Remodeling cost - how to estimate

[Sum]

I am considering purchasing a home at a nice location but in pretty bad shape. Different rooms have different color schemes, floral patterned wallpaper, pin stripped wall paper, green tiles in one bathroom, black tile in another, vinyl floor peeling off in the kitchen, popcorn ceiling, cabinets of particle boards chipped here and there, even the doors and trims are "wallpapered". Basically the owner is a very nice old lady retiring into a condo and did not have time or energy to keep up with the maintainance. The house is 4 BR 2.5 BATH single story about

2800 sq.ft.

Question is how do you estimate the cost of a complete remodeling? We are taking about ripping down and replace all walls, all cabinets, all appliances, all bathroom & kitchen fixtures, ceiling fans, lighting, removal of popcorn ceiling, all carpet and tiles need to be chipped out and redone, replace glass sliding doors and windows, window treatment, replace all interior doors, baseboards, casing and trim. No wall need to be moved or removed however. The general layout is fine.

I know of course there are marble tiles at $30/sf and there are cork tiles at $2/sf so the cost does vary. I am looking for a quick way to do an average estimate so I know a ball park figure.

If I am taking on a remodeling of this scale, are we talking 3 months? 6 months? a year? will it be wise to hire a contractor or an architect? I was told an architect may know how to cut cost and may actually lower the total bill is there any truth to this?

Thanks in advance,

Sum

[wayne]

take how much money you have to remodel add 20% and that is what your cost will be. You need to decide what you are going to use in the remodel you said yourself flooring cost can range from $18-50Sq/YD. Countertops go from Formica to Granite or poured concrete.

I would think there would be no easy answer. kitchen and bath remodel local big box store can give you an idea but for walls you are going to need to talk to a contractor. I would think at least 70-100K depending on where you live and the cost for material and labor since you also left out appliances which I assume are also in poor shape probably as well as the furnace!

Wayne

[Sum]

But it should be possible to come up with at least a range. You mentioned 70-100K PLUS cost for material and labor? What is that for it that excluded material and labor?

Thanks,

Sum

wayne wrote:

[mark Ransley]

There is no way anybody can give you a real idea without seeing it, is it a 1,000,000 or a 100000 house , you pay for quality and experiance. Get some contractors, designers, or architects to look at it

['nuther Bob]

If you are not going to DIY, then simply call some contractors and get some estimates. It will help quite a bit if you write up what you want done in each room with a few sketches if necessary. Then bring the contractor(s) in and let them do a walk through. IME, a lot of contractors won't really look at what you write if it's at all detailed, so keep it to a few major bullets per room for the walk through. Be aware that you may be opening some issues - like if you redo the kitchen and start moving wiring, the whole kitchen may need to be upgraded to meet current code.

If you think you might DIY for some stuff, you still need to go this route. Then you can discuss it with the contractor i.e. "How about if I do the painting and finishing", etc.

And, if you're thinking "yeah, but I'd like to know without troubling the old lady", forget it. No contractor would ever give you an even close to accurate estimate without a walk through - and no one here can either.

Bob

[Larry Caldwell]

Figure $15,000 for the kitchen, $5000 for each bathroom, and $25 per square foot for everything else. $1500 for a new electrical service if needed, $3000 for new furnace and central air conditioning, if the existing ductwork can be used. $5000 for a new roof and insulation upgrade.

There is some economy of scale if you do it all at once and don't try to live there while the work is going on. Say roughly $80,000 to $90,000.

[Joe Doe]

There are hundreds of books available for cost estimation. For example see the series by R. S. Means "interiior home improvement costs"

If you search for construction estimates on amazon you will find hundreds of books. see: These are obviously ball park figures. Most libraries should have this or similar books that will give you rough estimates.

Close frinds doubled the square footage in their house with the help of an architect. I was very impressed at how much better the project turned out because of the architects input. Many remodels simply have boxes added to the existing house. This blends in beautifully with the structure and a lot of internal space was used very wisely (space under a staircase allowed construciton of an indoor utility room etc). Surprisingly there was almost no price premium in project cost between using the architect and his contractors vs bids from general remodelers.

Roland

[Jeff Cochran]

There are average costs available for most areas, based on type of remodeling or construction. See if your local building office uses an estimate figure for permit cost and use that.

Jeff