Add a Levels – Hazards and Concerns
If adding a level to your home is in your future, here are some tips on areas of concern that you should know about.
Is your family ready for a home addition add a level? If so, Dave has put together a few items that you should be informed with. Pending the contractor that you selected, each contractor handles the management of a project differently. However, Dave will provide a bit of insight so that you are informed and can make some choices of how you want to handle in case these items occur.
Living In The Home
Living in the house during construction is a choice that some contractors provide their customers. If you are adding a level to your home without any 1st floor modification (which is extremely rare) as the 1st floor in many cases needs load bearing wall modifications/ upgrades, then you may be given the choice to stay in the home.
Add a Level Plans – CLICK HERE
However is this the right choice? Sure you will save money not having to move out as well as pay for temporary housing. Did you know that you are placing yourself in harms way as there are a few items we will touch on in this article that jeopardize your safety.
Living in a home during an add a level is one scenario that I do not recommend under any circumstance. Regardless if it’s just a new second floor add a level with or without minor 1st floor alterations.
My biggest concern is safety as this is a construction site. You need to remove the thought of it being your home and realize the potential dangers. An entire top floor is being built above your head. As a homeowner undergoing an add a level, coming home at night after the construction has wound down, the hazards are real. From items as simple as a 2×4 falling through your ceiling making its way down to the basement. (( Master Bedrooms ))
Have an existing chimney that needs to be extended during the add a level process? When the old roof and walls are removed and the chimney is exposed, if not properly handled, that chimney could snap in half. Where it falls could be anywhere. The chances are slim but real. That’s a few tons falling through your house.
Additional Hazards
Adding a level creates an enormous amount of dust. If the above items still aren’t ringing the alarms, then perhaps the dust factor will. No matter how much you cover or contain, the dust makes it way down to each level. That means the 1st floor and basement will be affected. You can’t contain all. Maybe some dust but not all. It will make its way to your make shift living area no matter what.
Does your home contain lead? If your contractor is doing his job properly, he should have had your home tested for lead. Many homes built prior to the mid 1970’s may contain lead based paint. You don’t want to be living in a home that contains lead paint while work is underway. Pangione Developers provides a high end laser lead test able to detect lead in up to 20 coats of paint already applied to your walls. This test in complementary to our customers.
Egress Access
I have heard stories of contractors telling their customers that they can live in their basement during an add a level. Living in the basement is not an option. Some towns actually will not allow this as you need an egress access in case of a fire.
Basement windows usually have small windows. Many don’t have a door leading to the exterior. However many families will still stay in their basement in order to save money. If a fire were to break out or carbon monoxide built up, their would be limited ability to escape and perhaps no warning. The outcome could be fatal.
Fire
Yes, I mentioned it above. Although unlikely, the potential is very real. When removing an existing top floor or roof to create an add a level, there are existing wires that need to be temporarily relocated or capped. If not handled properly, this could lead to a potential risk of a fire. Over the years, I have visited abandoned jobsites and found wires lying live on the floor. Some were even cut with full power as that contractor was removing the roof. Unbelievable but true.
Water Infiltration
Did you know that water can enter your home any point forward from when the roof is removed until when the new roof and siding are installed. Pending the experience of your contractor, this gap in time is when your items can be subjected to water.
Have furniture or beds in the basement? What about a room on the 1st floor that you set up to live in? If water enters in or around, those items can become saturated. One windy night and the tarps covering your home while raining can let in an influx of water. The potential is real.
Ceiling Cave In
Temporarily living on the 1st floor? If there are existing finished ceilings above such as sheetrock or even worse – plaster, then you could be risking a ceiling collapse. The fact is your existing ceilings can become loosened by the vibration of the 2nd floor construction.
Have slight water infiltration? If water makes its way to the existing finished ceiling, it could loosen and the sheetrock or plaster could collapse. Remember, you may have set up a small living area below on the 1st floor or even the basement. It could happen at any moment.
Summary:
Some contractors may offer the ability for you to live in your home during an add a level. However after reading the items above, perhaps you will think twice. Also, that contractor goes home to a nice house at night and doesn’t have to live in the conditions he is allowing for his customers. My opinion is if a contractor allows a family to live in a home during an add a level, that would be a contractor that I don’t think is looking out for my best interest.
Living in your home during an add a level is not an option for my customers. Move all of your items out and when the project is completed, move everything back in. In the hundreds of TURN KEY PROJECTS we film, all of our customers have moved out. We provide a move out service as well as suggestions for temporary housing. We coordinate the entire process.
Have questions about your add a level – ASK DAVE