You’ve just purchased an amazing home with a great view of the Atlantic Ocean. You can’t wait to enjoy those ocean breezes and multicolored sunsets. But, first you’re thinking of making some changes, maybe adding a master suite and another guest room to accommodate your friends and family.

Sounds simple, right? Well, maybe not, depending on just how much renovating you plan to do. It’s easy for homeowners to get excited about their renovation and addition plans and forget about those pesky little details like building codes.

Anyone who lives in a Lowcountry flood zone should pay close attention to building codes and flood ordinances. The FEMA flood ordinance has been in effect since the mid-1970s. Originally, houses were required to be elevated approximately 6 feet off the ground in a flood zone, but every few years the codes are reassessed and the building height requirement rises like the tide.

OK, so what does this have to do with adding on a room or two? It’s all about the 50-percent rule. Take the appraised value of your current structure, and if you’re spending more than half that value on your addition project, you have to bring the entire house – old and new – up to code. For example, if your house is appraised at $300,000 and you plan to spend more than $150,000 on the additions, you’d better get the whole house in line with the current codes.

Here’s an example of how your budget can take a real hit. The current FEMA flood ordinances often require oceanfront houses to be built 21 feet above the height of an average low tide. The average grade on a piece of oceanfront property is 8 feet above low tide, so that means the house would need to be built 13 feet in the air.

If you’re following that 50-percent rule and need to bring your house in line with current codes, you just might have to jack up your house, which might only be elevated 6 to 8 feet in the air, and build a whole new foundation to raise it up a few feet. That’s quite a big task – with quite a big budget.

Plus, it requires extensive design and planning to build a house that meets those requirements and looks aesthetically pleasing and proportional.

Your best bet is to first get in touch with a design professional. With a quick call to our office, we can help you understand the ordinances and figure out if you need to scale back or create plans to accommodate a bigger budget.