"Please come to celebrate the not uneventful remodeling of Bessie's house. Considering the complications, perhaps swim fins and a fire extinguisher would be appropriate attire" or: "It's finally complete!....help celebrate Bessie's newly remodeled digs. Fire extinguisher's will be kept handy as well as a sump pump!" I think this is one of those situations where if you didn't laugh....you would cry....so might as well laugh! Linda C

Hello marina44 - I've been at a full-house remodel for the past 15 months, also in San Francisco. My full remodel is 3750 sq ft finished space (about 4300 sq ft if you include the garage, which was also redone) My remodel also included a lot of structural work, shear walls, structural steel, LVLs, steel moment frame, new roof, new stucco, all new electricity and plumbing, radiant hydronic heat, and a fair bit of foundation work - 12 piers, 10 foot tall concrete retaining walls. The finishes are upper middle class (for San Francisco). If I exclude a bulk of the cabinetry in the kitchen and living spaces then I'll end up spending a little under twice your budget - about $200 per square foot (finished space). I'm told this is a very good deal for San Francisco. I solicited 8 bids over 4 months at the top of 2009 and ended up choosing the 2nd lowest price bid. My build has not been without its hiccups, but generally speaking, with large oversight in the building process by myself, it was proven to go smoothly, albeit slowly. Hope this helps.

We DIYd our fireplace/chimney removal. We are not particularly gifted in the ways of DIY either. We did a total gut renovation on the house and our structural engineer confirmed the chimney wasn't supporting the house in any way. The fireplace was pink and huge--maybe 4x7 footprint? Our house is single level with the chimney continuing to the basement. We rented a drop box for the brick and an impact chisel from home depot to remove them. My husband started on the roof and removed brick by brick dropping them down the chimney where I'd gather them in 5 gallon buckets to take to the drop box. In all it took us a weekend and probably $500 in rental fees. The roof was repaired as part of our GCs scope of work in the remodel, so I'm not sure how much that cost, but it was a very simple patch It seems to me that chimney and fireplace removal is totally unskilled labor if it isn't holding up the house. As such, it really shouldn't cost a lot.

Hi, toomuchmusic, Kudos to you for wanting to preserve the exterior of your cottage home. A good architect will help ensure whatever exterior changes you make are sympathetic. I agree with Joseph Corlett that you need to start by engaging an experienced whole house remodeler. No offense to folks who make their living designing stuff, but when it comes to identifying the potential problem areas in a remodel, an experienced remodeler will know what to look for, where to look, and what the likely cost implications are. Picking them at the outset and doing a thorough job identifying the existing conditions is the best way to minimize the unwelcome "surprises" that can happen with any remodeling project. Best wishes for a successful project!