PPSF of addition to a townhouse
I am thinking of adding a floor to the top of my townhouse and digging out my very cramped, low basement to make that useable space as well. It will be very expensive to do this, as extensive foundational work will be required. Still, I could gain 700 square feet below and 500-600 square feet…
I am thinking of adding a floor to the top of my townhouse and digging out my very cramped, low basement to make that useable space as well. It will be very expensive to do this, as extensive foundational work will be required. Still, I could gain 700 square feet below and 500-600 square feet above. (I don’t want to add onto the back of the building or move to a larger place for other reasons.) This will be a long term investment that I will both live and work in. What’s an appropriate budget for the project? If I come in under $500/square foot, all inclusive (for architect, expediting, and engineers as well as the actual construction) — which I think is well under market rates in my neighborhood, the North Slope — am I coming in ahead?
Peter,
Was this done at this price with all the filings included? Or did you not file?
Curious to know!
Thanks!
Peter here…Sorry, I misunderstood “walk out”. The basement is completely below grade front to back. In the back we have stairs leading up to the backyard. I guess you see where my confusion stems from.
Good luck!
Peter – thank you. I’ve already called him and have set up a time to come and take a look at the place. We only want to go down 8-10″ so it might work out.
I’m confused on one thing- you mentioned that yours was a walk-out basement, but that it was completely below ground with no windows. Do you mean it was NOT a walkout basement? Or that it was completely below ground just in the front?
Many thanks!
Peter here…they only dug about a 8-10″ so maybe that was why it was less, but I do beleive that he is less expensive than most, he does good work and based on my experience is very trustworthy. In addition, he came over, did all the calculations in his head, gave me a price quote on the spot and didn’t diverge from that at all. At the end of the job he said he does a lot of extra free stuff since I gave him free reign and did not micromanage (it was a cellar, i just wanted it cleaner).
I was shocked by the price as well. I received quotes typically for double that. One guy said just to paint the pipes and the ceiling rather than just boxing it in with sheetrock. My basement was a walk out, completely below grade with no windows. I was not looking for any real inhabitable space but rather a laundry/romper room/workout area. It came out better than I expected. Not sure it is fit for a bedroom as there is no ventilation.
Now that I think of it I also left the front 10′ (from the boiler room forward) unsheetrocked to use as a work/storage space. But that said, the $23k included additional items such as (i) clearing out the back yard from overgrowth, (ii) putting in a new wooden fence on one side, (iii)replacing the front coal shoot hatch door with a steel diamond plate cover (i think that’s what it was for, it leads up to the sidewalk level with a ladder); (iv) scraping, priming & painting all the front iron work.
You can imgaine why i a am gushing about this guy.
I will say this though, I got someone else to paint and redo floors in our top floor rental because I think for smaller jobs he may not be the best guy.
best of luck,
Peter on 6th ave
OP here – Peter I’m with the group, your price is amazing!!
Prices on digging down appear to vary a lot, mostly dependent on how deep you go. Contractors assume that the soil will get harder and more compacted the deeper you go. This is often but not always the case – my soil is terribly soft whichwill make the digger easier and faster and therefor cheaper. 1:07, you might want to do a test dig to see what the situation is in your basement.
Wow, Peter- that is a GREAT price.
We got a quote for just digging down the basement (by up to 3 feet but we were only interested in 1 foot) and the price was $400 per linear foot. Much more expensive!
Peter on 6th- we are considering doing something similar. Can I ask how many inches were dug down? And what are you using the space for now? Is is completely underground?
We have a walk out basement that has 7’5″ ceiling that we’d really like to dig down a bit to create a more livable space, and put bedrooms down there. The space is insulated already- just needs to be dug down but also needs cosmetic work (new floors, new internal walls for a different configuration, new doors and moulding, etc.) But I am really intrigued by the price your contractor charged. We were estimating MUCH more. So I’m just hoping to learn more about specifically what you did.
Thank you!
Not sure about the roof thing, but I just did my basement. I bought the building on 6th ave & 6th st in PS about a year ago. We live on the parlor & ground level and there was a cellar which was unfinished and had clearance of about 6′. Given the premium on space in the city, it seemed ridiculous not to turn that unused raw space into something usable.
The basement had exposed masonry walls which had crumbling concrete. The room was used as storage so was not maintained. I had the concrete floor (which was wearing thin) torn out, they dug down a few inches, laid new concrete, patched up all the masonry, put in ceramic tiled floors, covered the masonry with sheetrock, the ceiling was sheetrocked (around pipes, etc so it is not a completely flat surface now, but adequate clearance), new stairs, painting, molding, and a few other things. My contractor charged me $23k for everything which I beleive is a great price (the footprint of the building is 16′ x 45′). I had used him prior to that to do my back deck and some siding on a small previously existing addition and was pleased with the job and very pleased with the price.
The contractor’s name is Rosul Contracting and his number is 718-436-2938. I would recomend him.
Good luck,
Peter on 6th ave in PS
are you coming out ahead? yeah on paper at sale.. but what about the intangibles?
* opportunity cost of the money spent (you expanded the space to live in it, so your cost of living goes up until you sell it)
* not being able to live in the house for six+ months – cost of renting somewhere else
* intangible irritation of renting a second rate place for a period of time and missing out on your nice place even though you’re paying for it
* possible gray hairs over sub-contractors, unforseen expenses, paperwork, project over-runs
Maybe you’re rubbing your hands with glee at the thought of kicking off this project, don’t mind the disruption, and don’t mind the extra costs after it is built (forgone interest on money used to build it). In which case you’re ahead, if the market stays up.