Here's a look from the exterior. You're viewing the current back porch. The addition would fill in that little gap on the left of the porch, making that wall run straight along the edge of the house, and then we'd add about a foot all along that porch. The entry way would be right where that fenced in portion is (that's where the current AC is hiding.) The current powder room is on the right half of the porch, where the white trim is along the roofline.

You can see the sewer vent running along the right of the porch. The window on the left on the second floor would be where the new second floor bath would be.

Another view. From this view, you can see the window into the current bathroom and all the utility lines running along the house. That will stay. The sink will be moved under the window there. You can also see that small fenced in AC unit. That larger piece of wood propped up is an old door from a barn - totally random that it's there :)

50K even in Iowa.

Is that your estimate for labor & materials, excluding all the things I mentioned (cabs and fixtures, etc?) - just want to make sure I'm understanding you!

Jennifer Weinman:

If you weren't comfortable in that budget range for everything, I wouldn't estimate the job.

No, that's not the issue at all. I'm just trying to make sure I understand that your estimate includes what I think it does :)

He's totally joking, as no way you could do all of that for that small of a price, even for just the materials and you supplying 100% of the labor. 50K for a bath is a little heavy based on national averages unless it's upscale, but light for an average kitchen. What you're asking about is basically rebuilding all of the most expensive portions of the home. 60-80% of cost of the home itself would be my WAG. When you want to do as much to a home as you do, you're in the ballpark to start having conversations about teardowns and rebuilding entirely new.

You can get average numbers for projects from the Cost vs Value Report

Sophie & Green Design -

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. I think when I was running numbers for the "addition" part, I wasn't using an accurate estimation and going off numbers I had seen for a new build using a $/sq ft. To me, $50K did sound really low, so that's why I was surprised by the first reply!

I've actually looked at that report and a slightly different one to get some ideas, plus I've also talked with some local friends just to see what their perspective is since they've done some renovations. We actually have a neighbor a few blocks over who did a similar renovation a few years ago - full kitchen gut, second floor bathroom and laundry above was gutted and redone, plus their first floor bathroom, so I plan to ask them too. My impression is that most people in this town are not doing anything even close to upscale or typical top 10 House kitchens, and I doubt we would either. We're talking mid-range throughout, with probably both bathrooms being fairly basic and nothing overly fancy. We don't need to impress anyone, just want a kitchen that's more functional and better suited to us but will last us! This is our forever home, we don't plan on moving for a LONG time, so we'd like to invest in making it the best we can. Some of the ideas we have we may end up ditching. I could see us skipping the second floor bath since it's really not nearly as necessary as the kitchen.

@Jennifer: "This is our forever home" Don't say always or never or forever. Things change.

I can give you two DIY estimates - for material only.

I gutted the downstairs bath, installed 3' x 6' shower, Grohe fixtures, Toto toilet, porcelain tile (about $6 sq/ft), heated floor. Four years ago the cost of the materials alone was $9,000.

Last year I did the masterbath. It's tiled floor to ceiling with Italian porcelain tile, with upscale fixtures. $16,000 just for materials.

Kitchens add up fast - appliances, lighting, windows, flooring, cabinets, counter tops, hood exhaust - two 20 amp circuits. You might need 200 amp service. I say this cause when you remodel like this, the city/county will probably require you to have 20 amp outlets in the bathrooms also. I recommend seperate circuits for fridge, hood/range, dishwasher. It doesn't take long to spend $50k, just for materials.

Looking at you home, I'd guess it's from 1930? I would not invest the money in your current home.

geoffrey_b - thanks for your estimates, that's really helpful! Our home was built in 1902. In our town, the choice is either homes pre-1920, really awful 1970s ranches, or brand new builds. We love this neighborhood and owning a historic home, and unless life really interferes, we have no plans of moving. My husband is a college professor and we live within walking distance to his office. It's wonderful! What isn't wonderful is our kitchen :) While yes this has the potential to be a gigantic project, it very much would be worth it to us in overall enjoyment of our home and use of space. Right now, our kitchen and first floor bath/porch suffer from a terrible layout and use of space. It's almost comical how bad it is.

Not to be negative - the house doesn't look like there's anything historic, nor charming. You would literally have to rebuild the home: Needs all new windows (double pane / low-e glass). The siding needs to be replaced, the foundation is questionable being 113 years old. Don't forget insulation and new roof. When was wiring to the rest of the home updated? How old is the furnace, A/C? What about the water and sewer lines? And the general plumbing of the home?

How big is the foundation size of the home? Not counting that little porch on the side.

As another poster said: "it maybe cheaper to tear it down"

:) Yes, the exterior is ugly. I'll grant you that. We suffered from previous owners (circa late 1970s is my guess) and their desire to do asbestos tiles siding over the original. While I'd love to tear it off and put up new siding, there's not much reason to other than curb appeal, and we'd rather put our money into the interior and living spaces. We do have plans to paint, replace gutters, and we are replacing attic windows. Eventually we will replace all windows. Attic was replaced in 2010. Sure, the exterior isn't flashy and lovely and definitely won't win awards, but it is what is and it's what we've got. Maybe historic home isn't the best term, but it would be the terminology used in our town to describe our neighborhood and our house, for better or for worse.

It's really what's inside in the interior that we like, along with the location and overall features of the home. Our home has all original oak floors, quarter sawn oak pocket doors and trim and 5 panel doors all original to the house, a huge chapel bench in the foyer that is built in, and none of it has been painted. Sure, it's not a grand historical home, but those are rare in general, and there's probably only 3 or 4 like that in our town. What is rare is the fact that we have all original woodwork, plaster walls in good condition, a few original decorative leaded glass windows, and a gorgeous brand new finished master suite. We have a 5 bedroom 3 bath house with a finished basement family room and playroom, plus a patio. In our town, that is a very rare find. But with all of that, comes the crappy original kitchen layout and back porch/bathroom hack. What we discovered when we looked at homes 6 years ago is that there were FAR worse. Mold, scary DIY electrical, refrigerators that couldn't be opened, and absolutely terrible upkeep and maintenance. It was bad...really bad. So when we found our house, trust me when I say this, it was a total steal and we loved it. Except the kitchen. :)

Trust me, I get the rebuild idea. I get it. I'm sure many of you see this and read this and think, "Money pit! Run away!!!" :) But not all of us can or want to tear down houses or replace absolutely everything. If we actually tore down our house and rebuilt it, it would cost more than 2-3x the current value to rebuild it with the same quality and materials and finishes. I appreciate all the warnings and suggestions to consider that, but it just isn't going to happen.

Back when I was young and enthusiastic, I had a lovely old Four Square in a Historic District. I paid 69K for it, put another 30K into it doing remodels that ultimately never addressed the inadequate electrical or galvanized plumbing. (Read young and dumb about mechanicals.) I finally got tired of the warmest room in the house in the winter being the attic (and we're in the South!) and sold it for 79K. I keep an eye on it, because it was the home with the most character I've ever lived in. It recently sold, 25 years later, for 180K. I would hope any home bought 25 years ago would at least appreciate over 100%! But, at the same time, I think of the money poured into it over the decades by the various owners, and wonder if it still has that old electrical service.

Owing an old home requires a constant influx of funds, and that's without adding in remodels on top of the daily maintenance. They're hobbies. Expensive hobbies. Like boats or horses or other things that eat money. Only you know if the time an effort put into it is a justification in and of itself. It HAS to be though. It won't return that money that you spend on it ever. It's a very bad boyfriend that only knows how to take!

I live in a nondescript 70's rancher now. But it was built with insulation, modern plumbing, and modern electrical service and is slowly being transformed into, well, not a swan, but maybe at least a plump little duck. It's surprising how much those simple creature comforts that you can't always count on in an older home can actually contribute to how well I like a kinda awkward dumpy little house!

Ms. Weinman:

Any home built in 1902 and in as good of shape as yours has plenty of life left and isn't anywhere close to a tear-down. I'm encouraged that you have such respect for its character and take your stewardship seriously.

Thanks for the laugh, pro source! I'm glad you like your plump little duck of a house :) I'm probably a bit naive too, but hey, you're only young once! I consider our house an awkward hippo.

I do know a great deal of the current kitchen plumbing is copper (we have a drop ceiling below the kitchen in the basement, so we can see all the plumbing easily), and I'm fairly certain our second floor bath is as well, not positive though. The tub, toilet, sink, and vanity appear to be circa late 80s is my guess, but I could be all wrong on that. I know for a fact the first floor bath is copper, and our master bath is mostly Pex from what I've seen. We have a 200 circuit breaker for the house, plus when the previous owner did the master suite, they put in a separate circuit breaker there and a separate water heater. Probably after the exterior paint, gutter, and window stuff that we are doing this year, then we'll get to updated AC and HVAC, because it's not super great. Unfortunately, the previous owners didn't really consider HVAC at all when they finished the attic into the master. It's like a furnace in the summer and an ice box in the winter. We've made do with a window AC unit and some warm down blankets and a nice space heater as needed, but an update is in the cards in the next 5-10 years for sure.

Mr. Corlett - it's not often I'm called Ms. Weinman :) Thanks again for making me giggle!

I think at this point, my husband and I have a LOT to discuss. My guess is that we'll probably pass on the second floor bath switcheroo, even though it's always been a dream of mine to have 2nd floor laundry. With basement laundry and 3 main floors of living and kids, that's a lot of laundry and a lot of stairs. And I actually like laundry!