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Cost of gutting a house, lakewood
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amother
Azure


 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 1:34 pm
We came across a nice-size house in a bad condition. Please share some numbers, from your or others' experience.

Price is low but the amount of work necessary may bring it up to a level of not being a bargain at all. It's absolutely not a diy project or do a little ata a time. It's absolutely unlivable, and every month that it's not lived in obviously costs a lot in mortgage and taxes.

House has been neglected, with awful animal stench from dogs and cats throughout, filthy and icky, seriously icky. The house itself is only 30yo but interior has been battered. Size is about 2700sf, 2-floor colonial plus basement.

It basically needs
Entire New floor in the kitchen + remove old broken til floor

Rip out carpets in half of one floor and entire second floor, replace with hardwood (that's the only part of the project that I can estimate the cost of).

All the walls, including 2-floor wall above staircase: remove old wallpaper, paint, some rooms just paint.

Ceilings: I don't know what's wrong with them. They look filthy, don't ask me how a ceiling could be dirty, I don't know. Maybe they need washing and painting, maybe smth else.

Some serious black Mold in basement, on a Sheetrock (leak from 1st floor kitchen). mold company estimated $5k. However, I don't know if there's mold behind the wall after they cut Sheetrock open.

One bedroom had a leak from the attic (roof leak), has a hole in ceiling. Needs to be fixed, plus attic has to be checked for rotting beams, mold etc.

2.5 bathrooms prob all need to be redone, including floors, tubs, toilets, sinks. I couldn't stay too long to see if cleaning would suffice but first impression was to rip it out, without a doubt.

I didn't see kitchen too much. It's original, maybe it's ok maybe not. I wouldn't open it, the stench in the house and dog running around was freaky enough.

Your thoughts? Oh, and any names of ppl who do such fixes not at exorbitant prices.

Thanks!
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justmarried:)




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 1:48 pm
The problem of gutting a house is that once you start removing floors and walls you see other stuff that wasn't done properly and is in bad shape and you end up needing go fix way more than your orginally planned to do. It's also depends on how you want to finish the house. Simple. Fancy. Etc. also kitchens and appliances are expensive. I would say if you don't have lots of extra money from the price you are going to be quoted don't bother. There are lots of expenses that will come up.
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justmarried:)




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 1:54 pm
Kitchen prob doesn't have two sinks. Two dishwashers. Two ovens. The house doesn't seem to be old so could be you won't find too many surprises but you never know Bec sounds neglected and you don't know who built it. Good luck with whatever you decide
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amother
Azure


 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 2:15 pm
So I'm asking specifically not about "renovating, upgrading etc." as in adding sinks and ovens, or making place fancy. That is optional and I can figure out the cost of.

I'm asking specifically about gutting a regular house and bringing it up to a livable condition.
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asmileaday




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 2:22 pm
Idk about cost but from what you describe it sounds like something I would stay far away from unless you plan to throw down the house completely and build from scratch.
Leaks are very tricky and many times very hard to trace.
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cnc




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 2:23 pm
asmileaday wrote:
Idk about cost but from what you describe it sounds like something I would stay far away from unless you plan to throw down the house completely and build from scratch.
Leaks are very tricky and many times very hard to trace.


I agree.
There's probably no way to estimate the cost until you start gutting.
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amother
Azure


 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 2:30 pm
Realtor's guess is 50-60 but my gut feeling (pun intended) is that it would more like 75-100.
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amother
Aubergine


 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 2:31 pm
Not in lakewood, but elsewhere in NJ, easily close to 300k or more depending on how what they find.
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justmarried:)




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 2:56 pm
Between 100-200k easy.
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justmarried:)




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 3:00 pm
And usually cheap contractors do cheap work. Leave in middle of a job. And lots of other headaches when you get into constcution especially on a tight budget. You need lots of time. Check on workers. Go pick out all the materials. Make lots of decisions. So if you don't have time, energy, money for all this it can be a huge stress.
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amother
Lime


 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 3:07 pm
Cheap workers also sometimes mean suppppppper slow. My neighbor just put in a deck. Got very good price. Took forever to put it in. Guy would come work on it a little leave. Come back a week later. Do a little more... my other neighbor just gutted their house. Got a good price too. Took a year! Sometimes is just not worth a cheap price. My neighbor was living with parents in a different neighborhood. Had drivers to take kids to school. Paying mortgage and construction.
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happy12




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 3:08 pm
Definitely way more than the realtor estimated. I would say 200,000 easily.
Just to gut and renovated a basement can cost 50,000.
This is without supplies, tiles cabinets etc.
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amother
Aubergine


 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 3:22 pm
amother wrote:
Cheap workers also sometimes mean suppppppper slow. My neighbor just put in a deck. Got very good price. Took forever to put it in. Guy would come work on it a little leave. Come back a week later. Do a little more... my other neighbor just gutted their house. Got a good price too. Took a year! Sometimes is just not worth a cheap price. My neighbor was living with parents in a different neighborhood. Had drivers to take kids to school. Paying mortgage and construction.


Even with non cheap, good workers, construction always takes much longer than you would think. A year to gut a house does not sound crazy to me.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 3:24 pm
Mold and leaks are not simple issues. They can be chronic
Have you had a reliable inspection?
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amother
Lime


 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 3:38 pm
amother wrote:
Even with non cheap, good workers, construction always takes much longer than you would think. A year to gut a house does not sound crazy to me.




shouldnt be more than 6 months.
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amother
Royalblue


 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 3:40 pm
justmarried:) wrote:
Between 100-200k easy.


I second this,

Probably in the 250k range
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das




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 3:44 pm
amother wrote:
Realtor's guess is 50-60 but my gut feeling (pun intended) is that it would more like 75-100.


I'd stay far far away from this realtor. There is no way this will cost you less than 150. minimum.
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happyone




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 4:00 pm
You gotta figure 200 per square foot
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amother
Orange


 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 5:54 pm
New Bathrooms on average cost at least 5 thousand. I would be most nervous about the leaks and mold.
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MagentaYenta




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 26 2017, 5:58 pm
justmarried:) wrote:
Between 100-200k easy.


And hope they include disposal in that price.
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