Home Improvement Cost Estimate

[gprsh924]

So the fiancé and I are looking to sell the 2 bed 2 bath condo in Lakeview and buy a 3 bed duplex in Lincoln Park. We have found a number of interesting things so far. There is one in particular that we like in a great location, it just needs bit of refreshing. I will post some photos below but I am trying to get an idea on cost of the following upgrades, done by someone else, no diy. The unit is about 2000sq over 2 levels.

-new paint throughout
-restain hardwood floors on 1st floor
-refinish all woodwork and doors throughout house
-add crown molding throughout
-add additional can lights in place of track lights upstairs
-add 6-8 can lights in lower level
-possibly demo out tub in master bath, move toilet over, enclose it and add double vanity

Any help is greatly appreciated as always.

Main Level



Lower Level



Master Bath

[911SauCy]

$35-45k if you're hiring a quality contractor and using mid-grade materials...

[mgatepi]

Well from my personal experience.....DOUBLE what you think it will cost!

[dad911]

Originally Posted by gprsh924

.....
-new paint throughout << $2.00+ per sf.
-restain hardwood floors on 1st floor << $1-4 per sf., depends if old finish needs to be sanded off.
-refinish all woodwork and doors throughout house << ?? hard to estimate, if it needs to be stripped, big money. Wipe down with old english, cheap...
-add crown molding throughout <<$250+ per room
-add additional can lights in place of track lights upstairs << $200 +/- per
-add 6-8 can lights in lower level <<< $200 +/- per
-possibly demo out tub in master bath, move toilet over, enclose it and add double vanity

Any help is greatly appreciated as always.

The bathroom is the big unknown. Moving toilet and enclosing could be big bucks, need framing, moving plumbing in walls and floors, switches, lights, bath fan, all new finishes.

Swapping out in bath would be alot cheaper.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by mgatepi

Well from my personal experience.....DOUBLE what you think it will cost!

Why would that be unless you change your design midway and start adding thing in there. That's poor planning, change are to be expected, but it should be drastic like installing the toilet on the other side of the room once done. There should be a clause in there similar to this, "The actual Cost of the Work shall constitute the Guaranteed Maximum Price of NINE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED NINTY NINE DOLLARS AND NINTY NINE CENTS.

$ 9,999.99

In the event the Contractor shall produce the work in excess of the Guaranteed Maximum Price, the Contractor shall pay 100% of the excess out of his own funds.

[gprsh924]

Thanks for the replies so far.

The bathroom is by far the lowest priority on the list.

The paint and the floors will be done before we move in.

As far as the woodwork/doors, we are planning on painting everything white.

The costs seem reasonable. We are getting closer to making an offer.

[JavaBrewer]

One suggestion on paint. On two different houses I hired a crew to paint the entire interior before we moved in. They used big air sprayers saying it put way more paint on the wall. The issue afterwards was that touch ups (kids and pets) were with a brush/roller and did not blend well. Over the years I ended up repainting many whole walls to match. I would recommend roller only and go with an eggshell finish for main living areas for durability and cleanup potential.

[gprsh924]

So we moved in to the new place today. There are some finishing touches for the contractor to complete, but we are 95% done. 7 weeks of construction so far. The work done was:

-restained the hardwood floors
-can lights in living room/kitchen and basement living room
-all new trim/ baseboards throughout the house
-new interior doors
-crown molding on first floor
-new vanities and granite in three bathrooms
-custom built in cabinets and fireplace surround
-new laminate floor in laundry room
-various maintenance items
-new paint throughout

To say the house is transformed is an understatement. The above estimates were pretty good. All in with construction costs and materials we are somewhere between $55k-$60k and the cost of the built-ins drove that up. Thanks for the advice, it helped us decide to go for it.

[gprsh924]

Pictures

[jorian]

Nice job. Good value for the money spent. Built-ins are great.

What's with the two TV's? I like it, but don't get it.

[URY914]

Nice, but from the pictures it looks like the contractor built the house on it's side. Put it on the punch list to rotate the house 90 degrees.

[gprsh924]

Hmm, sideways pics must be due to iphone upload. They look straight to me. I will have to check from a computer later.

The two TVs is mostly for football season, so I can have the Bears on the main screen and RedZone on the other. Or I can feign watching something my fiancée wants to watch and put the Hawks or Bulls up on the small screen and keep tabs. It was my one room I got to go all out in.