Need a Bigger House? Add a Room or Two or Three

In many ways, building an additional room can be more difficult than building a new house.

This room addition is bigger than the original house. Sometimes it makes sense to go through all the effort. Tim Carter/Tribune Content Agency

Are you feeling pinched by the current economy? I know I am. I shop each week at the grocery store to give my lovely wife a break. She did it for the previous 45 years. Gasoline, food, insurance costs and interest rates are all way up with no end in sight. Your plans to move to a larger home may now be on a cool back burner.

The good news is that you might be able to create the space you desperately need by building a room addition. It’s important to realize room additions are small houses, and in many ways they are much harder to build than a new stand-alone home. You need special skills or you need a seasoned remodeling contractor who has deep experience. Allow me to share a few true stories of what happens when you don’t have the right person.