Woodside home additions

Most of Woodside is built out with attached and semi-detached frame and brick houses, often two and three family, packed onto narrow Queens lots. That housing stock shapes what an addition can be. With shared party walls on attached rows and tight side yards on the semi-detached homes, the realistic moves are usually going back into the rear yard or going up with a second story, rather than spreading sideways. We start every project by reading your lot: zoning district, FAR, required rear yard, side setbacks, and lot coverage, so we know your buildable envelope before we draw anything.

The approval path here is real and it is local. Most additions in Woodside are filed at the NYC Department of Buildings as an Alt-1 or Alt-2, and the zoning math, FAR limits, lot coverage caps, and rear yard requirements, decides how many square feet you can legally add. On two and three family homes we also watch egress, light and air to existing bedrooms, and how a second story affects the existing framing and foundation. Where a finished cellar or a converted space already exists, we factor that into the calculation rather than ignoring it.

Our process is straightforward: a site visit and measure, a feasibility sketch that respects your zoning envelope, DOB-ready drawings from a licensed design professional, filing and permits, then construction with one crew and one point of contact. You see what is feasible before you commit, so there are no surprises when the plans hit the Department of Buildings.