How Much Does a Home Addition Cost?
You’re standing in front of your sink, chopping carrots on a precariously balanced cutting board on your too-small countertop when you start to think: We need a bigger kitchen!
You might need some other improvements as well.
You could move, but you like the neighborhood. And you really don’t want to give up that low-interest mortgage you scored a few years ago.
The obvious answer is a home addition––expand the space you have. A bigger kitchen is one of the most popular home additions. But, there are other ways people choose to expand their living space. Some people opt for a larger bathroom, additional bedrooms, or changes that will allow them to age comfortably in their homes.
“There are a lot of homes built here before people really had master suites,” says Joseph Patrick, whose company Lamont Bros. Design and Construction serves the Pacific Northwest from offices in Portland and Boise. He goes on to discuss other reasons someone might want a bigger place. “The master suite may be upstairs and the homeowner may want to get it on the main level.”
Keep reading to learn more about how much you can expect to pay for a home addition and the best ways to finance your project.
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$1,000-50,000
Loan Amount
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8.49-35.99%
APR
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3–7 years
Terms
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560
Minimum Credit Score
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Disclaimer
Personal loans made through Upgrade feature Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) of 8.49%-35.99%. All personal loans have a 1.85% to 9.99% origination fee, which is deducted from the loan proceeds. Lowest rates require Autopay and paying off a portion of existing debt directly. Loans feature repayment terms of 24 to 84 months. For example, if you receive a $10,000 loan with a 36-month term and a 17.59% APR (which includes a 13.94% yearly interest rate and a 5% one-time origination fee), you would receive $9,500 in your account and would have a required monthly payment of $341.48. Over the life of the loan, your payments would total $12,293.46. The APR on your loan may be higher or lower and your loan offers may not have multiple term lengths available. Actual rate depends on credit score, credit usage history, loan term, and other factors. Late payments or subsequent charges and fees may increase the cost of your fixed rate loan. There is no fee or penalty for repaying a loan early. Personal loans issued by Upgrade's bank partners. Information on Upgrade's bank partners can be found at https://www.upgrade.com/bank-partners/.
What does a home addition cost?
The cost of a home addition will vary widely depending on a number of factors. Here’s a look at several common projects and the range you can expect to pay.
| Type of Addition | Low cost | High cost |
|---|---|---|
| New bedroom | $11,000 | $23,000 |
| Kitchen expansion | $20,000 | $125,000 |
| Extra bathroom | $15,000 | $90,000 |
| Laundry room | $1,300 | $15,000 |
| Mudroom or sunroom | $8,000 | $16,000 |
| Porch | $5,000 | $25,000 |
| Garage conversion or addition | $2,000 | $100,000 |
| Attic | $7,500 | $35,000 |
Adding a room
Have a kid who’s big enough they want their own bedroom instead of sharing with a sibling? Or, are you remote and want a quiet place to work? A bedroom or office addition could be the ticket. This can cost anywhere from $11,000 to $23,000, depending on the size of the addition and where it is in your home.
A bigger kitchen
“Another very common addition is the ‘My Kitchen’s Too Small’ addition,” says Patrick. He says this happens “when the kitchen is too small and compact. The best way to solve that is to just blow a wall out and make a bigger space.”
Expanding a kitchen starts, on average, around $150 per square foot. The cost will vary depending on whether you are just adding more space or whether you will be adding more expensive touches like a luxury range. Projects that require changing or adding plumbing can increase your total costs.
Adding another bathroom
Tired of traffic jams in front of the bathroom mirror? An added bathroom can help you manage the morning rush. The range in prices for this sort of project is wide, with estimates that go from $15,000 to $90,000.
Laundry room addition
Envying those Instagram-perfect laundry rooms with wide open shelves and pull-down drying racks? Depending on the size and scope, Angi estimates you’ll pay between $1,300 and $15,000 to add a dedicated laundry room to your home.
Mudroom or sunroom addition
A mudroom can help you keep all the chaos in one place, while a sunroom expands the usable indoor areas of your home. Both can be affordable additions, with prices that range from $8,000 to $16,000.
Porch addition
Because a porch is an exterior addition, it can sometimes come with a lower price tag than other changes. The Spruce says to expect a cost of anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000.
Garage conversion or addition
The cost of a new garage will depend on the scope of the project. A simple carport can cost as little as $2,000. More elaborate additions that can include workshop space or plumbing can come in as high as $100,000.
Attic or second-story addition
The cost of finishing or raising an attic depends on the size and the scope of the changes you make. According to Angi, the average prices run between $7,500 and $35,000. An elaborate upgrade or finishing an oddly shaped room could mean spending more.
What factors affect the cost per square foot of a home addition?
You’ve probably noticed there is a very wide range on some of those figures above. It can seem confusing, but the numbers make sense once you dig deeper.
While many online estimates put the cost of a home addition at an average of $150 per square foot, Patrick says numbers like that could be misleading. “If you just want to add 50 square feet, that is going to be pretty expensive per square foot,” he says. He goes on to explain that you need to be making a significant enough change––say, around 100 square feet or more––before your cost per square foot starts to become manageable.
Many other factors can make an addition less expensive or drive its price outside affordability. “If you have a home that you can just pull a gable roof structure off and build a box underneath, that’s going to be a real simple addition to build, so it’s going to be cheaper,” Patrick says.
At the other end of the spectrum is adding additions to specialty homes. “If you have a Victorian-style home and you need that addition to match the existing home, that’s going to be more complex and much more expensive,” he says.
Important
How much does a home addition add to your home’s value?
“If you are thinking about return on investment, it is a must to make sure your addition isn’t an ugly addition or an obvious addition,” Patrick says. “If you’ve taken a simple Cape Cod that’s really beautiful but relatively small, and put an ugly addition on the side of it, nobody’s gonna want that.”
He reminds homeowners to honor the home’s design and be sure any additions you make work harmoniously with the house as a whole. He suggests that saving money on an addition can mean doing something simple, such as finishing an unfinished basement. “When you have spaces like an unfinished attic or basement that you can finish and add square footage for massively less cost than doing a real addition with a foundation and walls and a roof, that can be the easiest way to add value.”
It’s also worth remembering that you will almost never recoup 100% of your costs when remodeling or improving your home. Instead of choosing the addition that you think will increase your home’s monetary value, think in terms of the additions that will increase your enjoyment and use of your home.
“What are the pain points of the home, what matters to [the homeowner]?,” asks Patrick. “Each person’s motivation in terms of what they need is different and unique.”
How to pay for a home addition
Tip
No matter how big or small your addition dreams are, you still need to come up with funds to pay for them. Homeowners have a few options to cover the costs of expanding their space. A few of the most common:
Home equity loan
This is a lump sum loan that pulls from the equity you’ve built in your home. In most cases, you will need to have about 20% equity in your home. You’ll also need to have low total debt and enough income to take on new loan payments.
Most people can get home equity loans through the bank that already holds their mortgage. Because this is a secured loan, you will typically get a lower interest rate than you can with a personal loan. However, you will typically have to jump through more hoops to qualify than you would for a personal loan.
HELOC
A home equity line of credit (HELOC) is another type of loan that is based on your home equity. But, instead of a lump sum loan, a HELOC is a line of credit you use like a credit card. It can be convenient if you have ongoing home improvement projects since you decide how much you pull out at any given time.
HELOCs can come with usage fees that can increase the cost of the loan. This is especially true if you tap this line of credit multiple times. Financial experts also warn that HELOCs, if overused, can keep you from building up meaningful equity in your home.
Personal loan
Personal loans are unsecured loans. They’re offered based on your income and credit history. Because they are unsecured, they may have higher interest rates than home equity loans. But, they can also close much faster. With Acorn Finance, you can expect to get your funds in one to three days when applying for a personal loan.
Home improvement loan
A home improvement loan is just a personal loan taken out specifically for home improvements. These loans are based on your personal creditworthiness rather than the equity you have in your home. You can check to see how much you qualify for in seconds through Acorn Finance.
How Acorn Finance can help
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