Spotting Additions in Tucson Homes

November 17, 2008 | By Kelley Koehler | Filed Under Tucson Homes Explained 

seam in brick wall I do quite a bit of business that involves older homes here in Tucson, be it a 1950’s brick ranch in Central or a 1970’s remodel up in the Catalina Foothills.  It seems that more often than not in these homes, there have been additions or enclosures to add to the livable square footage of the house.  Frequently, they’re easy to spot because of an awkward room plan, but every once in a while you run into a home addition that was done so well that it’s not obvious the room wasn’t there originally.

Here’s what to look for:

  • Seams in the brick or block wall exterior, especially at the front of the house where a carport opening may once have been
  • A change in building materials: from brick to siding, for example.
  • A change in height between rooms, especially at the back or side of the house, where originally there may have been a step between carport and house, or between patio and house.
  • A lack of ducting, or only window A/C.
  • Changes in wall thickness at doorways.  Double red brick houses have exterior walls that are as thick as the long side of a brick.  If the doorway to a room is twice as thick as the other interior walls, you’re probably walking into an addition.
  • Sloping ceilings.  Patio roofs are usually sloped – chances are, you’ll see a gentle slope on the inside finished ceiling if a patio has been converted into indoor space.
  • Changes in wall texture.  If the rest of the house is more of a plaster-like texture and one area has a knock-down texture, then something happened.

Comments

Got something to say?







Get Blog Posts Via Email!
Search this Site
Loading

Got A Question? Ask!

Other Information That Might Be Helpful

  • Arizona Rooms and Tucson Homes (July 3, 2009)

    An Arizona room can be a wide variety of things – it is sort of a catch-all term. Most often, an Arizona room started life as the original patio off the back of the house, usually covered, and then someone eventually closed it in. Sometimes, a new covered patio is added off the back of the Arizona room.

  • Assessor vs. Appraiser Square Footage (March 25, 2008)

    Another question via the Plugoo widget.  See that box on the side there?  Say hello if you see me online.  If I’m at my computer, I try to stay logged in, so hopefully it’s not too hard to catch me that way.
    So – you had your home appraised, and it came in larger than [...]

  • Burnt Adobe Homes in Tucson (May 14, 2008)

    I’ll admit – I’m a sucker for a classic Tucson wire-cut double red brick house.  But every once in a while, tucked into those brick homes, is a burnt adobe home, a personal favorite.
    In the older burnt adobe homes, the bricks are usually reddish in tone, and are much larger than your typical brick.  Walls [...]

Equal Housing Opportunity Realtor
Clicky Web Analytics