New York City, NY · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 1 vote
Hey BP looking at (north) Philadelphia PA for gut rehab opportunities. Seeking consistent numbers on square footage on rehab work (includes roofing)? From Licensed contractors.
There is no way to give you an answer to your question that's going to satisfy you. Your numbers could range from $40-150 per square foot, depending on:
- Specific Scope of Work (SOW)
- Your experience
- Specific architectural design decisions
- Level of finishes
- How the project is managed (you or a GC)
- Time of year
- Type of contractors used
- Above-grade vs. below-grade footprint
- The amount of work required to get utilities to the structure
- Your negotiating skill
If you can provide details on each of the areas above, we can probably give you more detail on pricing.
The Square Footage of the floor plan is not the same the square footage of the roof. The reason is the roof has slopes. A roof has to have a slope to make water flow. A super low roof will be at least 1/12, which mean one inch slope for every 12 inches. A super steep slope would be 12/12, which means a 12 inch slope for every 12 inches. To get an idea for every 8/12 or more you may be looking at a 30% increase in the area of the roof. Also a roof extends a few inches further then the floor plan, also the roof needs double layers around the perimeter of the roof and on the ridges. So every 100 feet on the ridge is a 100 square feet. So, the area of the roof is always more then the floor plan. This is a mistake I see made very often.
@Louis D Trejo, welcome to BP. Your question seems straight forward but it's actually very hard to give an answer for "consistent numbers" without being misleading or else being too vague to be useful. So much depends on the specifics... what permits you pull (major renovation or minor renovation, ez permits or full architectural plans), what type of contractors you use (hands-on GC or hands-off GC, ones that are slow but cheap or fast but expensive), what you mean by gut rehab (just new kitchens & bathrooms? down to the studs? down to the joists? front facade?), are you doing multiple units (and if so is it a by-right use or do you need a variance, do you need a sprinkler system, etc.), exact size of the house (since some costs don't vary linearly with sq ft size such as cost of roof, heater), what level of finishes (i.e. is flooring just painting the old hardwood? carpet? laminate? vinyl? tile? hard wood?), what systems you're putting in, whether you need to do any street work for the plumbing, etc. All of these factors can cause your "gut rehab" price to range from $15/sq ft for basic work to over $100/sq ft.
It's like going onto a car forum and asking, "my car won't start and the check engine light is on, how much is it going to cost me to fix it?" There is too much variability to give a useful answer.
Your best bet is to get a copy of J Scott's book on estimating rehab costs, and also to get bids from reliable contractors before purchasing a property.
@Ethan Giller..thanks for the feed back. Let me specify a bit more, major reno(plumbing work, electrical, kitchens) permits a must hands on GC preferable. Least expensive investment possible, needs boiler system. Flooring has tile and wood, no street work required. Im looking at 2300 sq./ft. 3 units about 760 sq./ft each unit. Hopefully much better to get an estimated number.
There is no way to give you an answer to your question that's going to satisfy you. Your numbers could range from $40-150 per square foot, depending on:
- Specific Scope of Work (SOW)
- Your experience
- Specific architectural design decisions
- Level of finishes
- How the project is managed (you or a GC)
- Time of year
- Type of contractors used
- Above-grade vs. below-grade footprint
- The amount of work required to get utilities to the structure
- Your negotiating skill
If you can provide details on each of the areas above, we can probably give you more detail on pricing.
Cost per square foot is normally reserved for things like office buildings.
For rehab work, you have to go room by room and area by area of the house. Kitchen, bathrooms, heating, central air, electric, roof, siding, floors, paint, etc. Square footage is okay for things like carpet and flooring and tile. Not for what work needs to be done in a room.
If you're inviting contractors to go out to bid on your property rehab and you will be giving them the address to do so, then that's one thing. If you're just asking for a general idea - no such thing. You're going to either have to hire someone to break it all down (ideally someone you know and trust to do so) or you're going to have to do it yourself.
To do it yourself, get the book from Bigger Pockets mentioned above (it's actually two books. "The book on flipping houses" and "The book on estimating costs".
Homewyse.com is super helpful too.
If you're actually just looking for a contractor, my apologies, it was confusing.