So you are thinking of spending a considerable amount of money to add to and remodel your current home. But should you? Or would it be better to tear down the house and start over? What guidelines are there for making a decision?

You bought the house because it had a great view or you really loved the location for whatever reason. But the house is too small for his family. But the house is too small for the land value. Or you bought the house already built but it seems outdated and is not to your taste.

What is the first issue that needs to be analyzed?

The first is the 50/50 rule that applies to homes in flood-prone areas like South Florida. The 50/50 rule is a federal law that states that if you design a “substantial” remodel or addition to a home, then the ground floor of the home must meet the base flood elevation. A substantial remodel is defined as an addition and/or remodel that costs 50% or more of the cost of the existing home.

Since many homes in South Florida, particularly around Miami Beach, Key Biscayne, and other coastal Florida areas, were originally built before the regulation of base story elevations, many of the ground floors of homes in these areas are below the base flood elevation. .

For example, the base flood elevation for Hibiscus Island, part of Miami Beach, is 10′-0″ NGVD. Many homes on this island were originally built many years ago at approximately 6′-0″ NGVD. So if a two-story house has to be brought down to the base flood elevation, the house would have to be destroyed. The floor cannot be raised 4′-0″ and the second floor must be kept where it is. In a one-story home, this means that, in essence, a second floor would have to be added at the new base flood elevation and the floor abandoned original.

So to wrap up this topic, if the addition you are looking to build or the remodel you are looking to do is more than 50% of the cost of the original house, many times, it would be better to tear down the existing house and build a completely new house. On the other hand, if the cost of the current home is high and the addition or remodel can be built for less than 50% of the cost of the original home, then this addition and/or remodel is possible.

What is the second issue that needs to be analyzed?

Is the house on a septic tank or sewer line? Is it city water or well water? Unless you have a very large lot, the combination of well water with septic tank is very detrimental to a feasible addition. In Miami-Dade County, a new septic tank must be within 100 feet of any water well, whether it’s yours, your neighbor’s, or a public well. Any addition of any consequence to a home that has been there for 20 years will almost always require a new septic tank. If your existing home is close to your neighbors’ water wells, you must ensure that the new septic tank is the required distance from those existing water wells. If your current home has well water and a new street water line was recently located in front of or very close to your home, any substantial additions will require you to connect to the water line. The same would be true with a sewer line. Any of these could add substantial costs to the addition depending on the distance from the home to the connection and whether the connection is in the middle of a public street. If these conditions end up costing so much that it becomes a disproportionate part of the budget, then it may be best to leave this house alone, perhaps even sell it, and then build a new house where conditions are better for building.

What is the third issue that needs to be analyzed?

The third is a less technical topic, but just as important, probably the most important. Is the existing plan something that can be easily added to or remodeled? Does the current plan work? Once I locate the new addition, will the existing roofs still work with the new space? Homeowners often think they can add to any side of the house without regard to roofs. The ideal situation would be for the existing plan to be easy to add to, and furthermore, in a way that would still allow roofs to drain rainwater away from the center of the house and exterior walls.

Before considering an addition, the floor plan should be analyzed for wasted space. Old houses often have spaces that can be adapted for new uses. This option will almost always be less expensive than any addition to the house.

Consideration of these three issues will go a long way in giving you clues as to whether you should demolish and start over, sell the house, or actually add to or remodel the house.