I get what you mean about picking your battles—sometimes it feels like every wall hides a new mystery. I’ve found that with my place, bump-outs were less risky for the foundation, but I did end up chasing old knob-and-tube wiring through half the house. Still, I’d rather deal with that than risk messing with the original roofline or triggering structural headaches. Guess it comes down to which surprises you’re willing to handle.
I’ve found that with my place, bump-outs were less risky for the foundation, but I did end up chasing old knob-and-tube wiring through half the house. Still, I’d rather deal with that than risk...
Bumping out definitely feels less intimidating than messing with the roofline, but I’ve had my share of surprises too. When I did a small bump-out for a mudroom, I thought it’d be straightforward—just a bit of foundation work. Ended up finding an old cistern right where we needed to dig. Like you said, “every wall hides a new mystery.” Sometimes I wonder if building up would’ve been simpler, but the idea of tying into the existing roof always made me nervous. Guess it’s all about which headaches you’re willing to take on.
I get why bumping out feels safer, but honestly, building up wasn’t as bad as I feared when I did it a few years back. My place is old, too, and tying into the roofline was tricky, but at least I didn’t have to mess with the old stone foundation or dig near ancient pipes. Sometimes the upstairs headaches are more predictable than what’s under the dirt... At least, that’s been my luck.
Sometimes the upstairs headaches are more predictable than what’s under the dirt... At least, that’s been my luck.
That’s a really good point. I’ve seen a lot of people get spooked by the idea of messing with the roofline, but honestly, once you get past the initial structural tie-in, it’s usually just a matter of careful planning and some patience. Did you run into any issues with ceiling heights or matching up old framing? That’s where I see people get tripped up—especially in older homes where nothing is quite level or square.
I do agree that digging near old foundations can be a wild card. You never really know what you’ll find until you start opening things up. Sometimes it’s just weird fill dirt, sometimes it’s a maze of pipes or even old cisterns. I guess it comes down to which set of surprises you’d rather deal with—above or below.
Curious if you had to do much interior reconfiguring upstairs, or did you mostly just add space? Sometimes the domino effect inside is what catches folks off guard.
Matching up old framing was a pain for us—nothing lined up, and the joists were all over the place. We had to shim a lot just to get the floors close to level. Didn’t help that the original ceiling heights varied by a couple inches from room to room. We mostly just added space, but even that meant reworking some walls and doorways. In hindsight, I’d take uneven floors over digging near those old stone foundations again... found an old well under the back porch once, and that was a whole other headache.
