Building a second story house in PTA?

[NoSnipeLimit]

I'm sure many of you have had some building done on your houses.  I'm looking for any advice or experiences regarding this.

My situation:

We currently own a small house, with an acceptable size yard.  The house is 2 bed, 1bath, kitchen, living room, think it was around 120m2.
I don't really want to take up more of the yard, so we thought about building a second story.
The living room's wall is already 2nd story high on the one side.
We'll extend the living room on the ground floor to make it double the size, and then go up the whole ground levels size.

I know the foundation must be checked if it can handle this.
What i've heard are 2 things though, some people say, it can be extended without problems.
Some people say if someones says you can extend it they're trying to BS you... So personally I don't know on this.

Can anyone recommend a builder they've used for 2nd story.

Any advice, remarks, do's, don'ts, etc welcome

[ivman]

Yes you can extend provided your plans make it through city council.
Yes, check the foundations. I recommend irrelevant the builder you get, try and get your own engineer. This ensures that things are done in your best interest and not that of the builder.

Just also bear in mind that going up means you need to be further from the boundary walls, so if your house currently is closer than 5metres (cant remember exact distance) you need your neighbours permission to go up.

Oh and prepare to move out of the house during renovation, and to redo the whole garden once building is complete as there will be nothing left 

[Crafty]

I am in the process of planning a second story as well. Currently The house is 340 sqm. I want to add another 150, and redo the roof.
There are 2 things you can look at. They can throw a new foundation right next to the old one, but to spec for double story. Then They build another layer of brick from the ground up to form a 3 brick thickness. Not Sure I trust this so lekker.

The other option, and this is what I am looking at. Using your current walls as a base, then using Light steel construction, they build a frame on top of your house, and with some very special panels, they fill the gaps. Very much like the Americans build their home. Except, with more modern materials. Walls can be sound proofed if that is a worry.

[NoSnipeLimit]

Thanks ivman, the house is 5m from all boundaries, it's baiscally built in the middle of the yard. 
Yep during that time we'll stay at another place

Thanks Crafty, how does the pricing compare using the light steel construction?

The way I've heard is they dig out your foundation, and then insert steel rods into that foundation and then throw new foundation that is connected by the rods to the old.

[mahleu]

We went up a story, and then extended outwards downstairs a little too. It can be done depending on how the first story was built. Some bracing may also be required. Upper floor is wood on thick beams.

[Batman]

It is true that the single storey foundations won't accommodate a double storey house unless it was designed with that in mind. You could jack and underpinn which is as it says or core through your existing slab with column bases and piers/columns. Timber flooring and supports won't require extra foundations. Only where there is load bearing structure foundations are required to designed load.

[Crafty]

Thanks ivman, the house is 5m from all boundaries, it's baiscally built in the middle of the yard. 
Yep during that time we'll stay at another place

Thanks Crafty, how does the pricing compare using the light steel construction?

The way I've heard is they dig out your foundation, and then insert steel rods into that foundation and then throw new foundation that is connected by the rods to the old.

Light steel construction is said to be a lot cheaper. a Friend of a friend added 100 sqm to his house for R50 000. Thing is, he did the job him self. So that is what the material and some extra hands will cost. I'm Not that handy, so will have to go via a contractor. They can be expensive. 1st contractor that came back to me said something like R400 per sqm. That sounds to high. I've got some other things to deal with 1st, so will hunt for more cost effective contractors later in the year. Perhaps call for tenders.

[GearSlave]

As ivman said, your first port of call will be engineer. Go get your own one, should be around R5k, and it's compulsory when you go for a second storey.

[NoSnipeLimit]

Light steel construction is said to be a lot cheaper. a Friend of a friend added 100 sqm to his house for R50 000. Thing is, he did the job him self. So that is what the material and some extra hands will cost. I'm Not that handy, so will have to go via a contractor. They can be expensive. 1st contractor that came back to me said something like R400 per sqm. That sounds to high. I've got some other things to deal with 1st, so will hunt for more cost effective contractors later in the year. Perhaps call for tenders.

Wow that is very cool, very appealing too

[Atjan]

I've been in a house that had a second story added with the light steel frame system and I only realized it when I got upstairs and heard it was a wooden floor. From outside you can not see its not a standard wall. It can also be done to resemble the slatted type walls as per many homes in America.
Insulation is normally better than conventional building as well, which is a huge bonus.

[NoSnipeLimit]

So far from the guys i've contacted they all seem to say the pricing is very similar to building brick houses, except that you don't require the strong foundation for the 2nd story building.
I'm having a guy over tomorrow to gain some more knowledge about all this.  Aesthetically I'm happy with how it can look.  The insulation is a bonus as you say.

[Atjan]

I think its a typical SA thing. Selling a cheaper- to-do/build-thing for as expensive as what it would be for a more-expensive-to-make product.
The weight of the wall construction is roughly 1/10 of a brick wall. This means less labour and less transport. Building the actual construction takes about 30% less time than conventional. Less labour. Screwing a bunch of sections (pre cut) together and then screwing on large panels of dry wall and Nutec, does not require the same level of artisan or experience as what brick laying and wet work requires. IMO its a huge rip off to charge the same.
Btw, I know someone in Pta that you could try. Lemme know if you want contact details.

[Crafty]

I think that is why my contact did his job himself.
When getting contractors, perhaps one should not be looking for the guys registered at SASFA. With a single body, they are able to control the prices of all tenders within the scope of everyone in the group.
I'm not saying this is what they are doing, but it certainly seems like it, and they do have the means to controll/fix quotes.
SASFA has published the SABS standards document, and as long as the smalled unregistered contractor abides by the documented standards, all should be okey.

[philipc]

I like the idea of the light steel frame for the second story, also considering it, but my gripe is how much space you lose on the ground floor to accomodate the stairs. In my case it renders the current dining room useless as a dining room.

Any easy/cheap ways around this?

[ivman]

I like the idea of the light steel frame for the second story, also considering it, but my gripe is how much space you lose on the ground floor to accomodate the stairs. In my case it renders the current dining room useless as a dining room.

Any easy/cheap ways around this?

Smallest footprint is from a spiral staircase.
Near impossible to get anything upstairs though, and a little dodgy to climb etc.

If you don't want to loose floorspace, then build on the outside of the existing room, and then build it in. So basically you are extending the dining room a little to accomodate the stairs.