Plumbing and Electrical Costs on a Renovation

[juicebox81]

Greetings all,

 

I am in the process of negotiating a price on an old 1920s bungalow type house.  It is your typical bungalow built on a pier and beam in the inner loop.  After the inspection, I was told (no surprise here) that the plumbing/drainage and electrical would all need major rework.

 

I am planning on renovating the house and have a budget in mind for renovation, but was wondering how realistic my budget was when you throw in the cost for the plumbing and drainage rework + electrical all throughout the house.  It is a 1600 sq ft house.  The renovations that I am planning on making are to the master bath and kitchen.  Anyone know ball park how much complete plumbing/drainage and electrical work costs?

 

Thanks!

[arche_757]

That depends on what you want to do.

 

Right now you're probably looking at spending roughly $225+ per square foot.  So, say your kitchen + bathroom are a total of 350 square feet = $78,000 in construction costs.

 

That's just a rough estimate, it could be higher or lower depending who you talk to.  DO NOT USE A CONTRACTOR THAT QUOTES YOU "I can do it fer $90 a square foot" unless he's a cousin or uncle you trust!  Even then you might run.

 

I should add: I'm an architect, and in 5 years we've seen the cost per square foot jump from $175 - 225.  Contractors are busy, busy right now, so they're the ones in control (unlike in 2009-2011).

 

Also, you might find someone who can do your work for $150 per square foot?  It might even be high quality?  Just call around, but I'll wager you'll spend at least $45,000 on redoing your kitchen and bath.

[arche_757]

My numbers were based on total construction costs.  Not on the individual line items of plumbing and electrical work.  I'm not a plumber or electrician, but you might call someone - try two or three places to get a more accurate number and just explain everything in detail.  Tell them you need rough numbers for the sale/purchase of the house.

 

Hope that helps?

[juicebox81]

Thanks for the reply arche, this house is in need of a major overhaul.  Beyond just master bath and kitchen.  However, it is good to have those numbers in mind.  In fact, those were kind of the numbers I was expecting for the bathroom/kitchen remodeling.

 

My main question was more along the lines of how much would the OTHER stuff cost.  (Mainly plumbing and electrical of the rest of the house).

 

Another question about architects, I will most likely be looking for one in the near future.  How easy is it for architects to work within a budget?  Like if I say I want to spend XXX amount of dollars.  Do they keep these things in mind as they are designing?

[arche_757]

My main question was more along the lines of how much would the OTHER stuff cost.  (Mainly plumbing and electrical of the rest of the house).

 

Another question about architects, I will most likely be looking for one in the near future.  How easy is it for architects to work within a budget?  Like if I say I want to spend XXX amount of dollars.  Do they keep these things in mind as they are designing?

 

1)  Hard to say?  Again, I'm not a plumber or electrician.

 

2) Architects should be able to work within a budget.  I mean that's kind of what we're supposed to do!  If you said:  I have $30,000 to spend in phase 1 (which would be restroom and kitchen), then an architect can work with a contractor and develop some schematics and design plans and do some cost calculations.  My firms principal is quite handy when it comes to developing a schematic plan and keeping it within a set cost for a client (for instance).  Phase 2 might be another $30,000 (or some other figure) and that would be calculated separately at the time when that project starts off.

 

My firm specilizes in historic preservation/restoration (though we do plenty of new "ground up" projects too), and we're pretty used to running projects in phases.  You just need to find the right people to do the work for you.