We are just getting prices from contractors in NYC for our 35 sq ft (actually a little less since it's not quite 7 x 5) and prices are $7,500 - $20,000 from 4 different places. The bathroom is over 50 years old and we have just been living with it for a while. It's all contractor work, no DIY. We cannot move plumbing so the layout won't change. I'm not really sure what the $7,500 price includes since the contractor would really not elaborate beyond "a basic bathroom" that includes wall to wall new tile (what we have now). One vendor who did not do a site visit (only looked at photos) came in around $15K. I am waiting on formal proposals from 2 contractors that visited this week and I gave them the wish list below that does not include any fixtures choices or finish choices but they are steering us toward custom and semi custom. One vendor said not to spend too much since we could price out the market for resale (we are not selling anytime soon, if at all) so he came down to $20K from $25K. There is one more contractor on the list that we plan to call for an estimate. A neighbor spent $40K on her bathroom. I have not seen it but just heard the price this week so I will make it a point to visit to have a look. replace bathtub/drain & replace fixtures, adjustable rain shower with separate handheld replace medicine cabinet make laundry hamper area into storage (framed with shelving) demo wall to wall tile, replace tile add recessed storage on rear shower wall install new lighting paint entire room (replace bathroom and bedroom doors - only two doors in the apartment so they should match) replace metal towel bar in shower replace storage cabinets (towels & other products) install vessel sink and fixtures add handheld sprayer for toilet (may get washlet seat if elongated toilet will fit) cover and tile over pipes; add mesh venting remove shower door (install curved shower rod) replace ceramic towel bar (8 hooks?) & switch plate add vertical toilet paper holder upgrade & add electric outlets (2 x 2); not on same circuit as lights Labor only estimates so far: $12,650 $13,200 Materials $3,355 (low) - $7,355 (high) One GC sources and stores the materials which seem to be at least 25% -50% higher for some items than I've seen locally. This post was edited by kdnyc on Tue, Jun 3, 14 at 15:24

I feel much like rweigand about it. Make a list of must do's, needs done items and a list of wants/desires. See what those items that need done are going to cost and prioritize the rest of your list. It might help to have a general idea of cost before you start prioritizing your wants. From a real estate perspective it's a good idea to not over improve for your neighborhood... Like littlebug mentioned. You generally don't want to be the nicest home in the neighborhood because you don't help yourself by doing that, you only raise the value of everyone else's home and yours is lowered by those around you. That being said, it's pretty often that kitchens and baths are what help sell a home. If they present a wow factor or are at least pretty nice, they can help make a home more marketable. I understand you are planning on staying there long term but sometimes plans change when we least expect them. I live in an area where some of the nicer newer homes have laminate countertops and vinyl flooring. Shortly after we moved in, about 15 yrs ago, I got an estimate for Corian counters. Egads, after I saw the quote I decided a trip to Disney with memories for my family was more important than pretty countertops and I have lived with the laminate that was there when we moved in. Not hideous, but not my taste. Now I'm looking at butcher block and soapstone counters. The butcherblock will be made by a friend out of locally sourced oak and we are planning to DIY the soapstone if we can source a stone for a reasonable cost. I'm glad today I didn't splurge on that countertop years ago. I know now I wouldn't have loved the Corian because it really didn't go with my home but stone any counters were $$$ in my area back then. We enjoyed having the $ to take a couple of trips when my son was young with the $ we saved.

> Dec 2017 is a short time ago-for a consumer..... Who said "I am a couple months away from renovating..." > And I felt she needed an advocate If you'd checked the OP's profile, you would have seen "agar_murat has no recent activity," and so isn't very likely to read your post. I see a lot of thoughtful comments from you in other GW threads, but without wanting to sound too critical, I don't think it was all that helpful to resurrect this one. Besides, the OP doesn't need an "advocate," she/he needs a different house. As I (and others) suggested back in December, the cost of such major changes is going to be considerable, and not recoverable when the house is sold. Not to mention the home life disruption they'll entail.

Camille-I would think about your last comment very carefully. If you have had a friend that has quoted both the "expensive design and build firm" and the cheaper "custom home builders" and then done the entire project for the quote given by the cheaper custom home builders that may be the case. A well advertised, successful and established firm may be more expensive, but I think that a lot of the difference is in what you are being quoted, and who unexpected costs will be charged for and how many expenses there are outside of the contract. So unless you know someone who was able to do their complete project with no surprises for the cheaper quote I would be wary. There are three expensive parts to your project: -The cost of the addition; the new roof, siding, foundation, framing, insulation, etc. Windows can also be very expensive depending on the quality you choose (we live in a historic district so we have to buy expensive windows) -The cost of opening up your current space into this new space. In your drawing you have this completely open with no beam. We saw one addition when we were looking for houses in which the addition was tacked onto the back and the original kitchen window looked into the family room addition (that is not what you want, but would be cheaper). The cost of the steal beam and installation for our approximately 5' framed opening (there is wall on both sides and one the ceiling) was over $5000. Our house is brick construction so that makes it heavy to support an opening. The structural engineering drawing for this beam was an additional $800. You will need more structural engineering for the addition. -The actual kitchen that you design; cabinets, appliances, countertops, etc. We got quotes from two different people who used the same kitchen showroom and the same line of cabinetry. One of the firms (design and build) did all of their kitchens with the same designer at that showroom...so if you used them you were going to get Merrillat Classic and Merrillat Masterpiece. Our first quote was in the classic; we ended up going with the second firm in the masterpiece and the cabinet allowance was almost doubled. I have not heard kitchen quoted in square feet prices, because the variables above are so substantial. The other one is how much you are moving plumbing and electrical. But I would probably double the $300/sq foot estimate and make sure that is still within what the neighborhood will support.