There is a home that I'm looking at that is semi-interesting, but there is a large attic space off of one of the upstairs bedrooms (above the garage) that we would want to have built out (tear a whole in the wall off the bedroom for a door, and fully finish the attic space). I've seen the same house before with that room finished out and it's about 25 feet x 14 feet. No running water in there, but obviously has to be air conditioned ... and may want to do some media room qualities in it (extra insultation to deaden sound, couple of steps in it, etc.). Any idea how much something like that runs? I was guesstimating $20K, but I don't have a real idea. Any pros or cons you have experienced doing something like that?
It all depends on how big the space is, where it is in relation to everything else and stuff like that. You could probably do some of it yourself. You could frame in the room yourself and lay down the plywood for the floor. You could run speaker wire yourself fairly easily. I'd pay professionals to run air ducts and electrical...once that is roughed in, you could put in your insulations and could do the drywall yourself if you felt competent enough...then have the electritians out to finish out. Run some base board and trim for the doors...paint. Have carpet installed professionally. You could probably cut costs in half by doing that. Don't forget to make sure that the area you would build out is structurally sound enough to support a room.
Clutch, Just for reference, here is what you can get certain items done for: Framing - $3.50 per square foot (framed) Electrical - $2.50 per square foot (framed) Plumbing - $500 a fixture (ex: a toilet, shower and vanity would be considered 3 fixtures) Drywall - $1.50 a square foot Carpet - $1.50 a square foot So you should be able to stay close to $10K, maybe a lil bit more or less. Youll pay more if you hire one person to do everything, versus if you just contract out the job to necessary subs who specialize in each area. Keep in mind too that foundations are engineered to hold a certain amount of weight, and when you start adding large rooms, that could affect the integrity of the foundation, so look into that. We are currently building a custom house in Magnolia and are working with subs that are at or below these prices. Email me if you want some good contact info on this job.
Clutch- Very important that you check the size of the existing A/C unit, you are looking at needing an additional 1-ton of A/C capacity to cover the room addition. Also consider if you are thinking of adding a window to the room? Check your electrical service, it should be at least 200 amp main and there should be room for the additional electrical.
Also note that you will need to have city inspectors come out for the A/C and/or water lines. This is not a bad thing necessarily (time, mainly) - but they can be a pain. They tend to examine the whole house, and not just the room you are building. They'll require other things (like upgraded fire detection equipment in your whole house) before they sign off. Might be easier just to get one of those outdoor mounted A/C units from sears. I recommend using a new line from the fuse box - there are usually about one or two extra in there.
City inspections and permits are only necessary if you are actually in the city limits, and I don't think Clutch is. I know in Montgomery County, you don't have to have a building permit for an interior remodel. Not sure if Harris County is the same, but I would guess that they probably are.
Wow ... thanks. That's been a huge help. I had not even thought about the foundation. I just assumed since it was an attic sort of built for storage it would be OK, but I will look in to that. Ditto the A/C unit ... I know it has 2 units, so I just assumed it would still be able to cover it, but I will double check the tonage. I believe the rule of thumb is 1 ton per 500 square feet. Someone also mentioned that it was code that every room had to have a window, but I wouldn't necessarily want it to if it didn't have to have one. It would either be a media room or a kid's playroom. On a 350 square feet room with no plumbing fixtures, those numbers you quoted codell total $3150 ... I'm not sure if that includes HVAC work, but that is much cheaper than I thought for that work you listed. If it could be done for $10K or less, that makes me a lot happier as far as potentially pursuing this place.
What part/ where at in Magnolia, if you don't mind me asking? I grew up there/ still have family there. Great area.
On Saturday mornings, 7 - 10 a.m., there's a show on 740 am radio: "Home improvement hotline with David Yates." You could give him a call and see what he thinks (won't cost you anything). link
If your having a pro do the electrical, have him quote doing the additional speaker wiring as well. He may do it on the cheap since he is already pulling wire. Also, don't forget about LAN/Phone wiring. Depending on the structure of the house and where your wireless hub/phone base is you may not get a good signal up there. Havev the electrical contractor quote that too.
The best way to do it is to call up renovation/upgrades contractors and see if somehow they can give you a ballpark figure if you can visit the home with them. When I built my house, I had them make it a 1.5 story. The ".5 story" is a 19x19 or so gameroom that I may convert to a media room. It's already wired for 7.1 surround. I wired ahead of time because once the walls were up, the only way to wire it would be to either go through or tear down drywall... and that's a scary chunk of change. I was getting quotes of $2000-$4000 to "no way we'd be able to do it afterwards because of where it's situated without knocking down sheetrock" to do the wiring after the fact. BTW, this gameroom was a $12k or 14k addition to my house, but of course it was a lot less with all the discounts they gave me. But that $12k-$14k includes the addition of the room itself whereas you already have the room. Your biggest labor will be in the ripping down of walls to add acoustic insulation if you're going to do that. I really didn't care... I'm going to blow the walls down... hope the neighbors like Lord of the Rings.
You must have been tired. Usually a bunch of Mexican dudes build the houses around Katy, where I've seen them. It's hard work. I praise you. You must know much about building. Kudos, Doctor.
