House remodel...

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[mztykal]

Find a contractor to give you a bid and see if what you're trying to do is possible...

 

[bignateyk]

Long story short (ok that's a lie):

I have a two story colonial built in '87, 5 bed, 3.5 bath, 3,600 square feet, 2.5 car garage, full basement, 1/3 acre lot. Purchased 1 year ago. Worth approx $375K (yeah, some of you know where I live, don't care, now you know, not a big deal).

The home is very nice but it's all original to 1987. Granted, this was a premium home then, it has held up very well but is beginning to look dated. I bought the house because it was in a premium area and is desirable and it ticked all my "must have" boxes and was the right price. I'm not in love with the place, though there is nothing wrong with it.

I have no experience with something like a whole house remodel. This all started as, "I'm going to have to put a roof on this house in the next 5 years" which turned into "Wouldn't it be cool to enclose the garage and expand the living space, then build a 3 car detached in the back yard?"

So now we are thinking about changing the layout, which includes enclosing the garage (about 900 s/f), blowing out walls, new kitchen, new windows and doors, new siding and trim, exterior pant, landscaping, etc. I know what I want done, I don't know where to start or have any remote idea what cost is involved. Any advice?

Cost is going to be astronomical if you're gonna hire a contractor to do it all. Probably >$150K

Will also make your house a nightmare to live in for the several months it takes them. Plan on it taking twice as long and costing twice as much as they tell you.

 

[TwiceOver]

I don't know where you live... But as a person with a separate garage, I recommend you think long and hard if you really want to walk from the garage to the house every day of your life for the foreseeable future.

My next house will require an attached garage. I won't make that stupid mistake again.

 

[Anubis]

Cost is going to be astronomical if you're gonna hire a contractor to do it all. Probably >$150K

Will also make your house a nightmare to live in for the several months it takes them. Plan on it taking twice as long and costing twice as much as they tell you.

Depending on what he wants to do it may cost even more than that

but yes first step call a contractor, actually call a few and explain what you want to do and they should be able to tell you if it can be done and what it will cost

if you want to do serious rearranging you prob want to talk to a structural engineer and an architect as well

 

[Scarpozzi]

What you need to do is figure out the estimated cost per square foot and then compare that to the cost per square foot your house is worth. Assess and decide if it's worth more to you to move or do the renovation.

In my situation, I wanted a garage and had a carport. I bought a jackhammer on ebay, bought a truck, and started busting the concrete slab in the carport so I could build a real floor with a crawlspace.

In your situation, enclosing your garage may require you to build above the concrete grade. If there's any chance water can come in or wick through the slab, you'll end up with moisture problems in that room. You can install a vapor barrier and raised sleepers (wood over the slab) to provide a wood base for a subfloor. But ventilation and room to run pipes/ect may be an issue under the floor. This is what I ran into....thus I started my project by doing some major demolition. PM me if you want to see any pictures of my project to get ideas.

Just know that it's not uncommon for remodels like this to run $180+ per square foot and they take a lot of time and planning. If you pay a contractor for the whole job, you may or may not be happy with the finished project. I'm doing my whole project myself with hired hands when I need them.