Brownlime - you should talk to a good mortgage broker. A lot of banks used to lend on properties like this (my house was virtually uninhabitable when I bought it, and I had no issues with financing), but lending standards have changed in the last 2 years, so you may need to put more money down as the assessed value will err on the low side. In any event, if you buy the house in the low/mid 900's you would be looking at a conforming mortgage ($729K for single family, $934 for 2 family), which makes life easier.

You definitely should get in there with a contractor prior to making an offer to get a better sense of the actual condition, and price it accordingly. The estimates you've been given are reasonable ballparks, $100k per floor to gut, rewire, replumb, and refinish, but you'll need to throw in $50-70K for replacing all the roof, roof joists, etc. The only real unknown will be damage to the joists on the floors below, and you won't know that until you get in there with a crew.

In short, talk to a good broker and don't rely on anything you read on this forum.

Posted by: wyckoff at November 20, 2009 1:02 PM in response to Habitable? Financing? Time-Bomb?

$300K minimum, and count on finding one or two expensive surprises that need addressing. Some of Christopher's numbers are way low ($5K for a kitchen? Seriously?)

If you plan to do a lot of finishing work like painting yourself, you can save here and there, but the basic electric, plumbing, carpentry, tile work, etc. is best left to the pros. Also, you should get a lot of quotes, and are likely better off not going with the low bid, especially if it is an outlier.

Posted by: wyckoff at November 16, 2009 12:58 PM in response to Need help

http://www.finewoodworking.com/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=26893

Posted by: wyckoff at November 9, 2009 4:07 PM in response to Butcher Block Treatment

Any particular reason you would feel compelled to do this vs. simply refinishing the floors where they lay?

Posted by: wyckoff at November 9, 2009 3:58 PM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

Hyde Park Mouldings, Inc. They are on the web. They have a huge inventory of stock profiles and can make anything. Their installers are excellent.

Posted by: wyckoff at November 6, 2009 1:16 PM in response to Old World Plasterer Needed

Agree with cmu and dave's estimates. I have same sized house and don't have exact numbers in front of me but recall Gas bill in winter is ~$350-400/mo in winter and ~$35 in summer (steam heat/70-72 degrees/gas stove, grill and dryer), electric ~$130/mo. (higher in summer depending on A/C usage, water ~$350/yr, annual boiler service ~$150. Heat & electric will vary based on what kind of system you have, how much heat you like, how often people are home during the day, level of insulation in your attic, quality of doors and windows, and whether your exposed walls are insulated.

Maintenance is impossible to predict as it depends on the age of your systems the level of ongoing care you give them, and your level of handiness when it comes to fixing stuff, but you should have the ability to cover at least $10K of unexpected surprises in any given year, and budget $2-3K for fixing small issues to prevent them from turning into big stuff.

The temptation to make improvements is pretty powerful, so you may as well make a wish list, price it out, and plan out what you want to do in any given year.

Posted by: wyckoff at November 5, 2009 11:20 AM in response to Cost of Owning a Brownstone

Take photos and send letter to Todd Kuznitz, Director of Enforcement, Dept of Sanitation, 1824 Shore Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, 11214.

Posted by: wyckoff at November 4, 2009 1:19 PM in response to Illegal Dumping, Drugs, Rats

Put it in perspective -- the bright work on any well maintained boat gets at minimum a light sanding and 2 coats of varnish every season, and most boats around here are only getting UV exposure 7 months a year. That said, you could try a 2 part varnish (Interlux), or something from Z-Spar or Bristol. Go to West Marine on 37th Street and talk to them about it.

Posted by: wyckoff at November 3, 2009 1:06 PM in response to Exterior Wood Finish

Ipe can look awesome for just about anything imaginable -- my dog's dish sits in a holder made from some leftover 1x8's....

Ipedepot.com is a good source if you need some thicker pieces to finish the top rail, etc.

Keep in mind Ipe is hard as nails so your tools will need to be SHARP, and wear a mask, as Ipe sawdust is pretty nasty.

Posted by: wyckoff at November 2, 2009 2:30 PM in response to Creative Use of Leftover Floor?

Try Donald Kauffman Paints - their colors are richer and more complex than Ben Moore. DKC 28 or 30 are both good yellows, depending on how strong a color you want.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 30, 2009 2:33 PM in response to Yellow With Wood

Doesn't sound like the LL is being unreasonable. He has a right to ask her to leave and renovate your existing place. Requiring a co-signer is a reasonable request to limit his credit risk, but if your roommate has the proper financials, she could probably convince him that a co-signer is not necessary. The Nov 1 deadline is a nice try, but that's irrelevant to the overall situation.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 29, 2009 12:50 PM in response to Shifty Landlord or Poor Planning

Plastic Land on Church St. can cut plexi to your dimensions. Just screw some 1x2's into the inside of the chase and rest the plexi on top of that simple frame. You have to clean it once or twice a year, but overall the whole project is pretty easy.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 28, 2009 12:44 PM in response to Skylight Question

I had radiators installed in my then unheated attic when I moved in - they are 1/2 the size of those in the rest of the house, and it's toasty up there. I wouldn't worry about it.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 27, 2009 4:45 PM in response to Enclosing Radiator in Front Hall

They are on time and polite, etc., but some of the things they do are questionable. For instance, instead of flashing the parapet with copper or aluminum at the base, they'll just smear a thick layer of black tar from the roofing material to the top of the parapet, which not only looks awful, it's not good for the brick. Each case probably depends on the job and the condition of the existing roof and flashing. While I've been dry for 5 years, I wish I had assumed less, asked more questions, and used someone else, cause I worry about my 160 yr old brick, the inevitable deterioration of the black mud they've spread all over it, and the eventual remediation I will have to deal with in the next 5-10 years.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 27, 2009 4:42 PM in response to Roof Leaking

Agree with Mopar -- If that wall is exposed to the outside it's going to get cold, and if you put your sofa next to it you are going to feel like someone is breathing down your neck all winter. Personal preference, obviously, but there are both aesthetic and practical reasons for putting up insulation and sheet rock.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 27, 2009 10:45 AM in response to Removing Paint from Brick Wall

Suggest you live there first. Depending on the thickness of that brick wall and whether it's a party wall or built next to, but separate from, the adjoining building, you may end up wanting to throw up a new wall with quietrock and sound insulation. Form follows function.....

Posted by: wyckoff at October 26, 2009 3:28 PM in response to Removing Paint from Brick Wall

Replace the air vents at the bottom of your risers with Gorton Air Eliminators (don't let their cartoonish size scare you), and replace the valves on your third floor with Varivalves - they blow the doors off of even the biggest Gorton vents for getting steam to far away places. If you want to get fancy, and/or you have issues with one side of the house getting too hot due to sun exposure, consider Danfoss adjustable vents for the lower floors, which have a control knob with numbers which makes it easy to adjust on the fly.

You may want to have masterplvmer come by to make sure there is nothing ridiculous going on, but eventually the only way to get it right is by changing up the valves yourself until the balance is just so - and it takes time to work it out so that it's stable over a variety of outside temps.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 21, 2009 1:39 PM in response to Steam Heat on Top Floor

try this site:

http://www.passivehouse.us/passiveHouse/PHIUSHome.html

Posted by: wyckoff at October 20, 2009 1:34 PM in response to Top Energy Improvements?

Since someone else "seconded" the recommendation to bleed, let's review how a steam system works, so you don't chase down blind alleys: 1) Flame in the boiler heats the water to a boil in the furnace. 2)Boiling water creates steam, and resultant pressure. 3) The steam, under pressure, looks for the easiest way out -- which are air vents on your radiators. 4)Steam travels to the vents, pushing out the air in the pipe in front of it, through the vents. The bigger the vent, the more air can escape, and the faster the steam will go to that vent. 5) Once the steam itself reaches the vent, your radiator will be hot, and the pressure differential will close the vent, blocking more steam from the radiator. 6) As the steam cools it turns to water and runs back down the pipe and back to the boiler for another cycle.

This is very different from a hot water system, where air bubbles can prevent water from circulating through the system, and as such, air needs to be "bled" from the system.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 16, 2009 12:33 PM in response to Unbalanced Heating in 2-Family

Forgot to mention - Think about replacing the vents on your steam mains in the basement (they should be located at the corners where the steam pipe goes vertical into the upper floors) with proper ones like the Gorton Air Elimators -- it will make a HUGE difference.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 16, 2009 12:14 PM in response to Unbalanced Heating in 2-Family

I spent months figuring this out last winter. My attic too was freezing, and other rooms were way too hot. Generally plumbers can't do the best job here, simply because you need a lot of time (hours/days/weeks, over various outside temp changes) to see the true effect of any adjustment. Changing the air valve sizing on your radiators is key, (assuming your boiler and thermostat are both fine). It's a bit of an art, because changing the vent size on one or more radiators changes the pressure balance, and hence temperature at every other point in the system. I ended up using a combination of Gorton, Varivalve, and Danfoss adjustable valves (with either Gorton or Varivalve air vents instead of the stock danfoss vent) to get exactly what I wanted. There are a lot of resources on the web to help you figure it out, but it takes patience and persistence, and you will probably end up buying more valves than you need, just so you can get the balance correct in the end. It's well worth the effort and acquired knowledge to be able to do it yourself. BTW, don't listen to Johnny - there is no such thing as "bleeding" a steam system. That concept only applies to a hot water system.

Posted by: wyckoff at October 16, 2009 11:57 AM in response to Unbalanced Heating in 2-Family

Spot on Pete. I indeed never said I lived on Smith, nor that I rent an apt on the second floor above a restaurant; any intelligent heckler should have been able to figure that out.

Interesting what gets launched from behind the protective veil of anonymity.

Posted by: wyckoff at September 28, 2009 5:54 PM in response to Noise Recourse?

Thanks Pete & G Man. CB2 was a helpful lead.

Posted by: wyckoff at September 28, 2009 3:00 PM in response to Noise Recourse?

I wouldn't go semi-gloss on crown molding unless your walls (and ceiling) are gloss as well. Depending on the color of the walls, mixing the wall color with ceiling white (50/50 or 70/30) will set off the molding just enough from the ceiling to create an additional layer, which adds visual interest without drawing attention to itself. Very nice.

Jack - you can indeed spray and wipe clean flat paint. I only use flat and live with a 3 year-old. No problem if you don't use cheap paint. (e.g. Ben Moore, Fine Paints of Europe, or Kaufman, depending on your budget).

Posted by: wyckoff at September 22, 2009 11:41 AM in response to Paint for Crown Molding?

If your bill for $123 is from Con-ed, as your header implies, then you are confused because that is your electric bill. Nat'l Grid supplies gas. If you haven't actually had your meter read in months then you are getting billed on estimates, which are probably high.

Posted by: wyckoff at September 21, 2009 1:12 PM in response to Conned by Con Edison?

1) You may already be locked in, depending on what you've signed. 2)Likely you won't get the new bank to underwrite within 30 days, so you could be left with no financing, as you would have to tell your original broker you've decided not to finance through him (otherwise you risk having both loans fall through due to the appearance that you are trying to take out two mortgages on the same property). 3) Interest rates move, so comparing quotes at different points in time is not comparing apples to apples. 4) Your new broker, assuming you've told him that you've already locked in a rate, is by definition a scumbag for trying to sell you a new loan at this point. You want to think twice before trusting him.

So, you have to ask yourself, is $86.88 per month worth the bad karma? You could easily make up the difference over the life of the loan by simply pre-paying a small amount of principal every year.

Posted by: wyckoff at September 18, 2009 12:36 PM in response to Choosing Broker

Based on stories from friends who have decided to take a hard line against their GCs and ended up in court, you could easily burn tens of thousands in legal fees and spend the next 5 years dealing with this with no guarantee of success.
As much as it sucks, you are probably better off paying up now and settling.

You stated, however, that even your architect doesn't agree that all the changes were unnecessary, so sounds like you need to get some more input as to what the "fair" amount is for the work that's been done. There are always 2 sides to that coin.

Posted by: wyckoff at August 24, 2009 1:57 PM in response to fight with contractor

fsrg - there is no conspiracy here. I live right behind this building and called 911 just after 6:45 this morning to report this fire.

daveinbedsty - the FDNY response time appeared to be awesome (though someone may have called before me). When I dialed 911 I could only see smoke looking out a second floor window, and within a couple of minutes the whole mid-section of the roof had exploded into flames - this pic was taken about a minute before FD started hosing it down (that grey staircase in the foreground was totally scorched). It was pretty crazy how fast it all happened.

Posted by: wyckoff at August 21, 2009 1:48 PM in response to Fires Break Out in Cobble Hill

This year is the first year I've been able to be outside any time of day or night without having to use repellent. I've done 3 things in combo:
1) Put mosquito dunks in all of your outside drains (base of basement/under stoop stairs). This has a dramatic effect within 3 days.
2) St. Gabriels Mosquito barrier - hose end application. Works great, and is all natural.
3) Thermacell torches. 2-4 in your yard, depending on size, at dusk/night, just to keep away any buggers who don't get the message with #1 and #2. I use 2 on my deck (16x16) and one further out in the yard. Not cheap, but totally worth it.

I've been absolutely amazed at the difference - we use our backyard every evening for dinner, etc., and no issues.

Posted by: wyckoff at August 17, 2009 5:26 PM in response to Mosquitos

Wyckoff is more convenient to trains, groceries, farmers markets, playgrounds etc., and has less traffic. Downsides are the nearly collapsed building on the corner of Hoyt which is dirty dangerous and smelly, and, if you are close to Smith, you may have some issues related to backyard restaurant garden noise in the summer.

Posted by: wyckoff at July 1, 2009 1:27 PM in response to Living in Boerum Hill

DEP website has the A/C info. 45 decibels (above the ambient noise level) measured from a neighbor's window 3' away. Have seen them right on the property line so agree setback may be irrelevant.

Posted by: wyckoff at June 11, 2009 1:16 PM in response to setback on central a/c condenser

nesting in the ground sounds like bumble bees, not carpenter bees. Neither will bother you unless the hive is in a high traffic area and they feel threatened. Bumble bees can get aggressive in that case despite their reputation. Unless you or your kids are getting stung, however, relax, leave them alone, and let them pollinate.

If you really must, then flood the hive area and take a long 1/4 inch metal rod and repeatedly jam it into the ground around the hive opening to let the water into the nest - you'll be able to feel the air pockets with the rod. Do this at night and with plenty of water on the surface or you will be in for a world of hurt....

Posted by: wyckoff at May 28, 2009 2:52 PM in response to Carpenter Bee in my back yard

Get someone local to make one, or use vintagedoors.com. You can order the exact size you want. If you have a pet, you can get one with an integrated pet door, which is great.

Posted by: wyckoff at May 26, 2009 1:07 PM in response to screen door recs for narrow door

"It is generally considered that a soundly mortared wall is impenetrable to the climbing roots of ivy and will not be damaged, and is also protected from further weathering, by the ivy keeping rain off the mortar. Walls with already weak or loose mortar may however be badly damaged, as the ivy is able to root into the weak mortar and further break up the wall. "

Posted by: wyckoff at May 21, 2009 1:40 PM in response to Is Ivy on Facade Okay?

You should have a good mason look at the wall before you recoat with anything. Our back wall was covered with Tseal when I bought my house, and in seemingly good shape. When we opened up the interior walls we found the masonry was in a state of failure and the whole thing had to be rebuilt.

Thoroseal comes in white or grey.

Posted by: wyckoff at May 21, 2009 1:28 PM in response to painting over thoroseal

Jebby, 217 Court St. is/was the home to the NarcoFreedom Meth clinic....

Posted by: wyckoff at May 7, 2009 1:36 PM in response to Building Collapse at 217 Court Street

Hey Fire Alarm Guy - If the owner of the building is a nameless LLC, how do you suggest one contacts them? Why do you assume calling 311 is not calm and rational?

Posted by: wyckoff at May 3, 2009 8:45 PM in response to Retaliation for DEP Complaint

"pain can"... meant to say "paint can", but the subconscious implications are obvious.

Posted by: wyckoff at May 3, 2009 4:08 PM in response to Retaliation for DEP Complaint

It would actually be unusual to buy a 100+ year old house and NOT have the inspection turn up some evidence of powder post beetle damage. Its unlikely they are still there, or that they have done significant damage, but you would be foolish to close without having an exterminator in to check it out.

Posted by: wyckoff at April 28, 2009 12:51 PM in response to Powder Post Beetles

146steven has the best idea - put your cat food up high.

Posted by: wyckoff at April 23, 2009 1:42 PM in response to How to keep a door ajar???

Perhaps too expensive, but installing a green roof will dramatically cut down your storm runoff - the plants and growing medium soak up the water which takes a longer time to leach into the drainpipe, net of plant usage and evaporation.

Posted by: wyckoff at April 23, 2009 1:39 PM in response to Gutters and more

Went with US Windows 5 years ago because of the price and had no issues with installation. After 5 years, however, the windows on the south side of the house, which get baked in the summer, have become somewhat leaky, the little built in widow locks break really easily (leaving you with a shtty looking hole in the window), and the noise reduction capability of these windows sucks. I plan on replacing them in the bedrooms in the next year or so with something a bit more robust. All said, if you are looking to pinch some pennies at the margin to save your budget on a big gut reno, they do the job and are much better than a lot of low end windows, but be realistic about their quality and longevity. If you are just doing windows, I would go with something more high end and ideally triple paned.

Posted by: wyckoff at April 17, 2009 9:04 AM in response to US Windows.

Hey Justmoved - Like that idea - are your wall units fully recessed (ie are the grills flush with the wall), and how much space did you have to build into the top and bottom? Who did that install for you - I am very interested - the only thing that has stopped me from doing mini split in the past are the butt-ugly wall units...didn't realize you could recess them and still get good airflow.

Posted by: wyckoff at April 15, 2009 2:14 PM in response to Ductless A/C Systems vs. Central

ThermaCell lamps work great. Put 3 around my deck last summer (16x16) and had minimal mosquito problems when they were on.

Posted by: wyckoff at March 30, 2009 3:29 PM in response to Mosquitoes

I will lay even bigger odds that the shower hasn't been used in months and the water in the trap has evaporated. Before you spend money on a plumber and get all excited you need to pour some water down the shower drain and see if that takes care of it.

Posted by: wyckoff at March 3, 2009 1:47 PM in response to Basement sewer smell

Keep in mind that Brooklyn mosquitoes come straight from hell so you need to make sure you get good screen doors with that setup or you will never actually open them up.

Posted by: wyckoff at March 3, 2009 1:43 PM in response to Sourcing black windows

wasder, if you are willing to do a little prep work as MAT suggests, and ideally mix a little fresh topsoil and manure in, seed is quick, easy, and cheap. Suggest the Rhizome mix at gardensalive.com and the seed starter mats to cover the seed while it germinates. within a couple of weeks you will have a nice lawn and can taper off the watering schedule. Spring is the best time to plant - once temps get into the 60's. The right seed gives you better drought tolerance than sod. Also, most sod is grown with heavy doses of synth. fertilizer, and sometimes goes through withdrawal (as any junkie will). Better to start fresh and keep it organic. Anyone posting that growing grass is "hard" probably either hasn't tried, didn't do any prep work or watering to get germination going, or doesn't have any sun in their back yard.

Posted by: wyckoff at February 24, 2009 2:52 PM in response to Seed or sod that is the question

I spent a small fortune putting in gates, and NEVER ONCE actually used them. Kids are smarter than you give them credit for, and learn how to navigate stairs faster than you think, especially if they are carpeted.....

Posted by: wyckoff at February 23, 2009 4:39 PM in response to Baby Gates and Brownstone Stairs

No one seems to be discussing the bigger issue, how to level the new sub floor.

We can assume that over time, for various reasons, that the wood joists are no longer straight and level.

If the intent is to end with a level sub floor, than the ultimate height of that floor can not by definition be lower than the existing high point of the under lying joists.

Depending on the location of that high point, and the height of adjoining halls, rooms, or stairs, you might be forced to compromise on a flatter, and more level floor.

None of this is rocket science, but it requires a skill in carpentry well beyond the typical NYC contractor.

Pine plank will lose about 50% of you footage, so plan on taking up twice what you plan to cover. The greater part of your expense, whether you attempt to engage a contractor or not, and your ultimate satisfaction with the results, will depend on your rebuilding of the sub-floor structure, that which is below the new plywood sub-floor.

bruce at jerseydata.net

Posted by: brucef at November 11, 2009 7:55 PM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

i assumed that the issue had nothing to do with levelling the floor, but rather maintaining the character of the subfloor as finished floor...accept the existing conditions and save endless thousands of dollars, or be willing to pay endless thousands for leveling a brownstone (a pyrrhic victory at best)

Posted by: eman1234 at November 11, 2009 9:10 PM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

We had a slightly different situation. When we renovated, we knew we wanted carpet in the top floor rear bedroom (the guest bedroom immediately above our own bedroom) for better sound insulation. Meanwhile the top floor hall flooring was rotted out because of old roof leaks. So we repaired the beams running under the hall floor, threw out the old rotten flooring, replaced it with the pine planks from the guest bedroom and replaced those with plywood on top of which went the carpet. No-one ever guesses that we repaired the hall flooring because it's the wood we used is the exact same type and vintage.

Posted by: grand army at November 11, 2009 9:25 PM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

Thanks again all for your feedback on this. Bruce is correct to clarify the situation.

Here are the problems associated with the current exposed subfloor situation-

-Space between the planks
-Dust coming up between the planks
-Softness of old pine allows the boards to deflect - which leads to cracking of the edges where they are still close
-General sponginess of just having a sub-floor
-Noise
-150+ years of frame house settlement combined with sistering of the joists in the past leads to some seriously wavy floors in places (though this is the least of the problems.)

The pine still *looks* really great as a top layer floor-

So the plan would be to pull up the pine carefully, place the subfloor and sound barriers as described above and re-lay the floor. The result would be a more solid floor, less noise, less deflection and wear to the boards themselves, less dust coming out of the joist space, and a more even, though not perfectly level floor.

Posted by: Park Place at November 12, 2009 11:34 AM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

We recently went through the same thing in trying to figure out a budget for a brownstone redo of a similar size. There are a lot of threads covering this topic in the Forum. Based on conversations with several architects on our deal, I would say that the 150k per floor number that seems to be a standard response was in the ballpark. That assumed a third party did everything, but a couple of the firms thought that would be a very basic renovation for that price.

Posted by: stray bongo at November 16, 2009 1:31 PM in response to Need help

All of my numbers are based on personal experience from renovations on either my building or one of the others my family owns.

As I mentioned, $5k is for a basic kitchen with generic cabinets and appliances and no floor/plumbing/electrical/wall work to be done. I did say a kitchen can be $50k (hell, I've seen the bills for a $250k kitchen).

I renovated my kitchen of $5k. I can be done.

I was trying to throw out low end numbers, to prove that even at the lowest end $200k goes quick. Personally I would probably budget closer to $500k for a true gut of a 4,000 sqf building.

Hell, the facade could be $100k (or more) alone and I wouldn't be surprised if it needed major work too.

Posted by: christopher at November 16, 2009 3:26 PM in response to Need help

I budget jobs all the time.
Develop a detailed Scope of Work.
Provide line item numbers for everything on that Scope.
Create a subtotal.
Add 21% to cover General Conditions, Profit, and Overhead.
Include Professional fees.
Add everthing together and multiply by 1.2 to allow for a 20% contingency.
Call me if you would like help. Ed Kopel Architects, PC

Posted by: edkopel at November 16, 2009 5:17 PM in response to Need help

You can completely rewire a three story house plus basement to code for $15,000 plus $2,000 for the plastering. I just had it done by WCK, who I highly recommend. Took three weeks. The idea that you need to gut the house and re-sheetrock all the walls is completely ridiculous.

As for the plumbing, what exactly needs to be done? If it ain't leaking and ain't broke, don't fix it.

Also the floors -- do you mean they are hardwood and need to be refinished? Depending on the condition, figure $1 to $2 per square foot to refinish.

Is there a lot of junk you need to rip out? Demo and trash removal costs.

Re new kitchen, I have heard anything from $7,000 (small Ikea you install yourself) to $30,000 or $50,000 (large, granite, semi-custom cabinets) to sky is the limit.

Posted by: mopar at November 17, 2009 1:27 PM in response to Need help

As was stated above, there are a lot of postings on this topic in the archives. For our decent but not fancy renovation we have found the $100-150/sq ft figure to be a good rough guide.

Good luck.

Posted by: pmmtenement at November 17, 2009 2:59 PM in response to Need help

Most of the square foot prices quoted here are for gut renovations. You may not need a gut renovation. Just because a place is old does not mean it needs to be gutted. Just because it may need a new kitchen does not mean the whole place has to be gutted. In fact, if it is old and the look of the place appeals to you, you may not want to gut it.

Depending on the skill of those you hire, gutting a place may make it end up looking like a poor quality new construction condo. Also, it's just not necessary unless the plaster all crumbles to bits when you touch it or the place is soaked in water damage from no roof for years.

If you want to completely remake a house and you want to gut something, you may want to look into buying a shell.

Posted by: mopar at November 18, 2009 10:25 AM in response to Need help