Remodeling Magazine has an interactive comparison chart that will give you ideas of the average price of various projects in different areas of the country. For instance, a mid scale master suite addition in the San Francisco metro area averaged 139K in 2011-12. An upscale one averaged 278K. Here is a link that might be useful: Remodeling Magazine Cost Comparison Chart

:) 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.

dan - you're the one being illogical now. your foundation being screwed up is quite high if you hire the grunts to do your weekend work. El Jefe is the one who knows how to use the transit, order the the correct sized rebar, locate the sill bolts correctly, square the thing to the existing house, determine if your soil is sound , epoxy that rebar into the old foundation, ect.... Your cut rate crew isn't going yo do all that stuff or do it properly without expert supervision. And you honestly think you can research and YouTube your way to a recipe and checklist that will allow for success ? Sure , you can with enough time and effort , but you vastly underestimate how long that is going to take and there it's hard to quantify the risk you assume with this scenario. Multiply that by 17 different disciplines on a build and you'll be in the years timeframe, which you spouse isn't likely to tolerate . What'd you leave off of your checklist cause you couldn't find it online. Whats your profession ? How long did it take you to become educated and seasoned enough to be considered worthy of hiring by discerning clients? - or - did you take an internet course or online degree at flybynitedotcom U and watch a bunch of YouTube programming , and faked it til you maked it ? And why should anyone even hire you today if you attended the Ivy league, and apprenticed at top drawer inc. ? I mean, 75% or more of your industry works for less $$$ , and I bet I can have amazon deliver a book on your field to me today from which I could skim the basics this evening and have a go at it for free tomorrow. Just about everyone can do every job for themselves, I could cut my own hair, cook my own gourmet meals, drive myself cross country, and grow/raise my own food. But I chose to go to a salon, eat out at five star food halls, fly on a plane , and shop at grocery stores when I "could" source all of this CHEAPER than the cash flow I burn through obtaining this stuff from others. Why ? Because stuff is generally better and more efficient when provided by people and places who specialize in doing it everyday . Like I said, possible. Just not practical for most people. You also seem to heavily discount the risk this path exposes to most people's largest asset. I do appreciate your everything is possible and it'll all turn out fine and dandy attitude though. Reminds me of all the shills on the remodeling porn shows who are full of energy, and get it spirit . Ever wonder why there's never a follow up show for any of those projects ? Cause 99.9% of all that stuff is crap and needs to be re done in less than five years and you never get close enough to see the wavy tile planes, paint bleed through, crooked lines, and caddy whomped doors that don't close . Any of that happens on a GWers job and there a three threads about why is my shower leaking, would you accept this granite seam, and help , my new jetsons toilet is leaking to which the usual suspects reply that no, it sucks and you hired a hack.

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.