Addition To My Home - Pros and Cons?

By going "up" you are saving rather than sacrificing yard/property. In addition you can add a vaulted ceiling to a room you presently have for a dramatic effect. Further, since heat rises, I would think there would be a cost savings heating an upper addition. Also, the roof on an upper addition would then be new while if you added as a single level, the roof on the present structure and the addition would be different. It also may be cheaper to run plumbing and electric to an upper but you should ask someone if I am correct. You would certainly save on the foundation you will not need to lay.

A negative feature to an upper would be that if you intend to stay in the house into your senior years, going up an down stairs could pose a problem as it is with many of the elderly.

That is all I could think of.

You want to make sure that you're not compromising the structural integrity of the house like cutting into a load bearing support. Otherwise, adding vaulted ceilings makes a room appear larger and that's always a pro.