Renovation bid - too high??
I’m curious what we should budget for our parlor floor deck/kitchen renovation – we got one bid of around $40,000 from a company that specializes in exteriors, another bid of $65-$70,000 from someone who does both interiors and exteriors equally, and a third bid of $50-$55,000 from someone who also does both. None of these bids include kitchen cabinets, countertop, backsplash or appliances. This is in a 120-year old brownstone with dried-out plaster walls, the parlor floor so we have some demolition to prepare the space for the kitchen (right now it’s a laundry room and former bedroom, combined, so has a washer/dryer/slop sink and tiny old metal cabinets hung up so requires relocating the washer/dryer someplace else), and converting a window to a door to the future deck/stairs to the backyard. The parlor floor is pretty high up since the back of the house is about 4 feet off the ground at the ground floor level (allowing for a raised ground floor deck that’s already there). The work will include plumbing and electrical upgrades since the kitchen hasn’t been renovated in probably 30-50 years (if then), and probably moving a plumbing pipe closer to the wall, and enclosing a former airshaft and adding exhaust vents from the bathroom through a former airshaft. This also includes removal of a tree that is in the path of the future stairs, and none of the contractor bids mention the tree removal (and the higher bidder specifically said we should have it removed ahead of time – another thing for my long list of things to do already). So one question I have is, whether the $40,000 job is an outlier that will really turn into a $50,000 or $55,000 job or whether the $65-70,000 job is an outlier.
jeanmarine2
in Brownstoner Renovation 12 years and 3 months ago
7
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7 replies
cate | 12 years and 3 months ago
Now I see what you mean about the wall in your other post. Sure, you need a level surface on which to hang cabinets. You can either add plaster to make it level or you can remove the plaster and start over. Doesn’t really matter. Might actually just be easier to remove the plaster and replace with dry wall. It will be very plumb in that case, which is desirable if you are going to be tiling this surface. If this is a brick party wall, you might consider patching any holes when you expose the brick, to keep smells and vermins from crossing over from next door.
cate | 12 years and 3 months ago
You will need an architect or engineer to convert a window to a door and file it. I would start with an architect. Whatever you do, make sure any contractor you hire is licensed or you will really regret it. Check their number against the DOB web site, don’t just take their word for it.
c_w | 12 years and 3 months ago
The rule of thumb is to get three bids and go with the middle quote. Once the numbers come in, it’s very tempting to second guess this process and decide to take a chance on the lowest number but I would strongly advise against it. Others have already pointed out the potential problems with the contractor who quoted 40K but let’s also add the time honed adage, you get what you pay for. Labor is the highest construction cost and doing the work well will always take more time than doing the work poorly, not to mention experienced workers get paid more.
Again as others have already pointed out, work on an old house is a completely different process. Nothing will be plumb so just scribing trim and cabinets or furring out new surfaces will mess up the time schedule of a contractor used to institutional or rental installations. Also unless you need to have the work done in two separate phases or want to break it apart among different contractors for logistical or budget reasons, always try to get a quote for all the work to be done by one GC. It will save money in the long run and make sure someone is accountable for all the small details that exist in-between the various trades.
slopemope | 12 years and 3 months ago
sounds like a potential nightmare in the hands of a contractor with no plans or permits. which one will cut corners? most of them probabally if you don’t spec it out. this is a contractors dream to ask for more money mid-project, because oh “you didn’t specify xxxx when we began”. either way, i’d throw the one without interior experience directly into the trash. don’t even think about hiring that one.
curated | 12 years and 3 months ago
Without blueprints or design drawings it is impossible to tell which price is right. Your best bet is to bring someone on board that can help you finalize your layouts and finishes as it sounds like you are still up in the air regarding cabinets etc. http://brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/curated
jcarch | 12 years and 3 months ago
There’s no way to accurately answer your question w/out seeing the drawings/specs, etc. What does your architect say about the pricing? And how do the bids compare to the architect’s earlier estimates? If you don’t already, get a detailed breakdown of the costs, and compare costs trade by trade between the three bidders. Generally I don’t find that the bidder who’s 20% less is cheaper across the board, there’s usually 2 or three areas where there’s a big price difference, and you can then push for more information on why bidder A and B have $20K for electrical work, but bidder C only has $10K. Given that the low bidder sounds like they don’t have interior experience. I’d worry that they’ve underestimated the cost of the interior work, and will be either asking for more $ mid-construction, or cutting corners and cutting back staffing to try to minimize their losses. GC’s generally don’t want to get involved w/ tree removal…and if they did, they’d just be calling a tree removal company, and marking up their price by 20%. You can have the same tree guys do directly and avoid the mark up. jcarch———————— James Cleary Architecture brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/jamescleary
jeanmarine2 | 12 years and 3 months ago
(OP here) I should probably mention that this is in a legal 3 family and the deck and stairs will be steel/non-combustible, possibly with cement infill which would add to the price. And that we’re parallel-tracking the kitchen cabinets and whether to go IKEA or something like custom RTA or semi-custom, which impacts the budget on the kitchen end.