Location: Scott Township
Budget: $90,000
Renovations: Main Level & 2nd Story Remodel
The Problems
The homeowners had a great location close to Pittsburgh and easy access to both of their places of work and family. The house was a cape cod-style home but the upstairs was basically unusable. The main level consisted of two bedrooms with a bathroom along with the living room, dining room, and kitchen. The upstairs had two more bedroom spaces and a bathroom but they had issues. The upstairs space did not have proper insulation or heat and cooling so the space was not comfortable. It also had a weird sloping ceiling in places and the bathroom was tiny. It also was not the same footprint as the main level so it was smaller and the rooms were not big enough for what they needed.
The Solutions
During the design process these homeowners went back and forth on if they should do a full second-story addition that would have three bedrooms and possibly a master bathroom or should they do the more responsible direction and only do a rear dormer addition that would enlarge the existing bedrooms and bathroom along with upgrading heating/cooling etc.
For a difference of about $60k, the homeowners chose the rear dormer addition option. They got a nice-sized master bedroom with a huge walk-in closet and extra space in the eaves for storing Christmas decor and other seasonal items. They gave their daughter a great room with large closet and a really beautiful bathroom — also with a comfortable amount of space. Finally, we removed a wall on the main level between the kitchen and dining room in preparation for a fantastic kitchen renovation in the future.
