Contractor Estimates
Am I way underestimating the cost of a simple kitchen/bathroom update in a pre-war co-op apt? All we want to do is install Ikea cabinets, new floor & counters in a 10×6 kitchen, reglaze a bathtub, redo a shower stall, and put in new vanity. Our budget is $20-25k and estimates so far are $35k-42k…
Am I way underestimating the cost of a simple kitchen/bathroom update in a pre-war co-op apt? All we want to do is install Ikea cabinets, new floor & counters in a 10×6 kitchen, reglaze a bathtub, redo a shower stall, and put in new vanity. Our budget is $20-25k and estimates so far are $35k-42k which seems like a lot for not that much work. Am I way off?
pampers28, I highly recommend transcend construction 718-851-1140. I was recommended to them here on the forum.
The experience was friendly, efficient and professional from beginning to end.
Chmod, my bldg requires a contractor to be licensed and insured but I don’t think I’ll need a permit since I’m not doing any structural work. The bids do incl insurance costs.
Isaacly, do you have someone who did your work whom you would recommend?
I think your budget should be adequate. I recently had similar work done with a similar sized kitchen, bath, and also had skim coat and paint work throughout the rest of my pre war for a similar budget.
Is your co-op going to ask for a building permit or insurance for the contractors? Did the bids take that into account? Have you checked with the board?
Hey Mopar’ I’m w kens on this one, generally speaking. It _may_ be the coop’s responsibility if the pan is defective. Maybe. But if the op is putting in something new, definitely not. I hope the OP has board approval for this…
Typically the coop is responsible for anything inside the walls, and the shareholder is responsible for what is outside the walls. In the case of the shower pan, I’m assuming it’s leaking or you wouldn’t be replacing it. But each coop is different — should be spelled out in the proprietary lease.
Setancre & Ysabelle, thanks for the suggestions. I have read great things about Traemand on these forums and though I had thought it would be easier to hire one person to do both rooms, handling them separately is an interesting thought. The kitchen should be easy — I’ve already picked out my cabinets, tiles and have a good idea about flooring and countertops. Maybe I’ll give them a ring.
I strongly suggest you use Traemand the certified Ikea kitchen cabinet installer. There work is good and their prices reasonable. Everything else do by piece work. You will save money and getva better job.
If you are doing corian countertops go to lowes. Their prices are less expensive than Ikea corian installers. Lowes sends Installers direct from Dupont. They are the manufacturer.
I would divorce the kitchen project from the bathroom project. Since you are doing Ikea kitchen cabinets, you can price those directly from Ikea and use their certified installer (approx $100/cabinet) for assembly and installation. They can coordinate countertops for you as well (price completely depends on choice of material, can be $25/sq ft to $120/sq ft). Figure out what kind of tile you want on the floor, buy it yourself, and have your own tile guy install it. I’ve successfully used Rob Mara for tiling, he is recommended a lot around here.
Then I would have separate estimates done for only the bathroom work. Try to decide on fixtures beforehand (new vanity, faucets, etc).
By lumping everything together for both kitchen and bathroom you’re giving the contractors an opportunity to build in extra hidden $$ on everything they touch.