Bathroom/ kitchen Construction Costs - Tri state Area

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Forum -> Household Management -> Finances

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amother

Apricot

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 11:30 am

amother Blueberry wrote:

Actually it's not convenient but people do remodel kitchens after moving in and figure it out.

In some ways it is better to remodel after you have lived in a home for awhile because you can design a better kitchen after seeing why the current kitchen doesn't function well.

Also if you buy a house you wil not have sufficient time to actual remodel a kitchen. It takes at least 3 months for cabinets to arrive AFTER you have ordered for the better quality semi-custom and most GC are booked in advance. If you started the process tomorrow you would need to have the kitchen designed - interview designers and GC's - have them come to the house for them to give you a firm bid on the project - order all materials and have them available on site etc.

I am not sure how people are remodeling for such small amounts - especially in a high cost of living area. Appliances alone in the mid range can be $10,000 or more - Bosch, Kitchenaid. Kitchen cabinets in a decent quality semi-custom line like Kraftmaid for a normal size kitchen can be $25,000 or more just for the cabinets. Pricing of cabinets is deceptive because much of the stuff that makes a cabinet more durable and functional is an upgrade such as deep drawers or drawers that are dowel

You & others here seem to have as " standard" what many of us consider high end luxury. I did a really nice renovation on a way less luxurious standard, which is probably what op is looking for- a nice budget friendly job for a starter home.

For example appliances:
Refrigerator $2,000 (generous)
Gas range "30" $800 ge
If you want,
Microwave $200
Dishwasher $800
If you're extra fancy, an additional range for $800

Many people I know get stock cabinets, semi custom is extra. I was quoted about 10k several years ago for Fabuwood, I can't imagine it costing over 20k today. I got laminate counters for I think under 2k & I have lots of counters.

If you have a budget for high end, great but when you're figuring out how much house you can afford it's not the time for that.

amother

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 11:31 am

amother Blueberry wrote:

There is nothing functionally wrong with them except that they are ugly and most people who are remodeling are remodeling partly because the bathrooms are unattractive

You might put this kind of fiberglass shower in a basement bathroom for example.

I was assuming OP wanted to upgrade functioning bathrooms and most people who are "upgrading" want a nice looking bathroom or why bother so long as the original bathroom is working.

I am the OP.

Maybe it's a matter of taste?
I wasn't sure what your referring to when you wrote your whole long informative post about why labor is so intensive, so I looked up what the fiberglass tubs you were referring to is.

I've had that in a rental in the past, and if I may say so myself, it was a very nice bathroom. I think it was hard to clean, or maybe it was the shower door that was ahed to clean, but I definitely didn't find it ugly.
It was clean and modern.

amother

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 11:33 am

amother Blueberry wrote:

I don't know how you would know exactly what the house needs until you actually pick the house.

For example, you say flooring is not a priority but what if the flooring is in bad shape or hideous or worn carpet in a specific house. Then you would need to factor in the cost of dealing with the floors and that would generally need to be done prior to moving in.

Other than that $100,000 should be sufficient for a kitchen and bathroom remodel even in a high cost of living area.

I can still see what most homes I am looking at have.
Most of the homes I've been looking at did not have old carpet or hideous floors.
If it did, tue sell price was significantly less.
Obviously I can end up with a home that needs flooring, but doesn't seem so.

For some reason, the kitchens and bathrooms have been quite in need of an upgrade for my standards.

amother

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 11:35 am

amother Ruby wrote:

I redid older house in Monsey. Kitchen (including cabinets, counters, floor, labor) was about 20k. Came out beautiful. Not the most high end, but granite counter and acrylic cabinets.... spot lights...

In total with kitchen, one new bathroom, painting house, adding laundry room, pesach kitchen, moving some walls, scraping... came close to 50k. Our contractor was about 25k.

Total was almost 50k.

eta- I didn't do the most high end, but I think it came out really nice, fresh, and comfortable.

This is exactly what I'm looking to do.
It's not long term, I just want it nice, fresh and comfortable.

amother

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 11:39 am

amother Cobalt wrote:

You need to do the kitchen before you move in. But assuming that you have a few bathrooms you can do them after, it will just be annoying to have construction going on while living there.

I hope everyone responding has gotten their renovations done within the last 6 months. Labor costs have gone through the roof recently.

To clarify, if I redo the kitchen, I am doing it before I move in.
Same for the bathrooms.

What I meant was, most of the homes I looked at, I will need to redo the kitchen, so that is why It is a priority for me, as opposed to the floors.

I don't want construction after I move in.

amother

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 11:43 am

amother Blueberry wrote:

Um, why isn't 3-4 months from when you purchase a home sufficient to renovate?

amother

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 11:47 am

amother Apricot wrote:

Thanks!
I'm specifically not looking for high end.
This is a starter home.
I will probably be in this home for 5 years give or take.

amother

Blueberry

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 12:09 pm

amother OP wrote:

Um, why isn't 3-4 months from when you purchase a home sufficient to renovate?

Because it is a process that takes time to do it well and not waste money or make expensive mistakes.

You need to find a GC or at least three to get bids on a job. They come over and then it takes time for them to give you an bid.

Actually to get a true bid you need to present them with a design that has all the specifications so it is apples to apples because otherwise you will be hit with up charges or not get what you thought you would. Also a GC is not a designer. A GC just implements a design that is submitted by a designer.

Good GC’s are busy and either won’t come or take time to submit the bid. They aren’t generally available right away so they put you on their schedule if you are lucky.

Kitchen cabinets have a lead time of at least three months from when you actually place the order because these are not stocked and kept in inventory.

amother

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 1:09 pm

amother Blueberry wrote:

My current apartment, from when the landlord made the decision to renovate, to move in date was 10 weeks.
Including a kitchen.
Maybe it was stock cabinets, but the quality is holding up perfectly well a number of yours later.

My sister rented an apartment that needed Renovations and it was all done in a similar time frame.

Another friend bought a fixer upper and also renovated right away and moved in.

We are clearly talking about a different scale of renovations as some posters pointed out.

I don't need custom cabinets or vanities.

amother

Coffee

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 1:13 pm

amother Hotpink wrote:

Nope. It was mostly mid range.
Cabinets were better quality but from a cheaper kitchen store.
Counters were the quartz.
Appliances were cheap but not top of the line.

I spent money on quality but nothing was high end.

Cheap cabinets is a waste of money and will look like garbage in a couple of years.

My guess is you changed the layout of the kitchen/ did structural changes

The most expensive part of renovations is the stuff you cant see was done Wink

In general, if you stick with the existing floorplan you can do work for much cheaper

Sewsew_mom

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 1:17 pm

Of you go the ikea route.. It's very affordable and sleek. Will hold up many years (they even have like 25 year warranty)
No need to go all custom on a plain Jane home which your not looking to throw in loads of money.
I would imagine you can go pretry far with 100k for a kitchen and bathroom..

amother

Coffee

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 1:23 pm

amother OP wrote:

Op go with the lower end fixes is a good move financially if you are planning on moving.
You will not really get a return on investment by using higher end finishes. It does raise the value of the house somewhat - but it wont give you the value of what you invested.

Especially for a starter home - young people care more about being on trend then quality and if the fixtures you put in are "out" even if they are super high quality, they will not raise your value.

Go for the fiberglass tubs, stock cabinetry ect.
If the existing cabinetry happens to be good quality you can also just change the faces for an aesthetic upgrade and save lots of money.

amother

Magnolia

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 1:43 pm

I feel like budget can go for a range. I’m in the midst of doing construction. My cabinet cost me 25k for a mid size kitchen. I spent 15k on appliances, 18 on my counters/backsplash etc but my pesach kitchen it’s 3 upper cabinets and 2 base cabinets and it’s running me $1300, counter is $140, sink is 79, oven is $700 (kitchen co. wanted $3600 for cabinets) and for that price I prob could’ve done my whole kitchen for under 10k for cabinets

amother

Hotpink

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 1:45 pm

amother Coffee wrote:

My guess is you changed the layout of the kitchen/ did structural changes

The most expensive part of renovations is the stuff you cant see was done Wink

In general, if you stick with the existing floorplan you can do work for much cheaper

A tiny bit but not a lot. I didn’t realize that OP wasn’t interested in staying long term. I did not do anything cheap or lower quality bec I wanted it to last a long time.

amother

Blueberry

Tue, Nov 15 2022, 2:40 pm

amother Hotpink wrote:

A tiny bit but not a lot. I didn’t realize that OP wasn’t interested in staying long term. I did not do anything cheap or lower quality bec I wanted it to last a long time.

If OP only has plans to stay for five years, I would not renovate but do the bare minimum of cosmetic changes.

Spend money on nice quality furniture that you can use in your next home.

Unless you are doing a significant amount of DIY there is no return in investment.

Makes more sense to save the money for your longer term next house as there is where you might want to make quality remodeling choices.

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