Cost of expanding bedroom

9 years ago

I am in SF Bay area - Alameda county.

We are working with an architect to get proper plans to expand master bedroom of the house. The architecture work is in initial phase and no plans are completed yet. So far, thought process is to add around 400 SQ feet to the house and rearrange wall(s) so that bedroom is more usable. Naturally, it will depend upon what architect recommends and what the budget can accommodate. All the work, will be with permit and will be done by licensed contractor.

I do realize that ultimate cost will be dependent upon actual design and changes needed and hence looking for ballpark figure like on average it will cost around $x per square foot.

Our initial vague queries - since we don't have actual plan, resulted in appropriate vague answers ranging from 40k to 160k.

Comments (4)

live_wire_oak
9 years ago
You have to redo the exterior cladding, roof, HVAC, electrical, possibly plumbing, add windows, etc. It will be a lot closer to the 160 than the 40. No one can know until the specs are finalized, but you live in a very expensive labor market with extensive seismic and fire prevention requirements. Often, just the permits and dumpster fees on a project there can add up to the 40K. And that is if this complies with all local zoning and setbacks and you don't need any variances and don't live in historic district or landmarked building.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
9 years ago
nhrdls:

You need to go the other direction. Instead of drawing up something that you may not be able to afford or may not be adequate, tell your architect and contractor you've got $00.00 dollars that you're comfortable spending and ask what they can do for that amount.

This will save everyone lots of time and aggravation.
Fori
9 years ago
I'm planning an addition in Alameda Co. too. Is your architect unable (or unwilling) to give a ballpark estimate? We are waiting on bids for our job but based on what we've seen so far, I'm also guessing that you should be expecting to be at the high end.

Apparently there is a large difference even within the county though--Dublin or Pleasanton will probably be significantly more affordable than Berkeley...

(And it's getting hard to find a contractor whose dance card isn't already full--things are definitely picking up here again!)
nhrdls
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you all for information.

Our architect knows what we have in mind and what we can afford. However I want to make sure we are not fleeced. Hence the question about ballpark figure.