Ballpark remodeling costs?

We are looking at buying our first home (possibly) and found one in an excellent location with great features that we like.

Problem is, it needs new flooring throughout, a new roof, and new painting/wallpaper removal (which we can do ourselves).

Can anyone give me a ballpark figure for the cost of new flooring and roof? The house is about 1500 sq ft, 3BR 2bath, with eat-in kitchen, no garage.

Thanks!

Roof is probably $8-10k or so, but it really depends on the exact roof configuration and complications, the condition of decking and if it or other elements need to be replaced before the reroof, and the quality of shingle you select.

Floor could be any amount you want, depending on what you want to lay: carpet, laminate, hardwood, hand-scraped exotics, etc etc. From single-digit thousands to much, much higher. If you just want to ballpark it, take the floorplan to HD or Lowes and have them do a 5-minute calc.

If you're very serious about buying the house and very serious about paying to have this work done, get a few quotes for each. You should be able to do it in a few days. If not, though, don't waste the contractors' time.

Matt

I agree with gatorfan. You can do the roof yourself but do you really want to? I feel this is an area where you should opt for PROFESSIONAL installation.And check the contractors work stringently. Way too many 'back yard billies' out there. Think of it this way, would you perform surgery on yourself...or your family? Don't be cheap, pay for a pro. Educate yourself as best you can especially about your installer and his capabilities. Good Luck!

Labor cost, type of flooring, how much prep work is involved, even something as simple as how far away from the source of materails can effect the cost. I agree you need someone on site to look at it.
Each of those bundles of shingles weighs 75 lb. and they weigh the same when they come off.
It's back breaking work to do a roof and unless you have at least three strong people and the ladders, shingle shovels, roofing nail guns a break to bend the flashing, a way to haul away the old shingles and the know how to do it, you may want to have it done and just work on the easy stuff.

ESD087, you've gotten some good advise about roofing. If you don't know what you are doing you will have a big mess on your hands. I see all to often the results of folks who think that all you have to do is bang a nail in a shingle and you magically have a new roof. Fact is, even a lot of installers don't have a clue the proper installation of a roof system.

I'd advise anyone thinking about having a new roof to be installed to visit the shingle MFG's websites and educate themselves about all the requirements for a proper installation. They will also have a listing of approved installers in your area.

esd087 said:

We are looking at buying our first home (possibly) and found one in an excellent location with great features that we like.

Problem is, it needs new flooring throughout, a new roof, and new painting/wallpaper removal (which we can do ourselves).

Can anyone give me a ballpark figure for the cost of new flooring and roof? The house is about 1500 sq ft, 3BR 2bath, with eat-in kitchen, no garage.

Thanks!

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The answers to your questions depend largely on whether you're doing the work yourself, or having it done.


I've done a lot of DIY shingling over the years. It's not terribly complicated, but you do have to know what you're doing, as well as local codes. And while it is very "job well done" satisfying, it is very hard work. You also have to dispose of the old shingles.

I'm about 50 now, and whether I re-shingle another house will depend largely on the house. If it's a single-level ranch, sure I'll do it. If it's 2-story and has gables & dormers, no way!

I'd guess that roofing materials - with good shingles - would run in the ballpark of $2,000. Having it done professionally would probably run you about $8,000.


Flooring... What kind of flooring does it have, and what do you want to do with it? Refinishing hardwood floors, by yourself, is not cost prohibitive nor horribly difficult. Having hardwood flooring installed, for instance, is a different deal entirely.


I'd guess that, if you have both floors and roof replaced professionally, you could easily run into $20,000. But again, that depends entirely on what you want done, and how much of it you're going to do yourself.

Wow, thanks for the response. My brother is a licensed contractor so I would probably have him do the roof and possible help a little myself. From the sounds of it I could probably have him do it for around $5,000.

We haven't gone to view the house in person yet --just saw the pictures. It looks like the flooring is base only throughout, no carpet or hardwood. The price is low enough that I think we could afford all new flooring, which would be really nice. And we can do tile or laminate flooring ourselves. The only other thing it needs throughout is wallpaper removal and paint, which we can also do. We would have about $20K max to work with on top of sales price (if we get some type of remodel/home improvement mortgage), so I'm thinking this might be feasible. Thanks!

esd087 said:

We haven't gone to view the house in person yet --just saw the pictures. It looks like the flooring is base only throughout, no carpet or hardwood. The price is low enough that I think we could afford all new flooring, which would be really nice. And we can do tile or laminate flooring ourselves. The only other thing it needs throughout is wallpaper removal and paint, which we can also do. We would have about $20K max to work with on top of sales price (if we get some type of remodel/home improvement mortgage), so I'm thinking this might be feasible. Thanks!

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Sounds like you could be getting in to a good deal. I assume you're aware of closing costs, etc.

It's good to hear that you can do some of this work yourself. Honestly, a person who cannot do any DIY work on a house should never buy a fixer-upper. You're just going to run into too much money.

Before you do any tiling, laminate, or whatever flooring, be sure to check in here. There are a bunch of the guys here who do that for a living, and will be sure to help you get the job done right.


Good luck!

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Tip: do the painting/wallpaper yourself but not the roofing. The labor is absolutely back breaking and very easy to screw up..