How Much??

Hello,

Can you provide me an idea of how much I can expect to spend if I would like to convert a largebedroom into two separate bedrooms? I would like to add it's own entry door and a standard sizecloset to the new room. Thank you!

S.G.

S.G.:

Remodeling contractors often liken such a question to "how much should I expect to pay for a newcar?". While most cars have several seats, four wheels, one engine, etc etc, clearly, a Hyundaicomes with a very different price tag than a Ferrari. Likewise, the specifications to perform whatseems like a fairly straight-forward task are going to depend on your existing conditions you have towork with, and what you're trying to accomplish. As well, do you expect to perform all the workyourself (labor is typically 2/3 or more of the cost of remodeling work), or hire trades to do variousparts of the work, or have a general contractor take care of the work turn-key?

At a minimum, with very simple conditions, here is what I would figure to have the job done for youby a general contractor:

New Door: About $700. Remove section the existing wall, assuming there is no electrical orplumbing needed to relocate, install split-jamb molded door with trim, hardware, patch and paint. Often you need to do something with the threshold condition, and that would add to the cost,depending on the floor materials.

New dividing wall: About $1,850. Minimal prep work, framing, drywall, standard baseboard trim,paint, and one new electrical receptacle each side of the wall. Again, surrounding conditions coulddrive the price of this up. The biggest thing I can think of that you might need would be if onecannot match the paint on the new wall, and both rooms end-up needing re-paints to match.

New Closet: About $2,000, includes framing through trim and finishes plus a door all as describedabove, plus a rod and shelf, for about a 4' x 2' closet in the corner of an existing room.

Other electrical: about $450. You will likely need to add a light and switch in at least one room. Perhaps the existing light needs to be relocated in the other? Code now requires that bedroomshave smoke detectors, so you will want to add one or two of those.

That brings us to about $5,000 for an "easy conditions", done turn-key for you by a GC. If it were aDIY job, you might be able to buy all the materials for $1,000 - 1,500 and plan to invest severalmonths of weekends into it.

There are other Code issues that you should be aware-of, like the smoke detector thing. You musthave an egress window of a certain size and accessibility in each room. Should you have solid wooddoors, special trim, crown molding, paint that won't match, or any of a plethora of other conditions,the cost may escalate quickly. An experienced remodeler can identify these conditions and providean estimate for exactly what you want / need... usually at no obligation to you.

I am not a real estate professional, but I would think that adding a bedroom to your home, undermost conditions, would add resale value to your home. Like many home improvement products,that's like putting money in the bank AND, unlike a certificate of deposit, you'll receive many yearsof use and enjoyment.

As always, if you're going to improve your home, make sure you do it right! Best wishes for asuccessful project.

Mason

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