Contractor price per square foot?
We are considering buying a modest brownstone – 16.5 x 40′, 3 stories (currently used as 2 family with top floor rental). What is a “safe” cost per sq ft to budget for renovation? It seems to be all over the map – I’ve been quoted 200/psf up to 500/psf. We are not “fancy” types…
We are considering buying a modest brownstone – 16.5 x 40′, 3 stories (currently used as 2 family with top floor rental). What is a “safe” cost per sq ft to budget for renovation? It seems to be all over the map – I’ve been quoted 200/psf up to 500/psf. We are not “fancy” types – we have a tight budget and like a simple, clean look (a la Dwell magazine) and are not dealing with restoring tons of old detail, since the house does not have much. So far, a couple of architects have said we could squeak by and renovate 2 floors for 200-250K, but I have trouble meshing that to contractor prices I’ve been given.
Re: work we want to do – The house is in decent shape but we do want to do pretty major work including: flipping configuration so that we could first live on upper duplex (and hopefully eventually afford to take over garden) though this means putting kitchen on parlor; nearly gutting parlor floor (taking down a bunch of walls, creating kitchen & possibly a powder room and closet); top floor some reconfiguration but not as extreme – mainly ripping out kitchen to make bedroom larger (currently that room is a LR) and possibly add closet space, renovate bath and add add’l closet space, and maybe change door entry point to small study in front half of room (currently opens from adjacent BR, we want it to open from hall).
We are about to go to contract but are dying to get more of a sense of the true cost of renovation – can it done be rather thriftily? To me, 200-250K seems like a hell of a lot of money!
Thanks –
I’d love to get the names/numbers of your guys–we’re doing exactly this kind of rehab and totally agree with your reno logic.
Hmm, to 9:16,I wonder why there are all those handyman ads then? Are you saying that employing a local painter is a risk? We’re not talking structural here. And no co-op board approval.
To OP: Kitchen: contractor (unfortunately the one I woud NOT recommend) who brought plumber/elect. New plumbing from floor below. Assembled IKEA cabinets myself, but cont. installed. New soffit for hood vent, and 4 electric lines from basement. About 15-18k. Kitchen was on brownstoner, the “cheap” one.
Bath: remove all tile, new cement board backer in tub/shower, new tile, new floor tile, sink and faucets replaced. Saved some by keeping tile to tub only, more of a CA aesthetic which we like anyway. replaced 2 bath doors. About 10k (happy to recommend them, they’re actually off-work construction workers.)
Bamboo flooring on one floor (Verrazano) 6k; and replace all trim (wood) (except plaster crown), replace 2 doors, smooth out wall imperfections, paint, same guys as bath: 10k. Etc.
Now I am not comparing this to serious structual renovation, but clearly you can do a lot for a reasonable amount. Pouring an additional 50k into that floor would have resulted in picture-perfect molding and glass-smooth walls, but I don’t have the money and, indeed, I would be embarassed to spend that much. Not do I like perfection, find it boring.
Using handymen to do work in your house is a great way to find out about the workman’s comp law — the hard way. Make sure EVERYONE is insured and provides certificates or get yourself insured as a GC.
to cmu
did you do the kitchen and bathroom renovation yourselves or did you use a contractor?
If you did the work with professionals, please share their names and phone numbers;
I have similiar work to do.
thank you
There’s so much bs spouted on this site that I feel sorry for OP…100k on a kitchen (or 300k on a floor) is *stratospheric* and in no way reflects normalcy. I spent 15k including plumbing on an (Ikea) kitchen, and we redid out bath for less than 10k, so if you want to be profligate and install gold faucets of course you can spend a lot.
It’s tiring to hear of the “gut renovators” who claim to be on a “tight budget”, but have 250k to spend. Do it by all means, but don’t expect to be soothed. That’s a lot. There’s not much excuse to “gut renovate” a place you claim is in “decent shape”, but if you want to smash-and-destroy, that seems to be the norm.
As an example, I was quoted 45k for a deck by the architect-recommended contractor, finally went with Sketch and Hammer for 14k. We got handymen to do much of our work at a quarter the prices you’ve been quoted.
Moving walls is no big deal in brownstones as they’re mostly non-load-bearing. Sensitive renovation should be the goal. You’ll save a Lot of money as well.
I did a $$$ renovation, but here is how I would keep costs down. Hire an architect & expediter to do plans but be your own GC. Line up a good plumber (has to be licensed for building dept), electrician (ditto on license) and rely on handymen to do the rest (installing cabs, tiling, demo, etc). Willing to talk further with you if you provide your contact info.
OK, thanks, that’s helpful, but is there still a “rule of thumb” i.e. 200/psf? As for condition of mechanicals, they are in decent shape (current owner upgraded electrical service but perhaps not the full distribution). So, it’s not a total gut – though it’s also not totally cosmetic either. What the heck do people do when deciding whether to purchase these homes? Even this little one is not cheap, so must you just be wealthy to conceive of renovation? Sigh – I thought we were there, but I’m now getting scared of biting off more than we can chew. Any other advice appreciated…
Mrs. Limestone is right — simple and clean does not mean inxpensive. We just finished a renovation that is Dwell-ish (a little warmer, I think) and because of the need for clean lines, it is actually harder for the contractor. I compare it to hair cuts — pin-straight hair is a lot harder to cut than curly hair — nowhere to hide imperfections.
Good luck!
Oh, Ms. Limestone. You are so sensible and reasonalble! A agree with your excellent, tempered advice!