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Remodeling Your Cape Cod Home for a Growing Family

Cape Cod style homes are very common throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire. They’re a great option for the first-time homebuyer, often a young couple. If you purchased a Cape Cod style home as a single person or couple and your family has now outgrown it but you don’t want to move, you have remodeling options, not all of which require a home addition

Remodeling Your Cape Cod Home for a Growing Family

A typical Cape Cod home has a separate dining room, living room and kitchen. Often the master bedroom is on the main floor with one or two additional small bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. These rooms and bathroom are often limited by the slope of the roof. You may think that there aren’t a lot of options, when in reality, you can do a lot.

Tear Down Those Walls

One of the best ways to create the illusion of more space is to tear down the walls between the dining room, living room and kitchen. One open space looks and feels bigger than three enclosed spaces. The entire space will have more light, especially if you add a bay window which will give slightly more square footage without the hassle and expense of a home addition.

Enclose a Porch

If you have a porch, you likely have the ability to enclose it, adding valuable square footage. The roof is one of the more expensive parts of a home addition and when already part of the home, it’s much easier to enclose and use the space as you need it, perhaps as an office, playroom, mudroom or half bath. If you have a patio that’s not enclosed, you and your remodeling company will need to check variance regulations to see if you can add onto the home.

Raise the Roof

Part of the reason upstairs bedrooms in a Cape Cod style home are so small is that the roof’s slope impacts the size of the rooms. If you already need a new roof, you might want to consider adding height to the existing walls and then re-roofing. There’s considerable expense involved, but by combining a roof replacement with added height, you end up with two decent-sized bedrooms as you can then move the knee wall back. 

Addition-al Options

If your home sits on a larger lot, you may have the option of adding onto your home. Here are a few of them:

  • An addition above your garage as a playroom, office or extra bedroom.
  • Connecting a detached garage and making the adjoining area a laundry/mudroom.
  • Adding a master suite onto the back of the home and using the existing master as part of the living space.
  • Adding a large bay window to create an eating area off the kitchen.

Let’s Get Started

G.M. Roth has decades of experience remodeling homes of all styles. As a full-service remodeling company, we can also add onto your home, replace your roof and add windows if those services are of interest during your remodel. Call us at (603) 880-3761 or fill out our contact form to schedule your free initial consultation in our showroom or at your home.

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