Anyone know anything about construction costs?

[montanafan]

I just thought I might add a 1/2 bath to my Mom's house, but I have no idea what I'd be looking at cost-wise. It would be probably be an addition to the house, though it could be put in the basement. Just the basics: shower, toilet, and sink. Anyone have an educated estimate?

 

[HappyPuppy]

Bump cuz I'm interested, too. I need to build another 3/4 bath in my house. It would go in existing space, though.

 

[notfred]

hmmm, my dad's got about $50k into his garage so far.... but that garage was built from the grould upand bigger than a significant percentage of houses.

 

[bmacd]

Originally posted by: notfred
hmmm, my dad's got about $50k into his garage so far.... but that garage was built from the grould upand bigger than a significant percentage of houses.

looks good so far.

And bump b/c i wanna know costs for bath too.

-=bmacd=-

 

[T2T III]

If you're doing an addition on the house, I'm sure the bottom amount would be $77 (or near that amount) per square foot for construction. This is assuming that you have the work done for you. If you are going to add a bathroom in the basement - and the plumbing "rough-ins" are already there, and you are doing the work - $1,500 - $1,800. If you have a contractor do the work on the bathroom in the basement, the price could fall between $4,000 and $6,000. Again, these are "rough" estimates.

 

[Ornery]

"It would be probably be an addition to the house"

wje nailed it pretty good, but there's a LOT of variables. For starters, kitchens and baths are the most expensive rooms to build. There's no way you'll want to add such a small addition. Just not worth it. You might get a 10'x20' addition for $15,000, but I doubt anybody would build a 10'x10' bathroom for only $7,500. A half bath would be even smaller! Never happen...

You would have to be the contractor and have a "friend of a friend" do the work hourly or something. Plumbing and fixtures aren't cheap and the wiring is another story. You'll have a whole knew appreciation for what contractors go through by the time it's over. You really wanna do this?

 

[montanafan]

Thanks for the estimates, wje. I would need a contractor for the addition, but I might be able to get a brother and some friends to do the plumbing. I was hoping to get it done for around $5000. After thinking it over, I've decided that the basement option wouldn't really help.

Ornery, I hadn't really thought about the difficulty I might encounter finding someone willing to do the addition. I guess I'll just have to ask around, starting with the local home center store and maybe at Lowe's or 84 Lumber. They may know someone who'd be willing to do it, but if not, I guess I'll have to forget about it. I don't know anyone who could do the addition, but I could find someone to do the plumbing.

Thanks everyone.

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: bmacd

Originally posted by: notfred
hmmm, my dad's got about $50k into his garage so far.... but that garage was built from the grould upand bigger than a significant percentage of houses.

looks good so far.



-=bmacd=-

 

[Evadman]

I can get you exact estimates based on your location in the country.

Is this a build on addition, or is it renovation?

<edit>
Nevermind. helps when I read. Gimme a second.

<edit #2>
Damnit, I can't find my book. Guess I will have to clean tommorow. I will post when I find it.

 

[Ornery]

No, I don't mean you'll have trouble finding someone to do it, I mean getting it done cheap, by doing it yourself. The only way you could keep a micro addition reasonably priced is if you became the contractor. You get the permits, hire the mason, carpenter, plumber, electrician and roofer. There are people who can do it all too. Maybe your uncle, brother-in-law or friend of a friend could lend a hand?

 

[Lucky]

My father finished about a 1/3 of the basment into a workout room with a full bathroom about 2 years ago. ~1000 square feet with a standup shower, etc. Cost about 20 grand. Dont know how much that helps, but hey.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Lucky
My father finished about a 1/3 of the basment into a workout room with a full bathroom about 2 years ago. ~1000 square feet with a standup shower, etc. Cost about 20 grand. Dont know how much that helps, but hey.

If it was in that mansion of a home that you posted a while back (what's it worth, 800k+?) then it probably doesn't help much

 

[Evadman]

I could do it if you live in northern Illinois.

My extreamly rough guess would be 3k + 1k for materials for a full bath put into the basement, or 3k + 2.5k for materials for a full bath addition.

Half baths are really wierd. Expecialy in the basement. Cutting concrete gets very expensive.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: Lucky
My father finished about a 1/3 of the basment into a workout room with a full bathroom about 2 years ago. ~1000 square feet with a standup shower, etc. Cost about 20 grand. Dont know how much that helps, but hey.

If it was in that mansion of a home that you posted a while back (what's it worth, 800k+?) then it probably doesn't help much

Heh...no, it was in the chicago house my stepmom got in the divorce. Along with a new car and 250K.

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: Lucky
My father finished about a 1/3 of the basment into a workout room with a full bathroom about 2 years ago. ~1000 square feet with a standup shower, etc. Cost about 20 grand. Dont know how much that helps, but hey.

I am currently doing a full 1200 sq ft basement for someone including a full bath with a ceramic and marble 2 person shower with 3 shower heads. Full 10' wet bar, and whole house networking.

I am done all the way out to the drywall, and have spent under 7k for materials and my labor. That included a 45' run of cut concrete for the annoying wet bar that he wanted. We have all the materials to finish, except for the trim. ( expect to spend 3k more, as he wants all 3" oak baseboard, and 2 1/2" trim around doors and windows.

It is broken up into 4 rooms. an office, a bathroom, a storage room, and the main room for football parties.

I expect it to come out under 15k total including finishing and furnishing. Some contractors charge way too much.

 

[Lucky]

damm, that's nice. Our basement finishing was nice (walk in cedar closet, plush carpet, marble bathroom...) but nothign like that. What's the breakdown on that for materials vs. labor?

 

[T2T III]

No, I don't mean you'll have trouble finding someone to do it

Thats a very good point, Ornery. Scale has a lot to do with it. Most contractors would be quite "selective" when it comes to their work. Surely, they don't want a bunch of 2-day jobs where there is little profit. They would want to get a bigger assignment where the profit will be a bit better.

Additionally, shopping around for a contractor to do renovations is worse than shopping for a used car. The process of getting estimates and interviewing contractors would be quite tough. Quite a few of them will offer a lot of "verbal" promises. Getting everything in writing and ensuring they complete the work to your standards and in a timely manner is a whole new ballgame.

 

[montanafan]

Hey Evadman, sounds like you'd do the job at a reasonable cost. Too bad I don't live in your area of the country.

Wje or Ornery, I was thinking of having my brother and some of his friends helping out with part of the job, but you bring up the point of time. How long do you think it would take a competent contractor to do the whole job on say a 10X10 addition including the wiring and plumbing? I know if I got my brother to help it would take a while longer because he'd just be working on it part-time.

 

[T2T III]

Wje or Ornery, I was thinking of having my brother and some of his friends helping out with part of the job, but you bring up the point of time. How long do you think it would take a competent contractor to do the whole job on say a 10X10 addition including the wiring and plumbing? I know if I got my brother to help it would take a while longer because he'd just be working on it part-time.

I would guess 30 to 45 days. Keep in mind that there would be a lot of factors that would contribute to this time - material deliveries, weather, etc. Then again, there's also the building permit issue and inspections to keep in mind. The permit could take several months to achieve and it's kind of hard to tell how responsive the building inspectors would be in your area. Certainly, if they're not responsive and don't show up to inspect the wiring or plumbing for a couple of weeks, this could add some delays to the project because your contractor wouldn't be able to put up the drywall until the inspections were completed.

 

[Sluggo]

Bear in mind that before any qualified plumbing contractor will add a bathroom to your home there are a few items that will need to be considered.

Condition of existing water service line
Condition and size of sewer line, if your line is minimally sized, you are loking at a whole new sewer line.
There are also water impact fees in addition to permit fees

You will also need to see if you have a large enough electrical service to add another room to your home.

You will also need to check and see if another 100-200 sq ft. might over stress your HVAC system.