House addition or remodel
We have a 1200 square foot house and wanted to do a small outward addition in order to expand the living area and add a second bathroom. An architect just told me that any addition of square footage would require a budget of at least $500K. Holy smokes. I'm looking for real data or reports on actual remodels (within existing footprint) or additions in the Bay Area, modest in size and design features. What did you do, what were the costs, was it "worth it"? IF there was an architect and contractor you really liked working with, I'd also welcome that info. Thanks!
Mar 23, 2017
Parent Replies
Remodels in the Bay area are expensive; 500K seems a bit steep to me though. We have done 3 remodels since we moved in 5 years ago, and each has been very much worth it (none was an addition, although we escavated our basement and crawl space). Prices will vary significantly between contractors, so clearly go for multiple bids. I would highly, highly recommend Jon Larson at Jarvis architects on College Ave. in Rockridge 510-654-6755; he is patient, understands not everyone has unlimited resources, and is of course a very talented architect with an impeccable eye for detail (and color too). He is also a great resource for local contractors and specialists each offering varying degrees of "perfection," (at corresponding prices). I have seen good work on our block and heard good reviews from neighbors of Jennings McCann Construction (http://www.houzz.com/pro/jenningsmccann/jennings-mccann-construction; 510-388-4441; ben [at] jenningsmcann.com). They've completed several a couple in-law accessory units near us, and I know they are reasonably priced. We did a small(ish) project with Zanderbuilt (https://www.zanderbuilt.com/ 510-524-9790) which included structural changes but no additions, and have been very pleased. Zanderbuilt was high quality and stuck to their schedule, the later being almost unheard of in the industry. For engineers I would look no further than Peter Van Maren (510-653-0675); he is very dependable and many others are not.
If you were adding on top I'd believe $500K, but outward should be less expensive (especially if roof line and foundation are uncomplicated). I think approx $400/square foot would be a good (very rough) estimate, so unless you're idea of "small" addition is over 1,000 sq ft, you should be able to do this for less. Just my two cents from my experience planning my own addition.
That estimate is very high, or the addition you're talking about isn't very small. We added on about 400 sq ft to the back of our house, for a lot less than that. And we dug out a basement underneath the addition and did other "extras", but even so it was not near $500k. If we had done a bare bones addition we probably could have kept it under $250k. Estimate I was given was $300/sq ft, but that's very rough and it could have gone up. I think our contractor and architect were reasonably priced too so you may need to shop around, but it can be done for less. Might also depend on where you are located, but I'd say get another opinion.