Gutting a house to the studs

[v-girl]

We are budgeting 500k for a second floor addition (master br, master bath, balcony). My dad's an architect. I think renovations are far more expensive than we think they are/should be! And definitely location dependent!

That is the cost of the 5bdrm, with pool and above garage apartment, Victorian house I want. Yes, here you can buy a huge house for $500K. Or 4 houses in my neighborhood.

[Thirteen]

We are looking at building around no more than 1700sq ft.
(We currently live in 2800 sq ft., and it's just silly big for us).


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[GrayMatterWife]

A stripped to the studs reno sounds like a miserable hell from which neither my sanity nor my marriage would escape intact.

950 sq ft is incredibly small.

[ides]

We are looking at building around no more than 1700sq ft.
(We currently live in 2800 sq ft., and it's just silly big for us).


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Personally I would shoot for around 2000 sqft. 2800 is giant but 1700 with maybe two kids, just a little too small. I've gone from 400, to 800, to 950, to 1400 to now 1900 and 1900 is by far the best. Enough room but not getting lost or having xtra space to clean. Just my two cents . I doubt we'd ever go bigger.

[SoonerTexan]

Holy shit Alison...how could it be that expensive? I mean, renovation means the land is already purchased right, so it's not tied to what you paid for the property. Unless you are talking about more than 1000 sq ft? I just can't wrap my mind around it. Is your city really that crazy expensive?

[Sheherezade]

We were quoted 100-150k for a master bedroom remodel by several contractors. We ended up doing DIY general contracting and did it for 40k. . I agree that remodeling is crazy expensive these days.

[alison]

My dad said to budget that much. We'd do it with an architect. If we add a second floor, we have to add structural support for it, stairs from main to upper floor, re-do the roof, windows, electrical, plumbing, possibly a gas fireplace. Flooring (heated stone in bathroom, hardwood in bedroom). And the whole cost to do the exterior of that second floor... I think it adds up pretty quickly. It seems like a lot to me, too!