yes, and most Leafair clients do. It depends where the addition lands and when the existing building envelope has to be opened. The point at which the two structures are joined is the disruptive part, and it is planned and sequenced rather than left to chance.
Yes. Additions change the footprint or the volume of the building and are permitted and inspected work. Drawings come from an architect, structural elements from an engineer, and Leafair coordinates the permit and the inspection holds.
Structurally, through an engineered connection at the foundation, the floor and the roof. Practically, through matching floor levels, continuing finishes, and extending heating, plumbing and electrical. The connection detail is usually where the difficulty and the cost sit.
Foundation and site conditions, whether the roof has to be altered, how far services have to be extended, the finish level, and what is found when the existing wall is opened.
Leafair will walk the site, talk through what is realistic, and give you a written estimate priced line by line. Estimates are free.
