Remodeling

[Uninformed]

My cousin bought a 3000 sq. ft, 14 year old house that has a really small master bath and a small walk-in closet. The master bath vanity has double sinks and is probably 5 ft. long, the closet is across from that and is probably 5x5 (although it looks smaller), the bath/shower is standard 5ft (although it measured 59") and the toilet is next to the shower. If the closet was stolen to enlarge the bathroom, it looks like it would be a 10x10 room (100sq ft.).

Ideally my cousin wants a whirpool tub, a shower, a separate enclosure for the toilet, and a decent double vanity. Is a 10x10 room going to accommodate this?

Assuming the 10x10 room fits all of the above, one could build out a new closet off of the master bedroom. Another option is that the bedroom has a separate sliding door closet and one could remove the closet and build stairs down to the basement (where the laundry room is) and have the walk-in master bedroom closet down there.

A final option is to build a whole new master bathroom off of the master bedroom.

Which option would you recommend for cost savings and resale value? Who should he ask to come out for initial consultation (bathroom remodeler, contractor, builder, architect) and who should he have do the work to minimize the cost? How much should it cost? $100/sq ft. is probably typical for building a new home, but I thought remodeling was more expensive. Could one really build out an 8x8 closet for $6400 with foundation extension and masonry work (it is a brick house)? The house is in a decent area similar to Katy or the Woodlands in Houston (but it is not comparable to Memorial or River Oaks). My cousin is not wealthy so he needs to save as much money as possible.

 

[ldogg53]

the costs in a remodel are hard to guage without knowing how it'll be finished.. is he going to want $200 faucets?? whirpool tubs can cost from $600-$3000 depending upon features... tile can be very expensive or fairly reasonable.. it all depends on taste...

as for having enough room... i think he could pull it off in a 10x10 space... it depends on where doors are... draw up a decent floor plan and scan it in and post it and we can help more... I just finished remodeling and building an addition on to my house and I served as my own GC, so I think I've got a good grasp on this...

 

[Longhorn_Fan68]

Uninformed,
There are too many factors to consider to know everything about this case, but I can tell you a few things based on my experience (as an architect).

- First, i definitely recommend hiring an architect, and not just because I am one. In my limited experience I have come to discover than while architects can seem expensive, they can end up saving a client money in the long run. There is one simple thing that one needs to remember, it is MUCH cheaper to pay someone to design something beforehand than to try to make it work in the field or to redo it because it wasn't planned for in the first place. Trust me on this. If you want me to go into more detail, please pm me.

- As far as adding on the foundation, that would all depend on the setbacks and how the house is situated on the lot. It also depends on the existing slope and how the foundation was built. Chances are, even with a small addition such as this, you would probably need to engage an engineer to design the foundation so that neither one cracks or breaks due to the other moving in a different way.

- As far as cost, like another poster mentioned, it really depends on what they want to furninsh the bathroom with. Yes bathroom remodels are more expensive because you have more fixture per square foot than most other spaces (except kitchens). You are probably talking more like $300-$500 per square foot to finish out a bathroom properly. He can obviously save some money if he does some of the work and/or contracting himself, but that's always risky and you don't get any warranties other than what the manufacturer provides.

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[Uninformed]

Thanks for the info. I am sure that he would be interested in the bathroom design. Please let me know how he should follow-up.

As for the cost, I understand that there is a lot of variability in the cost of the bathroom. What I am interested to know is how much it should cost to do the closet addition to the outside of the house. Setbacks shouldn't be an issue. Could it be done for $6400 (8x8 space) or is it going to cost a lot more because of minimums to bring different subcontractors in (By a lot more I mean $15,000+)? If the minimums are an issue, I guess he could add something that he doesn't really need like an outdoor kitchen or a sunroom. It seems silly to be forced into something like that though.

 

[Longhorn_Fan68]

uninformed, pm me and we can talk further, if you like.

 

[ldogg53]

just adding an 8x8 space that isn't finished out with anything but walls/trim inside should be quite cheap... not sure about $6400 as the cost of cement is high right now... he'd also have to deal with pulling permits with the city or having a contractor do it and risk getting caught... call the city and ask them for the requirements... they'll fax you a list of requirements and drawings for how to tie in the foundation and what rebar to use etc... just going by my guesstimate here I would say $10k would get that closet built without a problem, so it could be anywhere from the $6k figure to $10k... any more than that and your cousin didn't do a good job of shopping around and knowing what he was getting into...

as for LHF68s cost estimate for the bathroom I think he is WAY off... for your guidance I added on 10x23 to the back of my house here in Houston... part of that is closet space, but most is the master bathroom... we have a corner whirlpool tub.. granite counters.. maple cabinetry.. seperate shower with $13/sqft pebble rocks.. seperate toilet room... gorgeous framed mirrors.. Kohler sinks and faucets... 2 glassblock windows... the A/C had to be added and routed through the space... insulation... matching brick on one side of the addition and hardiplank on the other 2 sides... special order doors..... and I can assure you that it did not cost me $60,000 to do that... we were closer to $35-40k for the addition and that is considering we put expensive finishes in there... basically it was $170-175 sq ft...

understand this though... I personally dug the foundation out by hand... my father in law and I did all the rebar for the foundation... beyond that I helped hang some of the sheetrock and insulate the walls but that is it.... if you hire a contractor to do the remodel/addition for you they will want their fee for doing so... in which case the $60k figure LHF68 states would be closer to reality....

architects and engineers certainly have their value, but what your cousin is talking about doing isn't major and if you do some research and planning you can easily do it without them... it'll save a lot of $$$...

 

[Uninformed]

Thanks. Using $35-40K and 230 sq. ft. it looks like your cost was between $150 and $175/sq ft. That seems very reasonable considering the type of work that you had done. One thing that I have found in contracting is that if you spend lots of money you usually get good work. However, you can also get good work for little money. For example, in Arizona we needed to put in a large retaining wall. I received quotes from $3000 to $6000 and then found a guy willing to do it for $1000. He and his workers did an excellent job, showed up every day, cleaned up after themselves - I've never been happier. In fact, we then wanted to replace our asphalt driveway with concrete and again received quotes of $12000 and up. He did it for $6000 and again it was excellent. Although, I have never built a house we did get quotes for an upscale area in Tucson for around $250-350/sq. ft. I am sure those guys do excellent work. I am also sure though that I could get equivalent work for $150/sq. ft, if I was willing to put in a little bit of extra effort.

 

[ldogg53]

Uninformed..

that is the key... if you just go out and hire a contractor it'll cost you a bunch more $$$... if you handle the contracting yourself you'll save $$$... but that means that you have to do the work... I've had to call tons of contractors for all sorts of different needs and meet them all at the house to discuss the job and get bids... that takes a lot of time and effort... I've also had to spend many days over at the house babysitting them as they work because you can't just trust people to do the job right.... for me it was worth saving the $20k to do that instead of hiring a GC... it is exhausting, but $20k is a lot of money in terms of finishes and other things you can do on a house...