Advice on adding second storey

[3Cube 9]

12 minutes ago, fitz00 said:

hi @3Cube just to be clear I'm not asking for anyone to come up with slip shod or dangerous designs that a builder/PE/architect has to sign off on. I completely understand this and that is not what I'm asking.

The reality of the situation now is that I will have to build a smaller house in order to fit my budget, or take on a renovation loan to build the house I want. My question is simply whether retaining the existing structure would save on costs and I think @snoozee's answer was very helpful. 

 

 

 

 

Refer to my second post & you'll understand it's no advisable.

Besides, old property tend to have low ceiling height & you can't just jack up the ceiling, chop the column & fill in the column void to raise the ceiling height.

I'm saying this as most owner would like to have high ceiling. I'm also not assuming you want this. This is the popular trend & it help in future when you sell the property.

Think long term instead, is what I'm saying

[3Cube 9]

2 minutes ago, 3Cube said:

Refer to my second post & you'll understand it's no advisable.

Besides, old property tend to have low ceiling height & you can't just jack up the ceiling, chop the column & fill in the column void to raise the ceiling height.

I'm saying this as most owner would like to have high ceiling. I'm also not assuming you want this. This is the popular trend & it help in future when you sell the property.

Think long term instead, is what I'm saying

Also, fitz00, the response is due to you wording in your second post on this thread as follows:

"Would adding a second storey be much cheaper than a rebuild"

[George Yeo 9]

If I were you I would do a complete rebuild instead of just adding 2nd floor and attic, you won't get much saving and what you probably get after completion would be "neither here nor there" type of house, not much enhancement or increase asset value in future when you want to sell. 

Get a good design and build company or architect to advise you. I think 1.5 mil is doable. 

[snoozee 97]

6 hours ago, fitz00 said:

hi @3Cube just to be clear I'm not asking for anyone to come up with slip shod or dangerous designs that a builder/PE/architect has to sign off on. I completely understand this and that is not what I'm asking.

The reality of the situation now is that I will have to build a smaller house in order to fit my budget, or take on a renovation loan to build the house I want. My question is simply whether retaining the existing structure would save on costs and I think @snoozee's answer was very helpful. 

 

 

 

 

for a detached house, the maximum site coverage is 50% for non CGB areas so the maximum building footprint you can have is about 2000sqf. so based on this, a "standard" 2.5 storey house would have a built up GFA of about 5000sqf to 5200sqf. if one wants to increase the built up area, basements can be added or mezzanine added as well.

your builder's quote of 1.5m if based on a max GFA of 500sqf would be about $300psf which is quite reasonable as it seems that many are quoting at $350psf even before this COVID situation. do note that construction cost does not include professional and authorities' fees. so be prepared to set aside another 100k to 200k for these fees depending on the QPs you engage.

I think what is important now is for you to find an architect who can help you design up the house first. once the house is designed, then you can see how you can cut back the costs by tweaking the designs.