Everything You Need to Know About Combining Two Apartments Into One

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(Guest Writer: Lisa Roberts)

Sometimes, we get into a situation where our apartment starts to feel too small. There are a couple of solutions to this. You can try to find a larger apartment to move into. Or, you buy an apartment unit next door and combine it with your current apartment. Today, we’ll discuss the second option, as we think it’s a much better call. However, keep in mind that there are also some difficulties involved with combining apartments. Before you get started with the process, you need to consider these carefully and decide if it’s worth it. To help you out, we’ve put together a list of everything you need to know about combining two apartments into one.

Why would you combine two apartments?

First things first, we need to go over the reasons why combining two apartments into one is a much better choice than looking for a new one:

  • It’s much more cost-efficient; if you want to find a larger apartment, it’ll likely be in a more expensive part of town. Buying the apartment next to yours is cheaper, although there are also costs involved in combining them.
  • You won’t have to move out; you don’t have to worry about changing your daily routine or uprooting your current life.
  • If you plan to sell the apartment in the future, it will be worth much more.

It makes sense, as the apartment will be much bigger during the process. The only thing you’ll have to worry about when the process is done is how to avoid common mistakes in interior design.

An Interior Of A Large Apartment.
Combining Apartments Has A Lot Of Benefits Over Buying A Larger Apartment.

Combining two apartments must know #1 Getting permits

Generally speaking, any renovation that changes your apartment’s layout needs a permit. And considering the whole point of combining two apartments into one is expanding your apartment, this applies. So, while possible, you’ll have to research the exact permits and approvals needed to go through with it. At the end of the day, the last thing you want is legal issues when the process is done. So, do yourself a favor and make sure you have everything sorted out legally before you start the process. There are additional factors to consider: for example, combining apartments vertically and horizontally are significantly different. And if you’re the first person in the building to combine apartments, you will likely have a harder time getting approval. So before you worry about interior design tips under budget, make sure you can actually go through with the combination.

Combining two apartments must know #2 Front doors

In general, removing an apartment’s main entry point is illegal, meaning the doors that are visible from the hallway. You’ll want to remove the extra door when you combine your apartment with another one. However, only some buildings will allow this, while others will force you to keep both. As such, you need to make sure that you can remove one of the front doors before doing so. If the building doesn’t allow it, you will, unfortunately, have to leave the other door where it is. Then again, having two doors leading into your apartment might not be a bad thing. You could even consider incorporating this fact into some interesting interior design ideas. Although, when thinking about decorating the apartment after the fact, make sure to make the new furniture fit into your design. Choosing new furniture can be difficult, so make sure to think about it carefully.

A Close-Up Of The Deadlock Door.
You Might Have To Deal With Two Front Doors If Your Building Doesn’t Allow You To Remove One.

Combining two apartments must know #3 Finding professionals to do the work

It goes without saying that the actual work behind combining apartments should only ever be done by professionals. Knocking down walls can be dangerous, and only professionals who know how to do it safely should ever do it. One mistake when knocking down a wall can lead to severe structural damage and even collapse a building. Needless to say, this shouldn’t be allowed to happen, so make sure that whoever you hire to do the job has plenty of experience. You shouldn’t even consider something as dangerous as this should never be taken lightly and taking risks. You might be tempted to save some money by hiring less experienced contractors, but this process isn’t something to be viewed like everything else. Even if you have to pay a premium, your safety and the safety of your apartment should be a priority; don’t take any chances with this part.

Combining two apartments must know #4 Delays and timeline extensions

Usually, there’s a lot of plumbing and electric work involved in combining apartments. As such, delays and timeline extensions are relatively common, and you should expect them. There will be a lot of inspections, and all of them will delay the process. So, while combining apartments is cheaper than buying a larger apartment somewhere else, the tradeoff is usually time. This process takes a lot more time than any other kind of renovation because there is a lot of red tape involved. You should consider this before going through it and planning for it. Keep in mind that you likely won’t be able to stay in your apartment for most of the process, so plan carefully for this. And after everything is done, you can consider some home décor tricks to brighten a dark living room. After all, you’ll have much more space to decorate.

Combining Two Apartments Must Know
There Are Going To Be A Lot Of Delays When Combining Apartments.

Everything you need to know about combining two apartments into one – wrap up

A lot goes into combining apartments, from organizing the process to getting permits and finally going through with it. As such, if you don’t have what you’re getting into, you can easily get overwhelmed and make mistakes. As such, take a deep breath and carefully look into everything you need to get to make it work. Permits and approval are a priority, and very experienced and reliable contractors are necessary. This is something you can’t take chances with, so make sure to be extremely thorough. We hope that this list of everything you need to know about combining two apartments into one helps you organize the combination, and we wish you a good day.

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Everything You Need To Know About Combining Two Apartments Into One
 

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