I'm gonna say no way for 50k, but it makes a huge difference where you live. Is your house considered historical and limited in that regard?

I don't think you're looking for a KD. Not now, maybe not at all. I think overall design is more important--you might even need a real architect. If it were me, I'd probably talk to some GCs and see what they would require to move ahead with something like this.

Post the home's layout here for some assistance. And start interviewing GC's about the structural portion of the project and what that will cost. That's a lot, and that's what will determine if you can do this on 50K, or if that's only half the money needed for your project. (I'd suspect you were light by about 20K-30K) How much can you DIY? That will stretch your budget. How dedicated will you be to shopping for the best deals? How about acting as your own GC and hiring the trades directly? All of those things can take your budget further, but they take up a lot of time and research.

Thanks GreenDesigns and fori, I'm working on a layout to post and have added photos to the original post. It's entirely possible that the budget is indeed short, and rethinking money and/or the extent of the project is needed. Any other insight as to budget, and what it would take to stick to the budget? Maybe take out the roof change, or acting as our own GC? Has anyone accomplished a comparable project on a similar budget?

how much of this are you willing to do on your own? The budget is small for a rework of an entire floor... unless you are willing to do 95% of the work yourselves, and be brutal with your choices. I don't think Miele appliances and semi custom cabinets are in your future.

I had an 11' load bearing wall opened with an I-beam installed (not tucked up into the rafters), gutted an old kitchen, rewired the entire kitchen 12x9 including six can lights, added 4 cans to adjoining 10x10 dining room, and installed all new to the ceiling cabinets, and granite counters, granite slab backsplash, granite window sills, two new pella casements, new appliances - jennair/ge for under 20K, but all was DIY with the exception of I-beam install, plaster finishing, granite, hardwood install in kitchen to match dining area, rough plumbing, and 10% of electrical. It took the most of a year to complete because I work full time. All work was done in the existing footprint and I did not move the location of the fridge/sink/range. The work was completed in 2005 in the midwest, which is likely comparable to where you live. Prices on some of the materials and appliances have almost doubled in that period of time.

This post was edited by detroit_burb on Sun, Jan 20, 13 at 18:34

Please don't forget to get whatever permits are necessary in your area if you are knocking down walls, changing electrical and plumbing. Also if zoning laws allow you to make the structural changes. Usually I only hear about it the other way around, converting to a rental property :)

Whether or not it can be done for $50k remains to be seen, what's behind your walls, etc. Be sure to have a jic emergency fund. If you don't use it, then you can fancy up something else.

Here are before and after plans of the ground floor.

Before:

After:

Any suggestions, critiques of the remodel plan?

It's the bathroom by the dining room that needs partial roof work. We may adjust the budget or remove non-priority items. One quick way to reduce costs would be to not include the roof work in the remodel. Another -- that would not have as big an impact on the budget -- is to leave the mud room work for later.

This post was edited by possibility on Sun, Jan 20, 13 at 21:59

Average kitchen replacement remodels are 40K. That's just replacing the components. You're talking upper end appliances that can run you 20K plus cabinets that can run you 30-40K for a kitchen and a butler's pantry. You've got structural work and systems work and moving all of that work. Plus other components.

I don't think that doubling your budget would be enough here for what you're proposing. You're going to have to scale back your finish level substantially. And either learn to DIY or still come up with 30K more than your budget. Plus a contingency fun in case they find something behind the walls. And they will. They always do with old houses.

Such as, what size is your electrical panel? A lot of kitchen redos in older homes end up running all new service to the home because it doesn't contain enough capacity for the requirments of a modern kitchen. With a rental unit, you might be lucky enough to have that be fine, but you'll still need a lot of wiring to make another room into a kitchen.

Do you have galvanized plumbing? How old is it even if it's not galvanized? What about the insulation level of the home? It's HVAC system? Is it two units for the two spaces? Your remodel will affect all of those items.

It's late tonight and I have an early morning, but when I get a bit of time to look at your plans, I'll give it a go. But right off, I see some issues with your plans. Where do you park and enter the home? The proposed kitchen location doesn't appear to be close to either a rear entrance or the front entrance. That's a potential problem. If the apartment rear door will be the way groceries come in, I think I'd make the area that you have designated the new living room to be the new kitchen and the area you have designated to be the new kitchen as the dining room.

But, there is a lot of duplicate space, and I think I'd consult an architect that specializes in renovations of older homes for some help in figuring out a plan here. I think you could get a pretty nice master suite out of one side of the home and have a TV room and a den out of the rest. The old apartment kitchen would make a fabulous sunroom/morning room type space.

Late night, and I'm not even watching Downton Abbey!

Thank you for all of your comments. We are not including our cushion/ contingency funds in the amount. Our HVAC system and ductwork are both fine for the remodel-- we have a geothermal system that can easily take a house twice the size of this one, and our ducts are already in place (although there may need to be some adjustments here). Our electric panel capacity is great -- we have two panels and it's legal to keep two even after the conversion to a single family home. We plan on doing all the necessary inspections.

Your comments are helpful. We were looking for ballpark numbers and that's what y'all are giving us -- thanks!

Your plan critiques are appreciated, too. I'm updating our plan to address some questions about kitchen location and parking. We want to put the new kitchen as in the plan. It's no further than the existing kitchen and there will be two entries to it (one from the existing french doors).

Also, we have a whole second floor of bedrooms (not shown) and aren't looking to add bedrooms downstairs.

Although the kitchen will be modern, we want to retain the feel of the front of the house, which is the oldest and most original part of the house (13' ceilings, moldings). We use one room as a study (one of us works from home). We use the two front rooms as formal areas. One problem with our plan is that the stairs are currently in the front of the house. Should we add a second set of stairs? Budget aside, we just don't think the house is big enough for two sets (~3400 sqft total).

The dining room will be formal after the remodel and will have a kitchen island with seating for everyday meals. I wish I could upload our kitchen plans but the software it's on is on the blink.

Please excuse the amateur plans. This is what happens when a nonprofessional has access to AutoCad!

I grew up in a custom built home, 3800 sq ft, my parents designed and built. It had one staircase to the master bedroom and a second main staircase to the main bedrooms. The master had an anteroom with closets and a couch, as well as a small kitchenette and full bath. You could get to the master through the anteroom, or from the secondary staircase.

I don't know of any other home that had the two staircases, but it worked in our home because the home was built originally for my grandmother to live with us, and she had her own private suite there. When she could no longer live with us (too many stairs) my parents used it for a large master suite for the next 28 years until they sold it and moved to a ranch (big house had too many stairs).

(I guess the moral of the story is, if you are going to spend lots of money renovating a large home, make sure there is planning for later in life)