How to add two strings as if they were numbers?

var result = Number(num1) + Number(num2);

MDN docs for parseInt
MDN docs for parseFloat

In parseInt radix is specified as ten so that we are in base 10. In nonstrict javascript a number prepended with 0 is treated as octal. This would obviously cause problems!

parseInt(num1, 10) + parseInt(num2, 10) //base10
parseFloat(num1) + parseFloat(num2)

Also see ChaosPandion's answer for a useful shortcut using a unary operator. I have set up a fiddle to show the different behaviors.

http://jsfiddle.net/EtX6G/

var ten = '10';
var zero_ten = '010';
var one = '1';
var body = document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0];

Append(parseInt(ten) + parseInt(one));
Append(parseInt(zero_ten) + parseInt(one));
Append(+ten + +one);
Append(+zero_ten + +one);

function Append(text) {
    body.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text));
    body.appendChild(document.createElement('br'));
}

I would use the unary plus operator to convert them to numbers first.

+num1 + +num2;

I would recommend to use the unary plus operator, to force an eventual string to be treated as number, inside parenthesis to make the code more readable like the following:

(+varname)

So, in your case it's:

var num1 = '20',
    num2 = '30.5';

var sum = (+num1) + (+num2);

// Just to test it
console.log( sum ); // 50.5