Good morning everyone,

I'm looking into adding an addition onto my home. The likely place will be over the 20' x 24' garage. Half the space will connect to an existing bedroom and add a bathroom and walk-in closet. Approximately half the space will be dedicated to "storage". Code for my reloading setup and some space to store random nonesense we have acquired through the years. 

Will the blueprints contain information to determineif the footings and/or concrete under the garage will support an addition? The house is on a slab without a basement in rocky soil on Schooley's Mountain in Long Valley, NJ (if that matters). 

 

You need to talk to / hire an architect who can provide the documents you'll need to manage the permitting process. An engineering study (re: the soil) may be necessary.

Chances are a few confirmation holes for the garage foundation will need to be dug and that the garage drive thru door header ( and other framing) is sufficient to support another floor. All done by pros like above poster said. 

Do you have access to the original prints for your house and you’re wondering if the information will support an addition? They should. 
 

or are you asking will the town require you to put footing detail in the prints you submit? Yes. 
 

or maybe it’s something else

I've done two additions.

The big one is block on footings and the other, our kitchen is on piers.

The bottom line is you need to hire an architect and they will see what you have, determine if it's enough and give you a plan for the addition.   The blueprints will be something a builder can follow.

Our Architectural costs were $5k(2012) for the big addition and the small one was $1600(2017).  That's up where I live.  Expect a bit more where you live.

Permits, surveys, etc all extra cost.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Malsua said:

...Our Architectural costs were $5k(2012) for the big addition and the small one was $1600(2017).  That's up where I live.  Expect a bit more where you live.

Architects, like surgeons, have boat payments to make too!

2 minutes ago, njJoniGuy said:

Architects, like surgeons, have boat payments to make too!

Well, to be fair, the first addition doubled the sq footage, tripled the volume, added a level and rebuilt 75% of the original house as well.  It was almost a tear-down rebuild.   There was a LOT of detail.   Worth every penny because the guy knew everyone at the building department and anything with his name on it goes through without issue because he's good and it's to code the first time.   It is also a unique design and the only house like it, probably anywhere.

A good architect is worth every penny you pay him. A bad architect isn't worth any price.

Schooley's mtn is a bit upscale from Victory Gardens, glad to hear you moved.

3 minutes ago, djg0770 said:

A good architect is worth every penny you pay him. A bad architect isn't worth any price.

Schooley's mtn is a bit upscale from Victory Gardens, glad to hear you moved.

I was in Randolph. Taxes were insane and once the guy across the street started illegally renting part of his house to a guy selling drugs, that was it. 

I'm not doing the work myself. It would be done by pros with permits and plans. I know underpinning a foundation can be pricey, that's why I'm trying to figure out the scope of the work to get a ballpark for the reno. 

I'm trying to figure out if it's going to cost less to move or alter the house. 

You can also get recommendations for a trusted general contractor and ask them to hire the architect.  This design-build scenario is fairly common.

Not to highjack the thread, but here's a general architect type question. Nephew bought a colonial built in the 1970s. The second floor is developing a bit of a hump in the floor, seems to run right down the midline of the length of the house corresponding to the weight bearing wall below. Foundation seems fine with no cracks. 

Is it worth caring about? Normal settling? If it should be evaluated, who does it - structural engineer? Architect?

7 minutes ago, Handyman said:

Not to highjack the thread, but here's a general architect type question. Nephew bought a colonial built in the 1970s. The second floor is developing a bit of a hump in the floor, seems to run right down the midline of the length of the house corresponding to the weight bearing wall below. Foundation seems fine with no cracks. 

Is it worth caring about? Normal settling? If it should be evaluated, who does it - structural engineer? Architect?

@1LtCAPhad the samish issue. It’s were the girder or “ summer beam”( old school) is. 
 

we call it character or patina 

29 minutes ago, Handyman said:

Not to highjack the thread, but here's a general architect type question. Nephew bought a colonial built in the 1970s. The second floor is developing a bit of a hump in the floor, seems to run right down the midline of the length of the house corresponding to the weight bearing wall below. Foundation seems fine with no cracks. 

Is it worth caring about? Normal settling? If it should be evaluated, who does it - structural engineer? Architect?

You should have someone inspect it.  It's possible there is termite damage or something that has weakened the floor joists.  A 50 year old house should not really be sagging.  I lived in a 150 year old house and there was some sagging, some plaster cracking and all that, but it was in the middle 16inch square beam that ran 30 feet.   You're sagging sounds like the opposite, the beam is solid, the other end of the joists are not!  Odd to say the least.

A InterNachi  certified inspector can give you some insight.   It'll cost a few hundred bucks.

 

 

12 minutes ago, Malsua said:

A InterNachi  certified inspector can give you some insight.   It'll cost a few hundred bucks.

 He only bought around 5 years ago, but the inspection report did not even mention it. I think he used some big national franchise. 

2 minutes ago, Handyman said:

 He only bought around 5 years ago, but the inspection report did not even mention it. I think he used some big national franchise. 

It's possible someone renovated and removed a load-bearing wall.   It takes a LOT for a house to fail, but when it does it tends to go all at once after some warnings.  Sag-sag-sag-collapse.  I mean, that exact thing  happened to my old kitchen.  The rim joist on our galley kitchen rotted, sag then one night with a bunch of snow on our deck, it let go. That was 2002.  The entire room sank about 6 inches on the one side. 

I ended up putting double 2x10s and new piers under the old rim joist.  Jacked it up and it stayed until the entire kitchen was removed in 2017.    There was a "ridge" down the middle of the kitchen floor where the old center beam was.