We are looking at adding a room (100 sq ft) on a second story. prices have come to ~153k. While that is high, it has been roughly consistent amongst the quotes we got.
the first contractor, is local to Castro Valley (CV). Been in CV for like the last 40 years and people love them on nextdoor, for HVAC, and they also do general construction but I can’t find reviews for that. The second one is a proper GC, and is based in Milpitas, and also comes strongly recommended from someone who has used him before and he has proper reviews for his work online. I was leaning to the CV as he is local to the East Bay, and I figured that they might have a better relationship with the Dublin Building dept, as we get permits. However, I don’t love the contract the CV one gave me, it is like a 1pager, while the other guy gave me a proper contract.
am I being too much of a pain in expecting a proper contract from the CV guy? after seeing the CV contract, I am leaning to Milpitas guy, just because it seems like he might be more of a proper GC, vs a HVAC guy who also is moving into GC.
am I overweighting in CV guy being closer to Dublin, and also they know the guys at the Dublin Building Department? Either way we are following rules, but I figured the CV guy might be able to have conversations with building department to get to an middle ground if there are any issues?
That’s ~1500$ a sq ft. …gulp… Is that what it costs now? I suspect a lot of this might be because of improvements to the foundation.
Do you have to build on the second story? Or is there a way to build on the first level?
Another thought is that if that’s what it’s going to cost, you might as well add double or triple the sq ft and see what the increase in cost is (hopefully marginal)
First of all, do you have enough room to just extend out but on the ground floor? Let’s be honest, as more and more people age in place, secondary story rooms are not ideal. Hence, the popularity of rancher style homes. For just a room, I would not do it at that cost.
If you do have the land/yard space to use, I would extend out instead which should be cheaper or my favorite word: ADU. Shoot, the gov will pay you to add an ADU or at least give you the money that would go to the soft costs of the build. And, the nice thing was, the requirements were fairly easy to achieve. The state wants you to build an ADU!!!
we don’t really. I am trying to preserve our small yard for now, as it is a good selling point for the house.
we have a bedroom and full bath on the ground floor, but our upstairs has 2 bedrooms. So DH and I are in one and my kids share the other. they are B/G and want their own room, and neither of them want to be downstairs (now, they are 10, and 12). also, we do have parents visit from time to time so I do love the guest room downstairs.
and ADU is an option, but this is mostly so my kids can have their own bedroom. We did look into having one kid move downstairs, but then we lose the guest room for when parents come visit or other friends.
we looked at adding more on 2nd floor - and it was $300K for adding a whole new second floor. We decided that $300k probably means $400K in reality when everything is said and done and we aren’t that flush with cash (my husband is doing a startup, so we are fine, but all of our stock is future options, hahaha). I really wanted the complete second floor redo - we would have added a bathroom and really tried to justify the $350-400K, but then, we were thinking, if we had the cash, we’d rather invest in a vacation home or rental etc.
So the $153k was to get us an extra room, and ideally not leave us cash poor…
General contractor and HVAC are different.You need a proper contract, good understanding on what is included vs not, what are your responsibilities w.r.to finish materials, timelines, payment schedules, …
Without knowing what you are doing, 153K sounds a lot for 100 sq ft… Are you doing one bed and a bath or just a room? Small rooms are not really that great and ideally you would want a walk-in-closet, nice modern bathroom…There is a sunk cost for any remodel – permits / architect fees / …, a nice architect can draw up plans that can give good sq ft and is reasonable in cost to build…
It’s just one room but it touches most trades (except plumbing maybe). need electrical, heating, roof, exterior, etc. Not sure if foundation work is needed too for this addition. Does the 153k include drawing up the plans and doing the structural calculations too?
I would check with more contractors and see if you can get a better price elsewhere. My impression is San Jose tend to have better prices. If you get more bids and they all come in at the same price range then you know you are getting to the real market price for the job.
Has OP considered moving downstairs yourself at least for a few years? That might be the easiest solution until one of the kids is old enough to prefer the better privacy the downstairs bedroom provides. Your 12-year-old will be in high school in 2 years and things will likely start to change based on my personal experience. The “when parents and other friends visit” is a nice-to-have option, but your kids’ needs to have separate bedrooms is a must-have.
The “when parents and other friends visit” is a nice-to-have option, but your kids’ needs to have separate bedrooms is a must-have.