Cost Ballpark in 2013 for Two-Story Addition in Bethesda/Chevy Chase

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:200k per sq ft is what is ideal. Quotes any higher than that are considered boutique and you could essentially build a new house for 300k sq ft. Consider this if you are doing a construction loan...you house has to appraise for the value of the loan or else you come out of pocket. So keep looking until you find a builder that can do it for 200-250k per sq ft.

looking at mls listing and seeing what the sq footage breakdown of the home should show you that 300k plus is too much..at that price just move.

Builder here - hate to be cynical but can't help myself....I see this all the time....buyer gets a number in their head - doesn't matter what it is - their budget, what their friends said, my personal favorite, what the architect said so that he could get the job...then they design a nice addition, show photos from House Beautiful and start to gain an understanding of the market rate for their addition - their fit and finishes - their lot - age/quality of existing structure. Fairly quicly the numbers start to coalesce around what the work is worth. Grant you have your outliers, but at the end of the day you start to get a good sense. Now, some folks stop here, select a reputable firm, and proceed to get the work done. They are actually the smart ones...now, what we have are the clients, that we all call....too smart for their own good...they call all the good firms - get some decent pricing and decide that they are getting ripped off, or the related mentality - another personal favorite - I am not going to let anyone make any money off of me....so they burn through the reputable folks who decide the client does not have a realistic budget...then, because they are just waiting to hear what they want to hear, someone comes along, tells them they do beautiful work and that of course they can do it for that price. The owner feels like he has won - not realizing it was at that exact point he lost....how can that be ? Well, first he cuts every corner that you do not even know he's cutting; then as the money get tighter - we have the proverbial change order artist. I once joked that I hired an old mason, that if he could have, he would have charged me extras for the stones in the stone wall. So maybe that works, maybe not. At this point you might start to notice that the job seems to be languishing, some new cast of characters are showing up, and the general (contractor that is) might, if he is honorable, try to do some of the work himself because he doesn't have the dollars to pay subs....now, I agree I exaggerate perhaps...but if you want good work, find yourself a reputable contractor, check his past work, his credit at the local supply houses , and most importantly his references....I cannot tell you how many clients folks without checking their references - and not only the ones that the contractor provides...make sure he gives you a competitive bid and let them do what they do...if you try to outfox the scoundrels in the building trades you will get scalped every time...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:200k per sq ft is what is ideal. Quotes any higher than that are considered boutique and you could essentially build a new house for 300k sq ft. Consider this if you are doing a construction loan...you house has to appraise for the value of the loan or else you come out of pocket. So keep looking until you find a builder that can do it for 200-250k per sq ft.

looking at mls listing and seeing what the sq footage breakdown of the home should show you that 300k plus is too much..at that price just move.

Builder here - hate to be cynical but can't help myself....I see this all the time....buyer gets a number in their head - doesn't matter what it is - their budget, what their friends said, my personal favorite, what the architect said so that he could get the job...then they design a nice addition, show photos from House Beautiful and start to gain an understanding of the market rate for their addition - their fit and finishes - their lot - age/quality of existing structure. Fairly quicly the numbers start to coalesce around what the work is worth. Grant you have your outliers, but at the end of the day you start to get a good sense. Now, some folks stop here, select a reputable firm, and proceed to get the work done. They are actually the smart ones...now, what we have are the clients, that we all call....too smart for their own good...they call all the good firms - get some decent pricing and decide that they are getting ripped off, or the related mentality - another personal favorite - I am not going to let anyone make any money off of me....so they burn through the reputable folks who decide the client does not have a realistic budget...then, because they are just waiting to hear what they want to hear, someone comes along, tells them they do beautiful work and that of course they can do it for that price. The owner feels like he has won - not realizing it was at that exact point he lost....how can that be ? Well, first he cuts every corner that you do not even know he's cutting; then as the money get tighter - we have the proverbial change order artist. I once joked that I hired an old mason, that if he could have, he would have charged me extras for the stones in the stone wall. So maybe that works, maybe not. At this point you might start to notice that the job seems to be languishing, some new cast of characters are showing up, and the general (contractor that is) might, if he is honorable, try to do some of the work himself because he doesn't have the dollars to pay subs....now, I agree I exaggerate perhaps...but if you want good work, find yourself a reputable contractor, check his past work, his credit at the local supply houses , and most importantly his references....I cannot tell you how many clients folks without checking their references - and not only the ones that the contractor provides...make sure he gives you a competitive bid and let them do what they do...if you try to outfox the scoundrels in the building trades you will get scalped every time...

You should team up with an editor....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:200k per sq ft is what is ideal. Quotes any higher than that are considered boutique and you could essentially build a new house for 300k sq ft. Consider this if you are doing a construction loan...you house has to appraise for the value of the loan or else you come out of pocket. So keep looking until you find a builder that can do it for 200-250k per sq ft.

looking at mls listing and seeing what the sq footage breakdown of the home should show you that 300k plus is too much..at that price just move.

Builder here - hate to be cynical but can't help myself....I see this all the time....buyer gets a number in their head - doesn't matter what it is - their budget, what their friends said, my personal favorite, what the architect said so that he could get the job...then they design a nice addition, show photos from House Beautiful and start to gain an understanding of the market rate for their addition - their fit and finishes - their lot - age/quality of existing structure. Fairly quicly the numbers start to coalesce around what the work is worth. Grant you have your outliers, but at the end of the day you start to get a good sense. Now, some folks stop here, select a reputable firm, and proceed to get the work done. They are actually the smart ones...now, what we have are the clients, that we all call....too smart for their own good...they call all the good firms - get some decent pricing and decide that they are getting ripped off, or the related mentality - another personal favorite - I am not going to let anyone make any money off of me....so they burn through the reputable folks who decide the client does not have a realistic budget...then, because they are just waiting to hear what they want to hear, someone comes along, tells them they do beautiful work and that of course they can do it for that price. The owner feels like he has won - not realizing it was at that exact point he lost....how can that be ? Well, first he cuts every corner that you do not even know he's cutting; then as the money get tighter - we have the proverbial change order artist. I once joked that I hired an old mason, that if he could have, he would have charged me extras for the stones in the stone wall. So maybe that works, maybe not. At this point you might start to notice that the job seems to be languishing, some new cast of characters are showing up, and the general (contractor that is) might, if he is honorable, try to do some of the work himself because he doesn't have the dollars to pay subs....now, I agree I exaggerate perhaps...but if you want good work, find yourself a reputable contractor, check his past work, his credit at the local supply houses , and most importantly his references....I cannot tell you how many clients folks without checking their references - and not only the ones that the contractor provides...make sure he gives you a competitive bid and let them do what they do...if you try to outfox the scoundrels in the building trades you will get scalped every time...

You should team up with an editor....

why? it seems pretty clear to me what he is saying, this is DCUM, not the WP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It also very much depends on quality of the building. For example, a high end home will have floor/ceiling joists at 12 inches on center instead of 16...you may also have insulated sheathing instead of standard OSB. How about engineered studs? These costs can easily add 10-15% to the cost of an addition.

Also, a dry well can easily cost $30,000 for a large system.

We did a 1,200 SF addition, all in cost was about $350k...the new construction (about 600 SF) was relatively insexpensive, the expansion to the eixsting home was much costlier.

This is inaccurate. High end homes do not have floor joists spaced at 12 inches on center. They have joists deeper than 12 inches and use wood I joists that are still spaced at 16 inches on center.

Technical term is tji, and in custom applications they are spaced 12 inches. 16 is minimum code requirements and is what is found in typical builder quality work.

I'm the pp who wrote this and I'm also a residential architect who designs high end custom homes. I have never designed a home with a 12" joist spacing - it's just an inefficient use of resources and hard to fit electrical, mechanical and plumbing in between. It is much more cost effective to increase the depth of the joist and maintain a 16" spacing and when designed properly can still be a stiff and rigid floor. TJI is one manufacturer's designation for a wood I joist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:200k per sq ft is what is ideal. Quotes any higher than that are considered boutique and you could essentially build a new house for 300k sq ft. Consider this if you are doing a construction loan...you house has to appraise for the value of the loan or else you come out of pocket. So keep looking until you find a builder that can do it for 200-250k per sq ft.

looking at mls listing and seeing what the sq footage breakdown of the home should show you that 300k plus is too much..at that price just move.

Builder here - hate to be cynical but can't help myself....I see this all the time....buyer gets a number in their head - doesn't matter what it is - their budget, what their friends said, my personal favorite, what the architect said so that he could get the job...then they design a nice addition, show photos from House Beautiful and start to gain an understanding of the market rate for their addition - their fit and finishes - their lot - age/quality of existing structure. Fairly quicly the numbers start to coalesce around what the work is worth. Grant you have your outliers, but at the end of the day you start to get a good sense. Now, some folks stop here, select a reputable firm, and proceed to get the work done. They are actually the smart ones...now, what we have are the clients, that we all call....too smart for their own good...they call all the good firms - get some decent pricing and decide that they are getting ripped off, or the related mentality - another personal favorite - I am not going to let anyone make any money off of me....so they burn through the reputable folks who decide the client does not have a realistic budget...then, because they are just waiting to hear what they want to hear, someone comes along, tells them they do beautiful work and that of course they can do it for that price. The owner feels like he has won - not realizing it was at that exact point he lost....how can that be ? Well, first he cuts every corner that you do not even know he's cutting; then as the money get tighter - we have the proverbial change order artist. I once joked that I hired an old mason, that if he could have, he would have charged me extras for the stones in the stone wall. So maybe that works, maybe not. At this point you might start to notice that the job seems to be languishing, some new cast of characters are showing up, and the general (contractor that is) might, if he is honorable, try to do some of the work himself because he doesn't have the dollars to pay subs....now, I agree I exaggerate perhaps...but if you want good work, find yourself a reputable contractor, check his past work, his credit at the local supply houses , and most importantly his references....I cannot tell you how many clients folks without checking their references - and not only the ones that the contractor provides...make sure he gives you a competitive bid and let them do what they do...if you try to outfox the scoundrels in the building trades you will get scalped every time...

If you are trying to perpetuate your high costs scams, please learn to use a paragraph.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm the pp who wrote this and I'm also a residential architect who designs high end custom homes. I have never designed a home with a 12" joist spacing - it's just an inefficient use of resources and hard to fit electrical, mechanical and plumbing in between. It is much more cost effective to increase the depth of the joist and maintain a 16" spacing and when designed properly can still be a stiff and rigid floor. TJI is one manufacturer's designation for a wood I joist.

12" spacing is also a way to gain extra ceiling space...a 9 inch TJI might be spaced at 16, a 7 inch at 12, thus gaining 2 inches in ceiling height. I've typically seen structural engineers prepare framing plans, not architects.

[Anonymous]

In my neighborhood of modest colonials in BCC-CC, a 2-story addition with kitchen and bath runs $200,000-$250,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:sorry but take this chevy chase home with addition, it looks no better and in fact worst than any NDI

Is thus house for sale? If so, do you know the MLS number? I actually really like it.

Looks like a rich person trying to seem poor

Here, is this more your speed?

[Anonymous]

These are the NDIs, pretty nice if you ask me, even more pics here http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Dimensions-Inc/198418780282251

I would take these over any of the old homes even that 1.6 million addition in chevy chase

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:200k per sq ft is what is ideal. Quotes any higher than that are considered boutique and you could essentially build a new house for 300k sq ft. Consider this if you are doing a construction loan...you house has to appraise for the value of the loan or else you come out of pocket. So keep looking until you find a builder that can do it for 200-250k per sq ft.

looking at mls listing and seeing what the sq footage breakdown of the home should show you that 300k plus is too much..at that price just move.

Builder here - hate to be cynical but can't help myself....I see this all the time....buyer gets a number in their head - doesn't matter what it is - their budget, what their friends said, my personal favorite, what the architect said so that he could get the job...then they design a nice addition, show photos from House Beautiful and start to gain an understanding of the market rate for their addition - their fit and finishes - their lot - age/quality of existing structure. Fairly quicly the numbers start to coalesce around what the work is worth. Grant you have your outliers, but at the end of the day you start to get a good sense. Now, some folks stop here, select a reputable firm, and proceed to get the work done. They are actually the smart ones...now, what we have are the clients, that we all call....too smart for their own good...they call all the good firms - get some decent pricing and decide that they are getting ripped off, or the related mentality - another personal favorite - I am not going to let anyone make any money off of me....so they burn through the reputable folks who decide the client does not have a realistic budget...then, because they are just waiting to hear what they want to hear, someone comes along, tells them they do beautiful work and that of course they can do it for that price. The owner feels like he has won - not realizing it was at that exact point he lost....how can that be ? Well, first he cuts every corner that you do not even know he's cutting; then as the money get tighter - we have the proverbial change order artist. I once joked that I hired an old mason, that if he could have, he would have charged me extras for the stones in the stone wall. So maybe that works, maybe not. At this point you might start to notice that the job seems to be languishing, some new cast of characters are showing up, and the general (contractor that is) might, if he is honorable, try to do some of the work himself because he doesn't have the dollars to pay subs....now, I agree I exaggerate perhaps...but if you want good work, find yourself a reputable contractor, check his past work, his credit at the local supply houses , and most importantly his references....I cannot tell you how many clients folks without checking their references - and not only the ones that the contractor provides...make sure he gives you a competitive bid and let them do what they do...if you try to outfox the scoundrels in the building trades you will get scalped every time...

So what would be your ballpark quote for what the OP stated?

I understand everyone has to get paid and no one wants a house that will fall apart BUT price gouging because of the county that the home is being built in or perceived wealth that the homeowner has to have because they live in neighborhood A is a practice I'm so over!

[Anonymous]

PP again, yes some of the shutters are too small but other than that I think they look great

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are the NDIs, pretty nice if you ask me, even more pics here http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Dimensions-Inc/198418780282251

I would take these over any of the old homes even that 1.6 million addition in chevy chase

The first one looks like a 90s housing development in Howard County.
Second one looks like a townhouse.
Third one is tolerable.
Fourth one is a disaster.
Fifth one looks nice.

[Anonymous]

None of those would fit on that lot in Chevy Chase.

[Anonymous]

They all need $50k in landscaping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one here, OP included has referenced what the square footage they are discussing is. Obviously this makes a big difference. A lot of the prices quoted here are CRAZY and you have more money than sense if you pay them.

I am in the process of building a two story addition to my DC row house. Total sq footage is 400 (across two floors). this includes one bathroom, but not a kitchen. Total cost will be about $110k. Very nice finishes and price includes permitting. For a single family home the costs should be lower, relatively, because some of our costs are related to the complexities of adding in to a 120 year old row house. Assuming that the addition the OP is discussing is bigger than hours the per sq foot cost should be lower than ours because it's the first couple of hundred or so sq foot that are going to be the most expensive.

I am starting to contemplate doing the same thing to our little row house. Can you recommend your contractor? Thanks! And how long do you think you'll be out of the house during the work?