What it is
Second-story additions
Some one-story brick houses can take a new floor. The walls and the foundation decide, and we find out before you pay for a full set of drawings.
We open a few places to look at the walls and footings. An engineer sizes the beams and posts that would carry a second floor, and tells us what the foundation needs.
What's included
A structural review of the walls and footings
New floor framing and the beams that carry it
The roof taken off and rebuilt, with weather protection
A stair, windows and a layout for the new rooms
Heat, wiring and plumbing for the new floor
Permit drawings and the city's inspections
What changes the cost
Five things that move a second-story estimate
We don't print an average, because the house decides. These are the things that move your written estimate.
What the walls and footings need
Sometimes they carry a new floor as they are. Sometimes they need work first.
Size of the new floor
Over the whole house or over part of it.
Roof shape
A simple gable is quicker to rebuild than a hip roof with dormers.
Where the stair lands
It takes space on the first floor, so the layout there changes too.
Where you live meanwhile
With the roof open, some families move out for a stretch. That cost is yours, so we plan it with you.
Heating and cooling
A new floor often needs its own zone.
How it goes
A second story, week by week
- Weeks 1–2
Step 1: Site visit and test openings in the walls and footings
- Weeks 3–7
Step 2: Drawings, and the engineer's structural pages
- Weeks 8–16
Step 3: City plan review, as a range
- Weeks 17–18
Step 4: Permit, materials and your written schedule
- Weeks 19–36
Step 5: Build: the roof comes off only when the new floor's materials are on site, and the dry-in days are written into your schedule
Typical ranges, for planning. Your written schedule sets your weeks.
Questions about this job
Can my house take a second story?
Some can. It depends on the walls, the footings and the zoning limit on height. We test the walls first and tell you in writing before you pay for a full set of drawings.
Will we live in the house?
Maybe not the whole time. We write down the roof-open days and the shut-offs, and if a stretch isn't livable we say so before you sign.
How long is the roof open?
Only as long as the floor framing and the new roof take. We keep the materials on site first, cover the house at the end of every day and give you the days in advance.
What about the neighbors?
Scaffold and a dumpster take space in the alley and on the side. We tell next-door neighbors before the work starts and give them our number.
Want to know if your house can do this?
Book a site visit. You get a written answer, including when it's no.