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amychristine316

Approx cost of connecting dormers (nantucket dormer retrofit) L.I. NY

Amy Christine
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago

Greetings all! Curious as to the approx. cost of hiring a contractor to connect the 2 "doghouse" dormers on our typical 1950s cape cod to create a "nantucket style" dormer, (could also be described as a connecting shed dormer?) Redoing our siding in the next year or 2 so if within budget is something we hope to do. Would be amazing to reclaim some headroom and floor space. I dont have the exact measurements but from my attempts at measuring the entire house room by room and using the program Floorplanner I have estimated the area between the dormers wall to wall (across a small useless hobbit sized closet in one bedroom and the stairway which hits about the middle of the house slightly off center from the front door) to be about 14-15 feet long. The home itself about 42-44 feet long (measurements taken inside so probably add a bit to that for exterior walls, insulation ect.) Pictures/examples below. Also curious if anyone else local has done a similar project. We are on the East end of Long Island NY. Thanks all!

Comments (11)

  • Amy Christine
    Original Author
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago





  • Amy Christine
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    Our home currently (1st photo)

    & "Nantucket dormer" examples

  • cat_ky
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I would leave the dormers, they look fine. The house looks a bit plain. I would spend my money on a nice large sitting type porch, with a roof across the front. That will give your house a lot of curb appeal, and the dormer wont. Something more like this.






  • Denita
    4 years ago

    Jennifer, Charles Ross Homes above answered the question in the OP.

    This isn't the same as buying a product from Amazon and having it shipped to you.

    You can't get pricing for major construction over the net and have it be accurate for your area. A reputable contractor needs to come to your home and give you an estimate based on the work you plan to do. For accuracy you will need the specifications to provide to the contractor so you can get an accurate estimate. Labor is local and will affect pricing. Your specs may be different than the OP's specs so the "super rough ballpark" that you suggested doesn't work either unless you have a quote like: Anywhere from $10k to eleventy million - a quote so wide it's meaningless but protects the contractor from surprises. Spend the money to determine the specs and put them out to bid. Good luck!

  • live_wire_oak
    4 years ago

    No way that you can rebuild a roof and then and reroof it all for 10K. Triple that as the lowest lowball start. 10x that for possible required bringing everything up to code and current required headroom and stair access.

  • Seabornman
    4 years ago

    Are you hoping to remove the side walls of the dormers when it is opened up, or can the center section just be popped up leaving the existing dormers? Makes a big difference in degree of difficulty and cost.

  • Lianne
    2 years ago

    @Amy Christine, curious to know if you ever tackled this project? We are purchasing a cape cod style home and I would like to connect the two doghouse dormers to create a shed or nantucket dormer.

  • Amy Christine
    Original Author
    2 years ago

    Thank for input from all! we did end up changing our minds it seems to be unnecessary in the end I do like the look for a new build. we did redo siding and windows are next its a very old house there are so many issues to tackle! there are many layout issues that need correction and kitchen closet and bath upgrades but trying to get good ROI for what we put into it so we can move off this busy road to a nicer area of the island and either build new or find something we would love to make our own! this house is jsut one thing after another unfortunately..hoping the future holds the perfect home for us!

  • Amy Christine
    Original Author
    2 years ago

    @Lianne ended up being as they say biting off more than we can chew..however I would like to if possible if it becomes a forever home (something I hope to avoid) lol then I MUST attach a new garage to the home and make the above a master with a master bath. right now we have the 3 tiny sloped rooms and 1 TINY shared bath it is absolutely ridiculous even for a starter home in my opinion so after playing with the Floorplan I have about 3 versions I could live with. I very much hope that addition will at least be possible in the future for us as well as you yours! it's such a beautiful look.

  • Lianne
    2 years ago

    @Amy Christine I completely get the biting off more than you can chew bit! From looking online it looked like the conversion wasn't really worth the money it would cost. I was really hoping to open up the rooms a little to create more usable space. But there are quite a few projects to undertake. I'll just file that dormer expansion thought under the "we had this idea once". Thanks for responding. I wish you the best with your floor plan!