Home Additions in Arlington, VA

What a home addition in Arlington actually involves

• Permit submission and review. A complete package — site plan, architectural, structural, energy compliance — submitted to the reviewing jurisdiction, with responses to any comments handled by us rather than forwarded to you.
• Excavation and foundation. Footings below the local frost depth, foundation walls or piers, waterproofing and drainage, and a slab or crawlspace detail that will not become the source of a moisture problem later.
• Framing, roof tie-in and envelope. Framing to the engineered design, and then the part that separates good additions from obvious ones: the roof tie-in, the flashing at the intersection, and matching the existing roofing, siding and trim so the addition does not announce itself.
• Systems extension. HVAC capacity evaluated for the added load rather than assumed, electrical circuits and panel capacity, and plumbing runs if the addition includes a kitchen or bath.

What we typically find on a Arlington house of this era (1920 to 1955). Arlington bungalows and capes give us undersized floor framing for the spans people now want, previous pop-tops of highly variable quality, and lead paint on essentially everything. Lot coverage is usually the constraint that decides the design.

Lead paint: the rule that applies to most of Arlington

There is a federal rule most homeowners have never heard of and most bids never mention. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule covers pre-1978 housing and requires a certified firm, contained work areas and a specific cleanup protocol any time painted surfaces are disturbed. Most of Arlington's housing stock predates 1978, so assume this applies to your house unless someone has established otherwise. We are an EPA lead-safe certified firm and we work that way as a matter of course. If you are getting bids and nobody else has raised this, that tells you something worth knowing about the bids.

What drives the cost on a Arlington home addition

Anyone can publish a range. Almost nobody can publish one that survives contact with an actual house, which is why we do not. The list below is the honest version: the specific things that decide whether your project lands at the bottom or the top of whatever range you have in your head.

• Whether the existing HVAC, electrical service and, on septic properties, the septic system can absorb the added load, or whether they have to be upgraded.
• Whether the addition includes plumbing. A bathroom or kitchen in the new space means supply, drain and vent to the addition.
• Matching existing materials. Siding, roofing, brick and window profiles that are no longer made drive either sourcing effort or a design decision about where the new material starts and stops.
• Small lots where lot coverage and setbacks bind almost immediately, which is why so much Arlington expansion goes up or straight back rather than sideways. That is a Arlington-specific factor and it belongs in the conversation early.

Additions run on two clocks. The design, engineering and permit review clock happens before anything is built and is largely outside the builder's control. The construction clock starts at permit issuance and runs through foundation, framing, dry-in, rough-ins, inspections, insulation, drywall and finish. Anyone who gives you a total duration before knowing which jurisdiction is reviewing the plans is guessing.

The mistakes we get called in to fix

• A roof tie-in that was not detailed, which is where additions leak. Flashing at the intersection of new and old roof planes is not a field decision.
• Not verifying the septic system's capacity on a septic-served property before adding bedrooms.
• Choosing a builder who cannot show you a license, a certificate of insurance, and the permit history on their own jobs.

One licensed team, one contract, one point of contact

Everything we claim here can be verified by you in a few minutes. MHIC #111971 is on file with the Maryland Home Improvement Commission and is publicly searchable. We carry general liability and workers' compensation coverage and provide carrier-issued certificates before a contract is signed. The licensed trades working under us hold their own licenses and their own insurance, and they pull their own trade permits, which is how the law requires it. What you get is a single contract and a single company that cannot point at anyone else.

Where we work in Arlington

• 22201
• 22203
• 22205
• 22207
• 22209
• Lyon Park
• Ashton Heights
• Cherrydale
• Westover
• Aurora Highlands
• Bluemont

How a Arlington project runs

1. On-site consultation, measurements, and a scope you can read. We start by understanding the house and what you want from it. Measurements, photographs, a look at the systems, and an honest conversation about which parts of your wish list the building will actually support.
2. Feasibility against Arlington rules, before design. We establish what Arlington County will require for home addition at your address, and what your lot, your zoning and your existing house will allow. Where historic review applies, that submission is prepared and filed first, because the building permit is not useful until it clears.
3. A scope you approve before anything is filed. Line items, stated allowances, and a written change-order process, because the disputes in this industry all live in the space between what was assumed and what was written. Once you approve it, we prepare the permit submission and carry it through review.
4. One supervisor, one schedule, one handover. MHIC #111971, The same person runs your job start to finish, we meet every inspection, and at the end you get a punch walk under working light plus the closed permits and warranty documentation as a package.

Home Additions across Arlington

Regular working area here: Lyon Park, Ashton Heights, Cherrydale, Westover, Aurora Highlands and Bluemont, plus 22201, 22203, 22205, 22207, 22209. What buyers and appraisers in this market respond to is square footage added without losing the yard, a second full bath, and a main level that functions for a family rather than for 1938 — worth knowing whether you are renovating to stay or renovating to sell.

Homeowners here usually reach us for more than one thing at a time. Related work in Arlington: whole-home renovation in Arlington, kitchen remodeling in Arlington, basement finishing in Arlington, deck building in Arlington.

There is a specific failure mode we exist to prevent: the interior contractor who opens a wall, finds water damage, and hands you a roofer's phone number. Because roofing, siding, aluminum siding, windows and gutters, soffit and fascia are trades we perform ourselves, the envelope is inside your contract rather than outside it, and there is no second company to schedule, vet and argue with.

Arlington home additions questions