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Room addition cost?

2,127 Views | 16 Replies | Last: 2 mo ago by SnowboardAg
1939
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AG
Looking to add an approx. 500 sf game room onto the back of my house. Would be pretty basic, likely no plumbing or just a sink in a minbar, 3 windows, set of French doors, nothing fancy but would like to do a Cathedral ceiling, stucco exterior.

I have zero idea of what to expect cost wise, any idea on what that would be psf?
Red Pear Realty
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AG
I'm going to do my best to answer your question but the honest answer is that there are a lot of variables that will affect your answer, and without those variables, nobody can give you a really accurate number. It's like asking "what does it cost to eat at a restaurant?" or "what does a vehicle cost?". Also, Cunningham's Law should help here as well.

Factors that will change your answer:

-Your location
-Your exact specs
-Are you doing a first floor addition or second?
-Exact materials
-Etc

Here's my stab with some wild assumptions made. Before I start, I'm guessing $100k total. I'm assuming you live in a typical suburb in Texas.

$5,000 - architect
$1,000 - engineer
$1,000 - permits and permit runner
$7,000 - demolition
$3,000 - site prep
$12,000 - concrete materials and labor
$12,000 - framing labor
$10,000 - lumber package
$7,500 - stucco
$6,000 - roof (only new portion)
$10,000 - electrical labor and materials
$15,000 - plumbing and bath (this is the biggest "IF". This could be almost nothing or easily $30,000 depending on what you want to do and how your home and sewer lines are laid out. I said $15k as a pure guess.)
$10,000 - drywall
$3,000 - doors and trim
$5,000 - paint labor
$500 - paint materials
$3,000 - flooring materials at $6 PSF total
$3,000 - flooring labor at $6 PSF
$2,000 - fixtures

$116,000 total per above. ~$100,000 is probably a good guess. You can do a lot of work yourself and save a ton of money. Good luck! Post pics if you follow through.

Edit:

$500 - porta potty
$1,000 - builders risk insurance
$1,000 - extra utilities
$5,000 - windows

$123,500 new total

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Diggity
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AG
Yeah, your quote is a lot more detailed than my thoughts but I was thinking $100-150K for that job.

Seems like you can't do any kind of external addition for less than six figures these days.
Red Pear Realty
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AG
Yeah stuff is insanely expensive these days for sure. We renovated my mom's entire house in the Heights for around $150k pre covid inflation. We would easily be double that if we were to repeat that project today.
Sponsor Message: We Split Commissions. Full Service Agents in Austin, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Red Pear Realty
Hupernikao
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What city, if any? That would make a huge difference.
1939
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Small town outside of San Antonio. I'm having sticker shock, I was hoping for something closer to $60k. This would be a very basic addition, a single room with no plumbing and standard finish out, no bathrooms. Will see what kind of quote I can get.
Hupernikao
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AG
60k is absolutely doable. I think it will be half of what Red Pear is saying. That may be priced in big cities, but most of those numbers are very high.
Red Pear Realty
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AG
Let us know what you get quoted. And location definitely matters, as I mentioned before. You may not have to pull permits or the like if you're building in an unincorporated county, and you can do a lot of work yourself and save some big money as well. Example - in Texas, you can legally do electrical work on your own home (again, your local government might put restrictions on this). You've already got a panel box installed, and if you have extra room already, that should be no problem to knock out. Will someone want to buy that home later on is the million dollar question - I've seen some bad DIY electrical over the years, and it usually gets expensive in the course of selling. Turn your faceplate screws up and down and make it a point to not clean up after yourself and everyone will believe you're an electrical pro, ha. Another example - I know an investor who got quoted several thousand dollars to repipe his pier and beam rent house, but did it himself instead in one weekend for about $250 in PEX materials. None of this stuff is impossible. It's just work.

I forgot to include numbers for insulation and HVAC. Definitely need those! I would probably suggest a ductless mini split for the add on space (because it seems add ons never really get it right with central HVAC systems) but if you want to go even cheaper, just do a window unit.
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RGRAg1/75
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AG
We're considering an addition as well, and have received quotes etc, but I'm trying to understand the value we're adding in terms of a future sale.

In College Station. Is this something you could estimate on the realtor side?
Red Pear Realty
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AG
Absolutely. If you shoot me a PM with your contact information I will get that to Luke who lives in and covers College Station for us and he can help you out.
Sponsor Message: We Split Commissions. Full Service Agents in Austin, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Red Pear Realty
JP76
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If new construction is going for $180-$200 psf, then economies of scale will not make a 500 sq ft addition feasible @ 180-200.

Maverick06
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AG
I have a cousin in Medina County that builds custom homes and does add on's like you're describing. You won't have to pay the city prices. He does quality work. Let me know if that in your area and I could get y'all in touch. He can at least give you a price. He's a two man show. Him and a helper do all the work. He's not a GC that will show up to your job once a week to check on things.
htxag09
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We're doing a fully decked attic conversion to a bedroom and just architect quotes came in from $5k-$30k. The one we chose was around $9k including permits and permit runner.

Still working through drawings so haven't gotten detailed project quotes yet.

Main reason we're even considering is because our home is in a really weird place of being a 3 bedroom in a 4-6 bedroom neighborhood. I'd wager that 90+% of buyers never even saw this house because they have min bedroom filters. So I'm pretty confident simply adding a 4th bedroom would increase the value by close to $200k. Then add in that we have a fully decked attic on the second story with already 10+ foot ceilings, so only structural work will be a dormer and window, I feel like it'll be a good return on investment.
1939
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I'm in Castroville, would like his info. Sounds right up my alley. May already know him.
1939
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Why would you need an architect to finish out an attic? I live outside the city limits so no permits needed thankfully.
htxag09
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1939 said:

Why would you need an architect to finish out an attic? I live outside the city limits so no permits needed thankfully.

To help with code and permits.

To maximize the space efficiently and helping translate what we want to designs so we're getting exactly what we want for the amount of money a project like this would cost. Part of what we want is a seamless transition inside and out so it doesn't just look like an afterthought. We've walked in and right back out of some houses because the additions were terrible.

To get a detailed scope and set of plans so we can get accurate quotes from contractors and builders.

And, in general, I'm of the opinion that it's probably a good idea to have engineers involved when you're talking about something like cutting a hole in your roof and modifying the design of it.
SnowboardAg
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I put on a 650 sf patio last year and I'm with red pear on cost. No way 60k will do it from my recent experience. Also consider any underground systems before dumping a slab (sewer, electric, gas, water). I would highly suggest rerouting or upgrading to minimize cutting into your new slab in the near future. Good luck!
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