Home Additions in McLean, VA

What a home addition in McLean actually involves

The McLean mid-century rambler has excellent bones and a terrible kitchen. Opening the main level of one is the single most common project in this market, and it is almost always a load-bearing wall question. On lots backing to stream valleys, Fairfax County's resource protection area requirements limit disturbance near the water. That is established from the plat and county mapping before design, because it is not something you can design around after the fact.

• Feasibility and zoning before design. Pull the plat, establish the setbacks, calculate existing lot coverage, and confirm the height and bulk limits that apply. Roughly speaking, this determines the size and shape of what you can build before an architect draws a line.
• 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.

Lead paint: the rule that applies to most of McLean

If the house went up before 1978, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to any work that disturbs painted surfaces: the firm doing it has to be certified, the work area has to be contained, and the cleanup has to be verified. Most of McLean's housing stock predates 1978, so assume this applies to your house unless someone has established otherwise. We hold that certification and we set up for it from day one instead of discovering it halfway through. It is a fair question to put to every contractor bidding your job, along with a request to see the certificate.

What drives the cost on a McLean home addition

We will not put a price range on a web page, because a number quoted without seeing your house is either a guess or bait. What we can do is tell you honestly which variables move the number, so you can read the bids you get from anyone.

• Foundation type and site conditions. Grade, soil, access for equipment and how far the excavator has to reach all move the number.
• 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.
• Half-acre and larger lots with mature hardwoods, several neighborhoods backing onto stream valleys and park land. That is a McLean-specific factor and it belongs in the conversation early.

The mistakes we get called in to fix

• Designing before checking setbacks and lot coverage. It is the single most common way people spend money on drawings that cannot be built.
• 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

An addition is the only remodeling project that is also a land-use question. Before anyone talks about what you want, somebody has to establish what the lot and the zoning ordinance will allow — setbacks, lot coverage, height, and how the existing house already counts against those limits.

Our position is simple and it is checkable. We hold MHIC #111971 in Maryland. We carry general liability and workers' compensation coverage, and we will send you the certificates before you sign rather than after you ask twice. Our subcontracted trades carry their own coverage and their own trade licenses, and the trade permits are pulled under those licenses, as they are required to be. You sign one contract with one company, and that company is the one answering the phone when something needs answering.

Where we work in McLean

• 22101
• 22102
• Langley
• Chesterbrook
• Franklin Park
• Salona Village
• West McLean
• Broyhill McLean Estates

How a McLean project runs

1. Free on-site consultation and a written scope. We walk the space with you, measure, look at what is behind the finishes where we can, and write down what you actually want out of the project rather than what is easiest to sell.
2. Feasibility against McLean rules, before design. We establish what Fairfax County will require for home addition at your address, and what your lot, your zoning and your existing house will allow. Where association architectural approval applies, that submission is prepared and filed first, because the building permit is not useful until it clears.
3. Fixed written scope, then permits. A line-item scope with allowances stated plainly and a change-order process agreed in advance. We prepare and submit the permit package and handle review comments ourselves.
4. Supervised production and a clean finish. MHIC #111971, one point of contact for the whole job, trades sequenced against the inspection calendar, and a closeout that includes the punch walk, the closed permits and the product documentation in one package.

Home Additions across McLean and Fairfax County

Our crews cover Langley, Chesterbrook, Franklin Park, Salona Village, West McLean and Broyhill McLean Estates, across 22101, 22102. McLean owners are usually deciding between a deep renovation and selling to a builder. The renovation wins when the bones are good and the floor plan can be reorganized rather than replaced.

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

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.

McLean home additions questions