Before you commit to a major renovation or home addition, make sure you’re solving the right problem—not just the most obvious one.
One of the questions I’m asked surprisingly often is whether it’s worth adding onto a home that’s begun to feel too small. Sometimes homeowners are thinking about building a second storey. Others are considering an addition or even tearing the house down and starting over. It’s an understandable reaction. If you’re running out of space, adding more of it seems like the logical answer.
After nearly thirty years of designing and renovating homes throughout Metro Vancouver, I’ve found that it’s rarely that straightforward. Before we talk about drawings, permits, or construction budgets, I first want to understand why the house no longer feels like it works. Sometimes the issue really is a lack of square footage. More often, however, the home simply isn’t supporting the way its owners live today. Those are two very different problems, and they don’t always have the same solution.
Every House Has More Than One Possible Solution
I was reminded of this recently when a friend asked me to come over and have a look at her home. On paper, the house measures about 1,600 square feet. Most people would probably say that’s a comfortable size for a couple. The reality, though, is that she and her husband only occupy the upper floor because the lower level is rented out as a mortgage helper. Their everyday living space is actually closer to 900 square feet.
As we walked through the house, it became obvious that the issue wasn’t simply the amount of space they had. Storage had become an everyday frustration. Closets were full, cabinets were overflowing, and belongings had gradually found their way into rooms where they didn’t really belong. At the same time, they wanted to build a covered deck so they could entertain more often and spend more time outside with family and friends. Eventually she turned to me and asked, “George, what would you do?”
Whenever I’m asked that question, I try not to jump straight into designing a renovation. Coming up with plans for an addition isn’t the difficult part. Deciding whether an addition is actually the best answer is. Before recommending any renovation, I want to understand what other possibilities exist because there is almost never just one way to solve a problem.
Building Bigger Isn’t Your Only Option
As we talked through her situation, several alternatives began to emerge.
The first was improving the way the existing home functioned. Better closet systems, custom built-ins, more thoughtful cabinetry, and furniture that performed more than one job could dramatically improve the amount of usable space without changing the footprint of the house. I’ve seen homes feel substantially larger simply because everything finally had somewhere to go.
The second option was to build the covered deck she wanted and perhaps consider adding another level to the house in the future. It’s certainly achievable, but projects like these involve much more than construction. There are architects, engineers, permits, consultants, City approvals, contractors, financing, and months of disruption before the project is complete. Depending on the scope of work, the cost can easily reach several hundred thousand dollars.
We also talked about rebuilding the home entirely. A new custom home would solve every space problem because it could be designed around the way they live today rather than the way someone else lived decades ago. It would also require a significantly larger investment once demolition, construction, permits, consultants, and landscaping were all taken into account.
Sometimes the Right Answer Isn’t Renovating
As our conversation continued, two other possibilities came up that she hadn’t seriously considered.
The first was reclaiming the basement suite. By converting the home back into a single-family residence, they would instantly gain hundreds of square feet without building anything. The trade-off, of course, would be giving up the rental income that helps make owning a home in Vancouver more affordable. That may or may not make financial sense, but it’s an option that deserves to be weighed alongside every other one.
The second possibility was moving.
At first, it sounded like an odd suggestion. Why leave a home you already own? But once we started comparing costs, it became clear that selling a property in Cambie Village and purchasing a larger home in another neighbourhood they also liked could potentially cost less than building a substantial addition. Add a thoughtful renovation to that new home, and they might end up with a house that suited them better while spending less money overall. Whether they move or stay isn’t really the point. The point is that every realistic option deserves to be explored before settling on one expensive solution.
Solve the Right Problem First
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that homeowners often focus on the symptom instead of the cause. They tell themselves the house is too small when the real issue may be a lack of storage, an inefficient layout, changing family needs, or a home that no longer fits the stage of life they’re in. Until you understand what’s really creating the frustration, it’s difficult to know whether spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on more square footage is actually the right investment.
That way of thinking eventually led me to the idea I call Silent Software. Every home quietly influences the people living inside it. The amount of storage, the relationship between rooms, the way natural light moves through the house, and dozens of other design decisions shape our daily routines without us even realizing it. When that invisible programming no longer matches the way a family lives, it’s easy to conclude that the answer is a bigger house. Sometimes it is. Just as often, however, the better solution is improving the way the existing home works.
That’s why I encourage every homeowner to resist making decisions too quickly. Before committing to an addition, a major renovation, or even a rebuild, take the time to understand what’s actually making your home feel too small. Once you’ve identified the real problem, the right solution often becomes much clearer. It may involve building more space. It may involve renovating what you already have. Or it may be something you hadn’t even considered when the conversation first began.
