Wow. I thought the poster wrote a pretty darn good post. (S)he likes the contractor. The contractor has done good work in the past. The contractor in the past seemed to be priced fairly for the market the poster is in. Had the poster been remodeling another basement; ie doing comparable work, that's one thing. But kitchen and bathroom work? They are completely different animals when it comes to bidding and building. The poster isn't screaming in internet outrage at the bid. He's simply looking for a warm fuzzy that the bid is good. I think he already knows the bid is good. But again...what's wrong with coming to the GWeb community to look for that warm and fuzzy. If he was a Yankee fan, hey, I'd be piling on too. But for totally different reasons. But a Red Sox fan in Westchester County? C'mon folks. We need to help the decent people in this world. So my reply? Yes, the bid (42K) taken at face value is high. It's high because $42K is a lot of money. Factor in your location. That brings it more into scale. Your materials. High end materials generally require more care when installing, that can elevate the price a bit. The scope of work: Demo. Framing. Messing with the building's thermal envelope. Electrica, plumbing, insulation, waterproofing, painting, yadda yadda. It's a full-scope job. I never mind being asked about money. If you're happy with the contractor, then just have a conversation with him. If the following fits how you feel, then feel free to frame it into your conversation. Tell him the bid is higher than you thought it would be, but you understand it due to the scope of work. Tell him that you can bump your budget to meet his bid. However, ask him to identify any areas where savings might be achieved. Also ask him to identify areas where there may be cost overruns. It's not that you're looking to knock the price down. You're not. But not exceeding the bid is important. Let him know you're simply looking for possibly contingency built in to the bid. ie if you go over in demo and repairs, can we absorb that overrun elsewhere without compromising the overall project. Good luck!

Similar situation,putting in MBDRM suite & Stacked Maytag laundry. Have well water Ph 6.1 , getting 2 tank Neutralizer & softener from Sears now with Blending tank. We want to put in Rinnai LP Tankless H20 unit (98SE) new model heater in laundry for W/D & Mbdrm use only. Keep 40 gallon for rest of the house use. But we want an EXTERNAL unit not too sure about having LP in my house. Those O-rings can blow out... unfortunately we have seen it happen before. [It burned my grill out & melted tank after burning for 8 hrs. Luckily it was away from the house when it did. Never Again] If he can't or won't do an external tankless unit then we are going with Solar Hot water w/ elec backup for about 5k. His opposition to tankless units in external walls is that water lines may freeze in bad winters here in the Mid Atlantic. Solar HW install is 2 k MORE than the propane initially but who knows what LP will cost in future? Rinnai & Install cost 3k + 2100 for tank & burial and lines & $1500 for tank. LP has gone up 300% in last 6 years already!! Have neighbor that bought Solar HW 18 yrs ago & panels still working system makes 150 gal of water & she says elec bill is under $100 in Summer with the AC on.. Now that I can live with... Got Jacuzzi tub & Jacuzzi Shower & your friends are right... got TOTO toilet to match . Have 3.5 baths in house now too; hopefully this setup will work.

Thanks for your input. The budget is $25-30K, in Los Angeles. That's about twice what we went into this "wanting" to spend. I'm not expecting to recoup the entire cost, but we're in a rapidly changing neighborhood with rapidly escalating home prices, so it's not totally outside the realm of possibility. It's also possible that we could stay much longer than I think. We bolted the foundation, restored/replaced the hardwood floors, removed/hid the popcorn ceilings, and widened the bedroom closet doors last year when we moved in. We got off easy on the asbestos, but doubled our costs when we found out all of our gas lines and half our electrical needed to be replaced ASAP. So yeah, I'm worried that our 20% contingency cushion won't cut it this time either. Option 2 opens onto the laundry alcove that is directly off the kitchen. I agree, it's not ideal. It is also more limiting in terms of potential future projects like a kitchen remodel. I'm really leaning toward the master suite. Additional storage will come from a built-in bench in the dining room window bay, custom surrounds for the laundry and refrigerator, and--who am I kidding?--probably a larger shed as well. Never buy a house without a garage.

Post floor plans. Brain hurts trying to imagine. ;-)