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How to Make Sure Your Home Addition Matches Your Existing Home

October 18, 2022

Adding on to your current home is a great way to solve the need for more space without having to uproot and move to a new one. However, it’s important to consider how to make sure your home addition matches your existing home. One goal with a home addition is to make sure it doesn’t look like a home addition. In other words, you want both the interior and exterior of the new space to look like it’s always been part of the home. Read on to learn more.

What Can Cause Your Addition and Your Existing Home to Be Mismatched?

Putting new materials next to older materials will stand out, even for the untrained eye. However, inconsistencies in the following will cause a mismatch. 

Interior

Exterior

Interior

It’s best to plan on remodeling your existing home’s interior as you take on your new addition. Otherwise, materials throughout the home are going to be mismatched. 

Flooring and Floor Height

Have you ever been in a home that has an awkward “step down” into another room? In most cases, that’s because that adjacent room was added to the original home. This is common in older Gainesville neighborhoods because homes were built smaller in the 1960s and 1970 than they are today. Americans prefer more square footage in 2022 than they did in the past. 

As you’re thinking through the design of your addition with your contractor, you should consider how the new space will tie in with the existing one. Although having a step-down or an awkward entryway into the addition wouldn’t be the end of the world, you ideally want the floor to tie in perfectly with your current floor.

Not only do you want the floor to be level, but you also want to consider how to match the new floor material with the existing one. If you have older flooring in your current home, you may want to consider replacing that flooring with the same material you plan to put in the addition. This will make for a seamless transition between the 2 spaces.

The Drywall Pattern 

Similar to flooring, you want to match up your drywall pattern as much as you can. Most walls in Florida are textured with custom patterns. It’s nearly impossible to perfectly match the texture of new walls with existing ones. In this case, it’s best to retexture all of the walls in your existing home while you’re getting your new addition’s walls textured. 

By using the same laborers and tools for both parts of your home, you will get a more consistent pattern throughout.

Paint and Trim

Once you’ve matched the drywall patterns, it’s important to match the paint color and trim throughout. If you’re planning on using different molding and quarter-round for the new addition, you should also consider redoing it all in your old space. If you decide to use the same molding and quarter-round in the addition that you currently have, it’s best to repaint the existing trim. Otherwise, freshly painted molding and quarter-round are going to stick out when you tie them in with the old material. 

Windows

If you still have the original, single-pane windows in your existing home, consider replacing them with brand-new ones that will match the windows being installed in your addition. Not only will the new windows help make your addition look like it’s always been there, but they will also make your home more energy-efficient and will increase its value. 

Fixtures

Last but not least, when it comes to your home’s interior, it’s important that fixtures like ceiling fans, lighting, cabinetry, doors, and hardware are all consistent with the addition. For example, interior doors with different designs and handles are going to be conspicuous. It’s best to either match the new addition’s door designs and handles with your current home or vice-versa. Additionally, having one type of light fixture or ceiling fan in your existing home and a different one in the new space will make it look like an add-on.  

Exterior

Another way to make sure your home addition matches is by ensuring the exterior looks consistent throughout. 

Roofing

Matching the roof of your addition with your existing home is imperative. When you drive by a home, one way it’s easy to spot an addition is by looking a the roofline. Most of the time, additions have slightly lower or higher rooflines than the existing roof. Ideally, you want the roof lines to tie in at the same height so it looks like one, seamless roof. 

Other dead giveaways include slightly different roof pitches, different colored shingles, and uneven eaves. 

Foundation 

Most homes in Gainesville are poured concrete slabs. Again, when your contractor ties in the new slab with the old one, it’s important that they’re tied in at the same height so they’re completely level. This will create a seamless transition and prevent you from having to step down or up into the new space. Attempting to get a similar pour and mix with the new foundation is also important so the color and texture match the old one. 

Siding

Your siding is one of the last ways to consider how to make sure your home addition doesn’t look like an afterthought. Even if you’re able to locate the same siding manufacturer, color, and design as the siding on your existing space, the new material will still appear mismatched because it’s new. The sun fades color over time, so the old siding will appear lighter than the new siding. You should consider re-siding your entire home at the same time as the construction of your addition. 

Consider McFall Builders for Your Home Addition in Gainesville, FL

We are a design-build contractor here in Gainesville, FL. This means that we can help you design your home addition so that it matches your existing home. Additionally, we can handle the full interior and exterior remodel of your existing space, including the roof,  so that it’s consistent with the new one. McFall Builders removes any unnecessary stress and provides you with expert guidance and artistry to create a space you will enjoy for many years to come. 

With McFall Builders, we provide a full-service, turnkey experience. We handle everything from start to finish — even up to a final cleaning before turning your home back over to you. Contact us today to get started on your remodeling project!