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Architecture/Room Addition to Make Third Floor

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Expert: - 12/20/2007


Question
My husband and I are looking at purchasing a home in Tiburon.  The home currently has the master bedroom downstairs (homes built on a hillside) and the upstairs is the kitchen/living area.  My question:  is it possible to add on top of the 2nd level to create a new master suite or when the home was being built would extra support had to have been built in to support another floor? I'm sure I need a structural engineer to take a look but would like your thoughts.  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Trudy - thanks for your question.

There are at least three places you'll need support for the additional floor.  One is the floor structure itself, which is where your current roof structure is.  Chances are, this is inadequate as a floor structure.

The second (often overlooked) place is the walls supporting the new floor (and new roof above).  These need to be evaluated for their ability to carry the greatly increased loading above.  Often this means opening up the walls from the inside and adding studs.

The third place is the foundation - it also needs to be able to carry the addition load.  Whether it can or not is a function of the size of the footing and the bearing capacity of the soil you're in.

If one or more of these areas are inadequate, there are creative ways to support an extra floor...but you'll need local expertise for that!

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtaplans.com

Architecture

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Richard Taylor, AIA

Expertise

Ask me about all aspects of house, remodeling. , and room addition design and construction. Ask me about historic homes, renovation, and restoration. Ask me about materials and techniques, and about how you can get the best value for your design and construction dollar. Ask me how you can make your home a very special place. I can't, however, answer specific structural engineering questions in this forum - that's something you'll need on-site observation for.

Experience

I own a full-service residential architectural firm, and have been designing custom homes, remodelings, and room additions across the country since 1983. Check us out at Richard Taylor Architects and RTA Plans. I have written and been published extensively on the subject of residential architecture.

Organizations
American Institute of Architects, City of Dublin Architectural Review Board, Vice Chair of City of Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission, American Planning Association, Board Member Historic Dublin Business Association, Past Editor of SPLASH (a software forum), Past Editor of Open Directory Project, Assistant Scoutmaster, Boy Scouts of America

Publications
Business First of Columbus, Suburban New Publications, About.com, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Columbus Dispatch Residential Architect Custom Home Architect Remodeling Architect

Education/Credentials
Bachelor of Environmental Design (Architecture) Miami University 1983
For more about home design, check out my blog at Sense Of Place and join the conversation on our Facebook Page.

Awards and Honors
2010 Dublin Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year

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