Is this a fair price to add a full second level? (Worcester: lenders, house)

[Jwelder93]

Hi, found this forum in my search for online prices for a project. We met a contractor who’s an in-law of a friend of mine. We have a cape cod house that we were looking to dormer, but the structural engineers plans made doing that almost as expensive as just cutting the roof and doing a second level. We obviously would love a second level, but we were thinking costs of it all said and done would’ve been too expensive. We got a final estimate of $85,000 to do everything.

We are still in the stages of laying out the final costs like bath fixtures for upstairs and whatnot, but it seems like a good price to me. We are going to do this project in stages, because we are going to self fund it for the most part. We were going to finance this but we don’t have the equity in the house to do so, and where we are first time homeowners, we are views as a risk to lenders so we wouldn’t be able to finance the amount. We hopefully will have the funds to frame, put windows and do the siding at first, and then tackle interior finishes on our own and at our own pace.

The siding on our house is in horrible shape and has some exposed areas. It needs to be done soon. That’s why we are going to build the second level and do siding to accommodate as doing the changes we want to the house would need to be done at the time of the siding and just makes sense. Does this sound fair? That price is not to just frame, windows and side. That price is an estimate as of now to do everything start to finish.

Thanks!

[Shrewsburried]

Construction labor is in high demand. That price seems more than fair given some of the recent quotes I've gotten for much simpler work in an area of MA which isn't too heavily 'zipcoded'. For reference, my recent residing quotes are ranging $35-50K for James hardie siding and Azek trim (soffit, fascia, rain table, windows) in Worcester county ... few fussy details, but the materials are expensive.

Assuming trusted labor and good referrals, I'd be all in at that price.

[Jwelder93]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Construction labor is in high demand. That price seems more than fair given some of the recent quotes I've gotten for much simpler work in an area of MA which isn't too heavily 'zipcoded'. For reference, my recent residing quotes are ranging $35-50K for James hardie siding and Azek trim (soffit, fascia, rain table, windows) in Worcester county ... few fussy details, but the materials are expensive.

Assuming trusted labor and good referrals, I'd be all in at that price.

Wow! Well that was my fear, was it being too high. Our priorities have changed since starting the quote process with others. From just a dormer to match the siding, then a few other scenarios, to now. When I meet him again this weekend I’m going to ask to see photos of his work that reflects this new change and a list of referrals before we move forward. My friend helped me with a lot of the interior work and he learned everything he knows from him, which is a plus. He is licensed in contracting and electrical.

That’s crazy high though! But materials have jumped since the pandemic. I’m a welder by trade(clearly doesn’t help me here) and my steel has gone all over the place.

[bugelrex]

Assuming you really trust this person, it seems cheap to me considering
- new roof alone is usally 10k
- no frills bathroom renovation can be 20-30k in affluent zipcodes
- residing a cape is at least 10k

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by bugelrex

Assuming you really trust this person, it seems cheap to me considering
- new roof alone is usally 10k
- no frills bathroom renovation can be 20-30k in affluent zipcodes
- residing a cape is at least 10k

My thoughts as well. Siding is well over $10k if it’s something more ‘premium’ than vinyl. Roof is very likely $10k+ and a mid-range bathroom from low-end subs is easily $8-10k + fixtures. Add demo, framing, blueboard/drywall, etc.

Sounds very reasonable. Note: my bathroom and roof swags represent cheap labor in Worcester county. One can spend A LOT more.

[johngolf]

Jweld

Do yourself a favor. Get an Architect to spec the job out then get 3 bids. This is to big/costly a project for one construction guy drawing stuff on piece of paper.

[Jwelder93]

Originally Posted by johngolf

Jweld

Do yourself a favor. Get an Architect to spec the job out then get 3 bids. This is to big/costly a project for one construction guy drawing stuff on piece of paper.

We did, this guy was actually the only one who recommended to get the plans from the structural engineer/architect he deals with. That was for the dormer but when he said the plans for the dormer were adding 3 structural columns in it to accommodate the new roof pitch, he said for the money I’d spend on a dormer I could spend a little more and do a full second floor. The prices we got for the dormer were between $30k-$65k.

[Jwelder93]

Originally Posted by bugelrex

Assuming you really trust this person, it seems cheap to me considering
- new roof alone is usally 10k
- no frills bathroom renovation can be 20-30k in affluent zipcodes
- residing a cape is at least 10k

I see the roof and siding but the bathroom seems really pricey for what I’ve seen. We luck out with the bathroom upstairs going directly above the first floor bathroom so it’s a matter of routing the rough plumbing. Where he’s guaranteeing the work, we will go with his subs. But, I will ask him when I see him the names of his subs companies and check them out before we pull the trigger.

[Jwelder93]

It may also be mentioning that my main floor that’ll basically be built on top is 816 sq. ft. And our overall house size is 1,020 sq. ft. overall, including small finished room upstairs. Maybe that’s why the price isn’t an astronomical amount?

[bugelrex]

Originally Posted by Jwelder93

It may also be mentioning that my main floor that’ll basically be built on top is 816 sq. ft. And our overall house size is 1,020 sq. ft. overall, including small finished room upstairs. Maybe that’s why the price isn’t an astronomical amount?

Prices these days are astronomical because contractors are treating bids like lottery tickets... because they have so much work lined up

If your guy is just starting out or your local area lacks demand then it explains alot