My parents just bought a fixer upper bungalow that was built in the 50s. It’s 60′ x 20′ and just about everthing inside needs tearing out and redoing. We’re either thinking of keeping all the walls the way they are and leaving it as a 3 bedroom 2 bath 2 kitchen 2 living 2 dining room home (it’s set up as 2 apartments) OR tearing out all the interior walls and completely redesigning it and rebuilding it, with the same duplexe thing going on but with 4 bedrooms rather than 3.
Is tearing out interior walls and rebuilding them going to be that much more expensive if everything’s pretty much got to be rewired and all the plumbing fixed up.
The house is in San Diego near the beach. I’m guessing building costs are low these days. But if you’re a builder (perhaps in southern california) or an interior designer or an architect, what costs do you think we’d be looking at in general. In terms of quality we’re thinking in the realm of about 7 out of 10.
2 Responses to “How much should it cost to renovate a 1200 square foot bungalow from the 1950s.”
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It depends on the local labor market about how much it will cost. The age of the building probably means the electrical is in need of total R&R, the plumbing is probably the same except the main sewer line. That means every wall must be opened to the studs just to do the electrical, if that were the only upgrades, you could start figuring from there. Your best bet and the correct way for this type of project is to list what you want done and then see a professional architect. After that seek out at least 10 reputable contractors to submit bids for the project.
The most expensive and the cheapest could be discarded if you got 6 resposes. Then you can decide what you want done or if it’s a DIY job ( I doubt). The slight downturn in housing starts is temporary and the NO floods and the ones this year are sure to re employ a large number of the workforce.
To guess about the cost rough is $300/ ft depends on what you want done. Also a roof and AC are to be considered as add to the cost.
Since you’re doing electrical work, you will need to get a permit from the city. For such a small project, I would forgo using an architect (even though that is what I do), his expense will eat into your budget. Since this is a rental project, I would shoot for 5 out of 10 in the level of finish, being near the ocean will be the selling point, you will not need to put anything more into it. As far as to either to update the interior or to do a full interior tear down. It comes down to your budget. You should have a budget in mind (aim for $175-200/sf) before you touch anything in the house. Do not get emotionally attached to this project.