Full house remodel estimate

[Anonymous]

I don't have an estimate but NOT 250k. No way no how.

How is the drainage in the yard? Is it a dry basement.

[Anonymous]

You need to find people to work with directly and cut out the middleman. The general contractors do not add value and they just inflate the costs dramatically. I found all of the subcontracting labor myself and substantially reduces the cost of the remodel. Whatever you do, definitely do not work with super large construction or remodeling companies because they charge the highest prices and have the worst quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to find people to work with directly and cut out the middleman. The general contractors do not add value and they just inflate the costs dramatically. I found all of the subcontracting labor myself and substantially reduces the cost of the remodel. Whatever you do, definitely do not work with super large construction or remodeling companies because they charge the highest prices and have the worst quality.

Right, but for people not in construction it can be hard to find crews. OP, when we did this, we would go to active construction sites and find folks that worked different trades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to find people to work with directly and cut out the middleman. The general contractors do not add value and they just inflate the costs dramatically. I found all of the subcontracting labor myself and substantially reduces the cost of the remodel. Whatever you do, definitely do not work with super large construction or remodeling companies because they charge the highest prices and have the worst quality.

I hear you, PP, you're correct re pricing and work quality, but it's practically impossible for people with full-time jobs to have the time and knowledge to be their own contractor. Which is why you pay for that service, with more or less happy results. When we did a gut renovation, our general contractor was very distracted and didn't monitor the various teams, and my husband, who had just been laid off, spent a lot of time managing and pointing out various flaws. He noticed someone not putting in subfloor correctly, and asked him to redo. He noticed someone else installing a window crookedly and told him to redo. He stood there while they did. It would literally not have been possible if he'd been working! If you knew which professionals were trustworthy and hired them directly, you could, possibly, go to work and leave them to it, but... would OP know which to pick? I certainly don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to find people to work with directly and cut out the middleman. The general contractors do not add value and they just inflate the costs dramatically. I found all of the subcontracting labor myself and substantially reduces the cost of the remodel. Whatever you do, definitely do not work with super large construction or remodeling companies because they charge the highest prices and have the worst quality.

I hear you, PP, you're correct re pricing and work quality, but it's practically impossible for people with full-time jobs to have the time and knowledge to be their own contractor. Which is why you pay for that service, with more or less happy results. When we did a gut renovation, our general contractor was very distracted and didn't monitor the various teams, and my husband, who had just been laid off, spent a lot of time managing and pointing out various flaws. He noticed someone not putting in subfloor correctly, and asked him to redo. He noticed someone else installing a window crookedly and told him to redo. He stood there while they did. It would literally not have been possible if he'd been working! If you knew which professionals were trustworthy and hired them directly, you could, possibly, go to work and leave them to it, but... would OP know which to pick? I certainly don't.

I agree it’s difficult to find, but if you cannot find the labor directly it’s not worth it. Most construction workers are utterly incompetent and you will (more likely than not) end up getting robbed for terrible quality work if you do not act as your own general contractor.

[Anonymous]

Why not mini splits instead of a furnace and central AC?

[Anonymous]

20 years ago that cost us $335k. Today, it's probably at least double that amount

[Anonymous]

You're forgetting a lot of things.
- pipes
- waterproofing
- roof
- trim and millwork and carpentry (moulding, built-ins, etc...)
- doors
- hardware
- lighting
- painting, interior and exterior
- windows
- chimney
- misc. appliance like hot water heater
- insulation
- radiation?

600K and that's not higher end stuff

[Anonymous]

^ oops radiation = radon!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spotted an estate sale in one of my favorite neighborhoods. 1920s colonial, two floors plus full attack. 2500 sqft. Serious estate sale condition. This is the wish list:

New furnace
Central air
Full kitchen gut, including partially opening into adjoining dining room
Three fully gutted and rebuilt bathrooms
Complete electrical rewiring
Refinishing all wood floors

What are we looking at? There are other items but this is the starting point and should cover most of the pressing needs. I'm sure I need to add plumbing to the list outside the kitchen/bath remodel but I assume those will cover at least 80% of plumbing needs and will throw another 10k on top for additional plumbing.

Let's assume nicely above average but not top flight finishes or fixtures ($2500 gas range is fine, not a $5k one, for example).

Will 250k be enough?

You assume incorrectly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're forgetting a lot of things.
- pipes
- waterproofing
- roof
- trim and millwork and carpentry (moulding, built-ins, etc...)
- doors
- hardware
- lighting
- painting, interior and exterior
- windows
- chimney
- misc. appliance like hot water heater
- insulation
- radiation?

600K and that's not higher end stuff

At this price point you would be better off demolishing the house and building a new one

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one who thought OP was trying to remodel their house like the house from “Full House”?

[Anonymous]

Friends recently redid their condo’s kitchen and it was $100K with a well-known design/build firm in this area. Not including appliances. But design-build handled everything, start to finish. Basically white glove service. It’s a well-design kitchen. But they didn’t add any square footage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20 years ago that cost us $335k. Today, it's probably at least double that amount

You can literally build a new house for with a semi custom home builder for 800k-1M. I hope you haven’t bought this house yet, because a guy remodel is waste of money if it cost 700k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Friends recently redid their condo’s kitchen and it was $100K with a well-known design/build firm in this area. Not including appliances. But design-build handled everything, start to finish. Basically white glove service. It’s a well-design kitchen. But they didn’t add any square footage.

They got robbed. You can get a nice kitchen remodel for much less. Use immigrants for remodeling. They generally offer better prices and higher quality craftsmanship.