Unsplash
How to save time and money when building an addition or expand your house in Berkeley
The most important goal in trying to save time and money is to avoid engaging in a project that falls into a Major Residential Addition. If it is not necessary, keep your project just as Minor Residential Addition in order get your Zoning Certificate in Berkeley. This article lists the steps that help you keep your project as a Minor Residential Addition.
Step 1. Find out if there is any room on the property that the City allows you to build additional structures.
Typically, homeowners would go to the City in the hopes of getting this information from a Planner. Once arriving there, they're surprised to find out that they'd have to hire an architect to get this information. So, instead of rushing to the City to face this unpleasant surprise, you can just relax with a glass of wine, stay home, and get the CityStructure Zoning Analysis for your address instantly.
This report analyses for you the maximum building area of your allowed addition, exactly what architects do in the first phase of any project. This includes covered decks, porches, landings, and stairs, any deck on the roof of a building or accessory structure, or over an enclosed space and paved ground area.
Step 2. Design considerations
Now that you found out the magic area you may be allowed to build for your addition, see if you can fit any usable spaces in it. Important to know is that additions less than 600 square feet or no more than 15% of the lot area, whichever is less, are permitted with a Zoning Certificate. Just make sure you stay within the zoning boundaries (related to setbacks from property lines, parking, etc.) as shown in your CityStructure report.
Need ideas of the space size you need? See below some diagrams with suggestions. Select the spaces you may need and add the corresponding sizes to approximate the total new area you'd need. Make sure the spaces of the existing house are connected with the proposed spaces.
Step 3. Addition Height
The average height of the proposed addition may not exceed 14 – 16 ft, depending on the Zoning District. If the structure is on a slopped lot, the way you measure is different. Not to worry, the CityStructure report considers the slope of the site.
Step 4. Demolition
Keep the demolition area under 50% of the existing exterior wall framing AND 50% of the roof framing.
Step 5. Clearance
The new addition has to keep at least 3 ft clear from existing structures on the lot.