Home Additions in Utah

Yes, once design confirms that the existing foundation and framing can carry the added floor. Engineering is added where the loads call for it. Where the structure falls short, the plan adds the reinforcement it needs.

Yes, once design confirms that the garage structure can carry the new floor. The ceiling between the garage and the habitable rooms above it is at least 5/8-inch Type X gypsum board or equivalent, and the structure supporting that floor is covered with at least 1/2-inch gypsum board or equivalent.

Yes. Rooflines, windows, siding, and trim are matched to the existing structure from the first drawings.

Not by law. Utah Code 58-3a-304 exempts plans for one- and two-family dwellings from the architect licensing requirement. The construction drawings can come from a residential designer. Any structural element beyond the code's prescriptive limits takes an engineered design. If you do not have a designer yet, or an engineer where the design calls for one, we bring them in during preconstruction.

Yes. An addition is new construction. It takes a building permit and is inspected from the foundation through final.

The setback your city, town, or county sets is the first limit. Where the building code governs, a wall less than 5 feet from the lot line, or less than 3 feet in a home sprinklered throughout, needs a 1-hour fire-resistance rating, and no window or door may sit less than 3 feet from the lot line. Section R302.1 exempts a wall perpendicular to that lot line, along with its windows and doors.

At least 12 inches below undisturbed ground, and below the frost line the city, town, or county sets for its area unless the design uses another frost protection method the code allows, such as a frost-protected shallow foundation. We confirm the depth with the local building office during design.

Yes, where its concrete or masonry foundation retains earth and encloses habitable or usable space below grade. The code waives the drain on well-drained Group I soils, and Utah's amendment also waives it where a geotechnical report for the property does not require one.

Yes. Each new sleeping room in an addition needs an emergency escape and rescue opening of at least 5.7 square feet, 24 inches high, and 20 inches wide, with a sill no more than 44 inches above the floor. For a grade-floor opening, the minimum area is 5 square feet. Under an exception in Section R310.6, an existing operable window that meets Section R310.7.1 is also accepted: its net clear opening is at least 4 square feet, 22 inches high, and 20 inches wide. A replacement for that window meets the same minimums and is the manufacturer's largest standard size that fits the existing frame or rough opening, in the existing window's operating style or one with an equal or greater opening area.

Yes. The addition meets Utah's own energy chapter, through its prescriptive insulation and window values or its REScheck or HERS performance path. The insulation is verified by inspection before interior finishes cover it.

An addition runs longer than an interior remodel of the same rooms, because the foundation, framing, and exterior work depend on inspections and weather. Your schedule is written during preconstruction and tracked through closeout.

It depends on the phase. The work stays outside the existing walls until the tie-in. If a later phase will make the house hard to live in, we tell you during preconstruction.