Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 1/26/2006

Question
Hi,
Thanks for the service you provide! My elderly parents are needing to make a residence change due to my dad's recent stroke. When he comes home from rehab in a few months, it's likely he'll need a lot of supports, so I am planning to move back home to help out. The house we grew up in was built in 1934, and there is a back building that I believe was constructed just a few years later. This building has a detached garage at the front, and behind it is a finished space with several rooms and an antiquated half-bath. The construction of this finished space is concrete block, and the foundation is slab on grade. I would say the heated area is about 900 sq. ft. It has good "bones," but shows its age and hasn't been used for much in many years. We're thinking of turning this into a handicapped-accesible apartment for my parents, with two bedrooms, great room bathroom and efficiency kitchen. Upgraded HVAC would be needed, and we're also thinking of raising the floor a bit, possibly using radiant heat. We're just not sure if it makes financial sense to do this rehab. The other option is a retirement community, but those fees are enormous. Can you help me estimate or guide me to an estimating tool for such a project? This would be nothing fancy, just standard construction other than the floor, and modifications for someone in a wheelchair. The great room space is already there and would remain intact, but we'd need to knock down a few walls and reconfigure the remaining space. Thanks for any help you can provide. By the way, this property is located in central North Carolina.

Mia

Answer
Hi Mia - thanks for your question!

The only reliable estimating tool for such a project would be to get contractor's bids; the inherent uniqueness of remodeling makes it impossible to apply any kind of standard formulas.

But I can give you some rough ideas of cost as well as a few comments.

I don't have information on costs in your area, but for a 900 square foot remodeling project such as you've described in my area (central Ohio), using a local contractor, I'd expect to pay somewhere between $40,000 and $60,000 for a very basic job.  What you'd pay depends, of course, on many, many factors - the physical condition of the structure inside and out; the amount and quality of work you want to do; local material and labor rates; and how much needs to be done to bring the building up to code.  It's possible you could spend a little less, or a lot more.

One concern you should address immediately is zoning restrictions.  Assuming you're in an area with zoning regulations, it's possible you may not be allowed to have two dwelling units on your property.  It's something you must check out before you proceed.

If you go ahead, you should consider designing the space to make it easier for your Dad's lack of mobility.  This doesn't mean drastic changes, but there are small moves you can do to make things more accessible.  A good place for accessibility information is the Fair Housing Guidelines from HUD - you can find it here: http://www.huduser.org/publications/destech/fairhousing.html

That page contains free downloads in PDF format by chapter.

I'd suggest you locate and invite a couple of local contractors in to take a look a the building and give some rough ideas on what it would take to renovate it.  You might contact your local HBA at www.NAHB.org to locate qualified contractors.

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
Richard Taylor Architects, LLC
www.rtastudio.com
www.betterhomedesign.blogspot.com