Like many of us, Jeanette Eichenlaub was feeling squeezed.
Part of the sandwich generation, she’s balancing the task of raising a houseful of teens with planning for the future needs of aging parents and in-laws.
In love with her Lancaster Township neighborhood and her cozy home, she and her husband John weren’t anxious to move to gain much-needed space.
“Believe me, we have looked for new homes,” she says. “But our life revolves around this neighborhood.”
So when the garage roof needed to be replaced, John proposed a plan that had been gestating in his head for years.
“It was his brilliant idea to turn our attic into a master suite,” she says.
Three months later, the couple knew they’d created a solution that would allow them the flexibility to age gracefully in the place they loved.
The much-needed renovation, completed by Duff Builders in Willow Street, allows the Eichenlaubs to move upstairs should either of their parents need to live in their first floor master bedroom. It also provides a comfortable, private space for frequent visits from out-of-town friends, and it stands at the ready when the Eichenlaub teens grow up and bring back families of their own for visits.
“We couldn’t have found a new five-bedroom house with three and a half bathrooms for the cost of this renovation,” says Eichenlaub. “And what’s so nice is that from the outside, all we did was change the roofline and add on a dormer, so it looks like it was always part of the house.”
Evolving Your Home
The strong trend for couples looking to “age in place” is driving a boom in renovations and additions.
“The trend is that more people are adding on rather than uprooting,” says Fred Heim of Garman Builders in Lancaster.
After years of forging ties to a community and neighborhood, families are reluctant to move on if the house no longer fits their needs.
“What we find is that people are already established in a neighborhood and don’t want to move,” says Joe Duff III of Duff Builders. “They’re willing to deal with the challenges of living through the construction process and living with a family of construction workers in their home for the three or four months because they can’t find what they want in a new home.”
Brent Roland of Roland Builders in Mechanicsburg says those willing to go through a renovation or addition are committed to their existing home.
“The downside to remodeling is that it costs more and is a major disruption in your life,” he says. “I recently read something that really nails it: That remodeling is like tailoring a suit with the client in it.”
Roland notes that remodeling jobs run more per square foot than new construction.
“Renovation brings new life to an old shell” — Laura Duff Schroeder
“Remodeling is tearing something out and putting something new in; it’s always going to cost more,” he says. “And it’s going to cause more headaches, for instance, living upstairs doing dishes in a bathroom sink is not a whole lot of fun.”
His suggestion to those committed to a remodel: “Prepare for the disruption in your life.” He advises planning a kitchen remodel in the summer when you can grill outside for months, or building an addition in the spring or fall when you don’t have the additional expenses of heating and cooling costs when portions of walls are gone.
“Another challenge is that you never know what you’re going to find once you start taking down walls,” he says. “It doesn’t take much to have unforeseen problems and expenses.”
Still, many homeowners think the disruptions are worth it.
“Renovation brings new life to an old shell, a shell that often contains the sentimental memories of a lifetime, and the promise of new memories to come,” says Laura Duff Schroeder of Duff Builders.
Getting Started
For the Eichenlaubs, turning their attic into a master suite was the easy part to budget for. What they found as they got into the project were the additional expenses that crept up.
“Once we saw how good it looked, we wanted to change some things in the rest of the house to update it as well,” says Eichenlaub. “We would say, ‘while you’re here, let’s change this too.’”
To avoid budget busters, Fred Heim of Garman Builders suggests families create “a wants and needs list” that they prioritize to aid in designing a renovation or addition. The key question he asks customers: “If you could change one thing about your house, what would it be?”
“That helps me best design what they’re looking for and helps me see what their budget limits are,” says Heim. “Get things down on paper. Think about what you want the space to accomplish, whether it’s a place for the kids to hang out with friends, or a space to do scrapbooking, or a way to enjoy all the sunshine in the back of the house.”
Heim says one of the most popular additions right now is a sunroom.
“But they’re not the sunrooms of the ‘80s and ‘90s,” says Heim. “Think more hearth room or gathering room with hardwood or tile and designed as a continuation of a home rather than something stuck on.”
For families simply needing more flexible living space, Heim suggests looking up or looking down.
“Finishing basements are a popular, inexpensive way to get more space in a renovation because all you’re doing is the interior,” he says. “It’s a third of the cost for the same square footage.”
Heim says another cost-saving renovation is to do just what the Eichenlaubs did and create a room above a garage.
“Especially when you have a small lot, try to find square footage out of the already existing footprint,” he says. “We try to do things that make sense, little subtle things that give the homeowner great value.”
Duff says a common request for older homes is to rework the first floor layout to create a master bedroom, as well as a more open living space.
“People want to get rid of all the cubicle rooms and turn them all into a great room,” he says.
Roland’s main suggestion for those thinking of embarking on a remodel: “It’s helpful to know what you want to do, but be open to suggestions.”
For those looking to remodel as a way to make their home more attractive to the market, Roland says “kitchens and baths give you the most bang for your buck.”
He says the most cost-efficient renovation is to update your kitchen by painting your existing cabinets with a fresh new color, adding a new countertop and backsplash, and updating your appliances.
“Kitchens and master suites sell homes,” he adds. “First floor masters are really big, especially with Baby Boomers, either for themselves or to be an in-law suite.”
While basement renovations are a great way for families to find more space in a tight home, Roland says that those hoping to sell their homes quickly should leave the basement open for the new owners to envision their own possibilities.
“But spending money on outdoor living areas really does help sell a home,” he says. “Decks, patios, gazebos, landscaping can all make a difference. Strategic planting of trees, putting in outdoor fireplaces all give a house great appeal.”
“We try to do things that make sense, little subtle things that give the homeowner great value.” — Fred Heim
Roland, whose business is primarily in award-winning custom homes, finds former clients asking him to return to finish off basements or outdoor spaces.
He recently won several Pyramid awards from the Harrisburg Builders Association for these basement renovations, one by simply creating a large family room, and the other by transforming the basement into a bedroom with a bath, an exercise room, and a family room.
“Being custom home builders, even our smaller projects have such a high attention to detail that really sets us apart,” he says. He also won several Pyramid awards for additions, creating a sunroom with a vaulted ceiling, as well as an in law quarters on a house built 20 years ago.
Material Update
Rennovating a home allows for the opportunity to take advantage of advances in materials and technology.
For Value By Design architect Don Klinger of Millersburg, the house’s site determined the look of the renovation. He stepped up to the challenge of turning a 1970s ranch house into a Victorian-style home to fit the mood of Mount Gretna. The bonus? Klinger chose manmade materials to make it as maintenance-free as possible.
“I’m sure you have seen many beautiful old homes that have their details removed because they rotted and it was too difficult and expensive to restore them,” he says. “Now there are great manmade materials available for proper restoration.”
In fact, the homeowners, Ceylon and Karen Leitzel, had lived in a traditional Mount Gretna Victorian, which required plenty of upkeep. The Victorian details of their new home won’t need to be repainted for 20 years, unlike the 5-year painting cycles of their old home.
“In this economy, many homeowners just want to put an addition on their home or ‘dress it up’ and may not be aware of the maintenance-free materials that are out there and the things you can do to a house to restore them and make them look good,” says Klinger, who used a cement siding board on the exterior with a PVC material for the fancy trim work.
Final thoughts
Once the dust has settled and the construction crews have left, renovations and additions give welcome new life to older homes.
For the Eichenlaubs, more space didn’t necessarily mean the end to all the headaches.
“Before, the children would fight about who had to move out of their bedroom when we had houseguests stay with us. Now they fight about who gets the new master suite,” she laughs.
