home addition Q

[forsale1965]

I'm in the earliest stages of considering a home addition and had a question about settling issues. My home is very similar to this one:

except that it's a little longer on one side. I'm thinking about extending the centre A-frame section back 20 feet and relocating the kitchen from the main room back into that area.

I was wondering if such an extension was possible. Could the roof line be extended straight back or would there be problems with the new section settling and essentially cracking the roof along the connection area? (The home is four years old now)

Any problems that I'm not aware of that might arise from sticking a room on like that?

Thanks!

[marson]

[marson]

You're not very clear about what you have and what you want to add. I take it you have a log home, and want a log addition? Seems like this isn't going to work, not if you just want to extend the roof of the ell. You will have to have them somehow separate the roofs to allow for differential settling. A frame addition might be possible, if the original log house has stabilized.

[forsale1965]

Forgot to mention that the home isn't log...but was based on a log home plan very similar to the one in the link. The house is a regular frame home. The extension would extend the centre A-frame section back

20 feet including the second floor (which is a loft in the house now). If you look closely at the house in the pic, you'll see that the centre roof goes from front to back.

I expect I'd have to have the two roofs separate somehow...even to the point of reducing the size of the extension so that the roof attaches to the existing house from below the current roof (under the eave)...or perhaps having some sort of sleeve or inner section between the two sections so that the extension remains a full 20x20 and the roofs are separated by a foot or two. (Hard to explain but you might know what I'm imagining).

I'm really just thinking out loud. As I noted, I'm only just considering this now and thought I'd check on some basic questions before I start looking for a contractor. Any thoughts on it are welcomed!

Thanks!

[marson]

Your link gave me the notion that you were dealing with log homes. If the homes are frame construction, than an addition is no problem for a builder who knows what he is doing.

[tbasc]

Consider the ripple effect. If the extension includes relocating or extending mechanical, plumbing, electrical systems in addition to foundation and frame; you need to plan capacities and routes of pipes and ducts. T

[forsale1965]

I didn't expect to physically separate the addition from the main house...just separate the roof. The works would go through the 4' crawlspace.