Home renovation includes expanded main floor, incredible outdoor living
Sept. 29, 2022
This paid event listing is sponsored by the Home Builders Association of the Sioux Empire Inc.
The math and the map both led a Sioux Falls family to the same conclusion: It made more sense to stay in their home of 10 years and remodel than it did to move elsewhere.
“Their family was growing in age, and they love their location, they love the layout of the existing home, and they wanted to add amenities,” said Jason Seykora, owner of Seykora Remodeling.
“With the prices, they were going to spend probably double buying a lot and building a new house and adding a pool, compared to what it was to remodel.”
By remodeling the southwest Sioux Falls home, the family gained 14 feet deep onto the bay of the house and totally revamped the main floor.
“The living room grew, the fireplace moved, the kitchen became larger, and we completely moved the master suite to a different area of the main floor,” Seykora said. “We eliminated two bedrooms and a bathroom to one large master closet, bath and bedroom.”
Outside, the home’s lot was large enough to really deliver a “wow” factor.
Their project included a new pool house with its own bar, bathroom and shower.
The new pool is accompanied by a chipping and putting green, and a basketball and pickleball court.
“They had an amazing lot for all that to go in,” Seykora said.
And these owners are far from alone in installing a pool.
“Sioux Falls is infatuated with pools right now,” Seykora said. “I think it’s the new cool thing for the Joneses to keep up with the Smiths, and that’s the trend we’re seeing right now.”
His project will be one of several on display at this weekend’s Showcase of Remodeled Homes and the Outdoor Living Showcase, put on by the Home Builders Association of the Sioux Empire Inc.
The showcases feature five homes and four outdoor projects across the Sioux Falls metro area.
According to Seykora and other builders, clients are realizing they won’t get as much for their investment buying – if they can find anything – as they will staying and improving their homes.
Through August, the city of Sioux Falls issued permits for nearly $300 million worth of residential expansion and remodeling work, up from $160 million for the same time last year.
That demand, combined with ongoing material shortages, is creating a long building process.
“We’re probably a year, a year and a half out, so it’s extremely challenging,” Seykora said. “We turn down work every day because people don’t understand or aren’t up to reality as far as this market and the lack of subcontractors and materials.”
Kitchen cabinets that used to take four to six weeks to come in now take six months, he said. It’s a similar story with windows.
“It’s really becoming about the extended lead times because everything in this business is taking so long to get,” he said.
“I would hope it would be easing at some point … but I don’t know that we’re ever going to go back to the good old days.”
The Outdoor Living Showcase highlights standout landscaping and outdoor amenities. And there are many of them, Seykora said.
“I think people have finally realized fall and spring are still great times to be in your yard,” he said. “Speakers are available, Bluetooth is outside, fire pits and heaters and all those fun things. You can truly grab about 60 to 70 days of outdoor living in a season.”
