Extending A 1 Story Terrace House To 1.5 Stories

[benny 0]

Hi guys,

I'm new here.

Looking at a very nice single story terrace house that has a build in/up area of almost 2000 sq ft. Am looking to extend it upwards to 1.5 story and adding 1 or 2 bed rooms with a toilet on the the level above. Perhaps a roof garden if the space allows. About 800 sq ft of additional space.

Would this be consider A&A works or reconstruction? I understand that there is a difference and the additional cost implication can be quite significant. How does the psf price works? Base on the whole house or the worked areas? Or the land area? I think this rate varies wildly from 100 to 200 psf for these type of works, depending on materials and extend of teardown/buildup?

As for other renovations, perhaps a relocation or addition of an additional toilet as there is only one at the moment. And remodeling of the kitchen to allow more light in. I'm not one of those that needs fancy kitchen with island concept or wet/dry areas. A traditional one that is well laid out is fine and dandy.

If there are any recommendation for great service providers, it's be helpful. I'm looking more of a one stop shop than attempt to do the co-ordination between various contractors myself.

Any comments, advice or suggestion is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Regards,

[leechaorui 2]

Hi guys,

I'm new here.

Looking at a very nice single story terrace house that has a build in/up area of almost 2000 sq ft. Am looking to extend it upwards to 1.5 story and adding 1 or 2 bed rooms with a toilet on the the level above. Perhaps a roof garden if the space allows. About 800 sq ft of additional space.

Would this be consider A&A works or reconstruction? I understand that there is a difference and the additional cost implication can be quite significant. How does the psf price works? Base on the whole house or the worked areas? Or the land area? I think this rate varies wildly from 100 to 200 psf for these type of works, depending on materials and extend of teardown/buildup?

As for other renovations, perhaps a relocation or addition of an additional toilet as there is only one at the moment. And remodeling of the kitchen to allow more light in. I'm not one of those that needs fancy kitchen with island concept or wet/dry areas. A traditional one that is well laid out is fine and dandy.

If there are any recommendation for great service providers, it's be helpful. I'm looking more of a one stop shop than attempt to do the co-ordination between various contractors myself.

Any comments, advice or suggestion is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Regards,

Hi Benny, welcome to RenoTalk. From your description, it looks like an A&A work. I think it is difficult to get $100 psf price. For 800 sqft at $100 psf, it translate to $80,000 to construct an attic. In today's construction market, I doubt it is possible. Maybe other forumers can advise on the price. Even at $200 psf, it would mean $160,000 only. This is a workable price but you probably have to keep things simple.

I am using a contractor and he is not exactly cheap. I would think his pricing is quite market competitive.

Another suggestion is for you to get an architect and ask him for advice. In that way, you can get a deeper understanding on what work is required and the submission requirements. If you go for re-construction, the price should be even steeper.

[Fren 0]

Hi Benny, welcome to RenoTalk. From your description, it looks like an A&A work. I think it is difficult to get $100 psf price. For 800 sqft at $100 psf, it translate to $80,000 to construct an attic. In today's construction market, I doubt it is possible. Maybe other forumers can advise on the price. Even at $200 psf, it would mean $160,000 only. This is a workable price but you probably have to keep things simple.

I am using a contractor and he is not exactly cheap. I would think his pricing is quite market competitive.

Another suggestion is for you to get an architect and ask him for advice. In that way, you can get a deeper understanding on what work is required and the submission requirements. If you go for re-construction, the price should be even steeper.

there is a grey line between A&A and reconstruction, u have to follow many rules in order to be A&A, but to ***, i reckon u may fall into reconstruction. There are many costs to be considered, PE's fee, Architect's fee, BCA submissions, and they can cost anything above 20k for a reconstruction. And also since 15th June, BCA came out with new ruling, u have to follow this and that. We are going thru **** with all this. Pls reconsider getting a old house, better to get a newly constructed one, leaving the troubles to developer......

[benny 0]

Thanks guys for the warm welcome!

Perhaps I should look look for an architect as a starting point.

And also since 15th June, BCA came out with new ruling, u have to follow this and that. We are going thru **** with all this.

Oh. That's interesting. Can you share what are the new rulings? I can't seem to find it on BCA's website.

Cheers,

[yoongf 11]

Single storey houses were built with no foundation work, and were probably built a long time ago, when strength was not a big requirement. Unlikely it will be able to take on additional load, like a CONCRETE FLOOR!

The big difference between A&A and reconstruction is that reconstruction requires the HS. The cost saving for A&A is not much since almost everything will be redone. (save the foundation and some structures) Reconstruction requires the full set of authority approvals, and that will take a longer time to start work.

[JustAsking 0]

Attempting to build a 1 storey to 1.5 storey depends on a few factors.

The layout of your terace and is your unit a inter terrace with neigbours having rebuilt to 2 stories or have a potentiol to rebuild.

If your neighbours have rebuilt to 2 stories then it is not wise to do 1.5 stories..you are still getting water from their roof down to you and you will still get the squashed feeling!

It is better if the unit is a corner.

As the old structure was built without foundation, it is wiser if I-beams can be used to create the other half storey for support beam sturctures.

But keep in mind, it is not cost effective to rebulid to 1.5 stories. You add another $200k thereabout to the in initial $200K and you can have a possibility to completely re-construct.

Your overall value would not appreciate much if you rebuild to 1.5 stories but your property tax will increase.

So with a little increase in space, there is still a lot of disadvantages.

[benny 0]

Attempting to build a 1 storey to 1.5 storey depends on a few factors.

The layout of your terace and is your unit a inter terrace with neigbours having rebuilt to 2 stories or have a potentiol to rebuild.

If your neighbours have rebuilt to 2 stories then it is not wise to do 1.5 stories..you are still getting water from their roof down to you and you will still get the squashed feeling!

It is better if the unit is a corner.

As the old structure was built without foundation, it is wiser if I-beams can be used to create the other half storey for support beam sturctures.

But keep in mind, it is not cost effective to rebulid to 1.5 stories. You add another $200k thereabout to the in initial $200K and you can have a possibility to completely re-construct.

Your overall value would not appreciate much if you rebuild to 1.5 stories but your property tax will increase.

So with a little increase in space, there is still a lot of disadvantages.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

The unit I'm looking at is acutally a corner terrace, but it's actually end to end, meaning that I don't have a corridor on one side to go from the front to the back of the house.

I do know that the neighbour is intending to do a 2.5 storey rebuild in the unit next to mine. I have never thought about water runoff from their roof. Is it a point to be concern about? I can't imagine how their water runoff will impact my unit in anyway as the rain still falls on my roof too right?

So in your opinion, it's possible to do a 2 storey unit for about 400K? What is the difference between a 1.5 storey and 2 storey unit. In my mind, I think it the same.

Cost is a concern as we don't really want to spend too much but want a bit more space and privacy. Hence the 1.5 storey idea. But if the more experienced homeowners can share they thoughts and lessons learnt, I will really appreciate it as I'm relatively new at these things.

Cheers,

[benny 0]

Single storey houses were built with no foundation work, and were probably built a long time ago, when strength was not a big requirement. Unlikely it will be able to take on additional load, like a CONCRETE FLOOR!

The big difference between A&A and reconstruction is that reconstruction requires the HS. The cost saving for A&A is not much since almost everything will be redone. (save the foundation and some structures) Reconstruction requires the full set of authority approvals, and that will take a longer time to start work.

Thanks for the good information. I've no idea that I will need additional foundation work to raise a usable level in the house.

By the way, what is HS?

Cheers,

[leechaorui 2]

Thanks for the good information. I've no idea that I will need additional foundation work to raise a usable level in the house.

By the way, what is HS?

Cheers,

HS: Home Shelter (sometimes, we just call it bomb shelter). When you do re-construction, you may not necessarily do a HS. There are people who manage to get away without doing HS. Cheers.

[wuga98 0]

lee; for reconstruction, it is not possible not to build a HS, it is a newruling and it has to be certified thus... the only way to get around this is class it as major A&A. As to what you cannot demolished to satisfy this, i am not familiar but your architect will know.

There are multiple certs that you need to have to be able to get your TOP/CSC and one of them is this HS thing.

HS: Home Shelter (sometimes, we just call it bomb shelter). When you do re-construction, you may not necessarily do a HS. There are people who manage to get away without doing HS. Cheers.

[wuga98 0]

ben: my neighbour did a 1.5, let me take a pic and see if that is what you want to do. I did not manage to talk to him about the cost but when he did the construction of this additional room, they are practically still living there.

if you are doing a major a&a, you may want to evaluate doing a full reconstruction as the cost could be the same ballpark.

Hi guys,

I'm new here.

Looking at a very nice single story terrace house that has a build in/up area of almost 2000 sq ft. Am looking to extend it upwards to 1.5 story and adding 1 or 2 bed rooms with a toilet on the the level above. Perhaps a roof garden if the space allows. About 800 sq ft of additional space.

Would this be consider A&A works or reconstruction? I understand that there is a difference and the additional cost implication can be quite significant. How does the psf price works? Base on the whole house or the worked areas? Or the land area? I think this rate varies wildly from 100 to 200 psf for these type of works, depending on materials and extend of teardown/buildup?

As for other renovations, perhaps a relocation or addition of an additional toilet as there is only one at the moment. And remodeling of the kitchen to allow more light in. I'm not one of those that needs fancy kitchen with island concept or wet/dry areas. A traditional one that is well laid out is fine and dandy.

If there are any recommendation for great service providers, it's be helpful. I'm looking more of a one stop shop than attempt to do the co-ordination between various contractors myself.

Any comments, advice or suggestion is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Regards,

[yoongf 11]

http://www.ura.gov.sg/circulars/text/dcdrhb_d0e62.htm

The main difference between reconstruction and A&A is based on 50% of structure, 50% of external walls, etc. If the changes affect more than 50% of these items, then is classified as reconstruction.

If neighbourhood was previously all single storey, and both side neighbours have rebuilt to higher, likely they have redone THEIR foundation. It is not allowed to bolt on to their structure and "borrow" their foundation.

[wuga98 0]

this pic taken from my side yard.

this one taken on the 2nd floor side window.

Edited October 31, 2009 by wuga98

[kardtoon 0]

HS: Home Shelter (sometimes, we just call it bomb shelter). When you do re-construction, you may not necessarily do a HS. There are people who manage to get away without doing HS. Cheers.

I'm doing a reconstruction and do not have to build a HS. Another friend of mine completed his recontruction and no HS as well. Complete Rebuild requires the HS. I believe the difference between the 2 is that reconstruction, you have to keep some existing floor structures, complete rebuild is from ground up with little restriction.

[yapyap 0]

I'm doing a reconstruction and do not have to build a HS. Another friend of mine completed his recontruction and no HS as well. Complete Rebuild requires the HS. I believe the difference between the 2 is that reconstruction, you have to keep some existing floor structures, complete rebuild is from ground up with little restriction.

best way to check recon or a&a is to ask your engineer and the link in URA that yoongf has provided..