Your project, your budget.
How to assess your potential project costs and avoid some common pitfalls
Picking your contractor
Making sure your contractor is licensed and insured may add cost to the project but will assure that your project is code compliant and safe. The Pennsylvania HIC system allows you to search by license number to view any outstanding complaints or judgements from prior lawsuits. It also ensures contractors maintain a minimum liability insurance that protects you, saving you money in the long run.
Code compliance and proper permitting may seem expensive, but it's almost always cheaper than paying for the job to be done over again.
Having a solid contract, that spells out each area of the work to be completed, comes at an initail cost, but ensures that the work is performed to your specifications. Having well documented change orders ensures any changes are agreed upon by all parties before those changes are made. Progress payments keep work moving and keep customers and homeowners from getting baited into large unneccessary downpayments.
Determining your approximate cost
Free Estimates: Most free estimates (including ours) only cover what we call a "budgeting estimate" which is a rough estimate that gives the customer an idea of what the average project of their size would cost given mid grade finishes.
You can ballpark this yourself by finding the square footge (length times width) of your project (kitchen, bathroom, deck etc) and then multiply by the approximate regional going rate for that type of project with mid level finishes. These estimates are not binding and are used for getting an idea of potential costs. There are many factors beyond finish choices that can also increase or decrease total cost- such as job location, accessibility, and required permits.
Current examples (updated Dec 2024) of prices per square foot that we use to build estimates in Harrisburg,PA...
Complete Home Addition: $200-345/ sq ft
Kitchen Remodel: $215-320/ sq ft
Bathroom Remodel: $200-315/ sq ft
New Wooden Deck/ Railings: $49/ sq ft
Composite/pvc "maintenance free" Deck: $89/ sq ft
Paver Patio: $26/sq ft
These numbers represent very rough numbers you can use to see if your budget and project ideas line up, a lot of factors play into a finalized estimate and contract price and these should not be taken as final costs.
Paid Estimates and Design: We provide 3d design services for decks, kitchens, bathrooms, and additions. This is a paid up front service that is too involved to fall under the free estimate service. In some cases part or all of the paid estimate price can be decucted from the total job costs on final payment.
For instance a printed full basement floorplan that the customer can keep (and even use with a different contractor if they desire) with site visit, measuring and 2 revisions is approximately $1200
Determining level of finishes
Levels of finished product vary even from one part of the home to another. For instance new homebuilders will only tape and apply a first coat of mud for drywall in a garage vs a flawless level 5 finish in a home theater room. The difference in finish level is directly related to labor hours, material used, and overall cost. This range applies to all parts of the project and can determine how you keep within your budget.
Home fixtures for kitchens and baths can range from "builders grade" knobs and drawer pulls to individually hand crafted finish pieces. Things like kitchen faucet installs can be straight forward, or you may desire a hands free kitchen faucet which requires both plumbing and wiring along with the know how to get it done properly. Knowing your expected range of finishes of the whole project can help determine, or rein in, your project budget.