How much would it cost to build a connected mother-in-law apartment?

Question

This is a long held dream project of mine. I want to extend part of my two story house out back. This could make it possible to enlarge two small bedrooms and make a third one and give room to improve the master bath. The same addition would have on the first floor a small apartment with one bedroom and bath, kitchen, storage space, porch to sit on and sitting room. I read that, if I act as my own "general contractor, the project's cost would be much lower. Now, if I went to one of those schools for building a house, I could even build some of it myself, but that is not my idea now.
So, do you know if being your own general contractor significantly reduces the cost of building? Should I just use the average square foot cost of building a house as the probable cost? Does that include the interior finishing and appliances? Have you done this type of project or know someone wh has do one? Thanks.

Answer 1

My husband and I built a 6,800 sq. foot house. We acted as general contractors. We would do it again as we saved between 20 to 30 percent of the building cost. Depending on where you live and the quality of finishes you choose, your cost per square foot with finishes can be in the neighborhood of $150.



P.S. Do not let the "general contractor benefits" line below discourage you. Anything they save they keep for themselves and they don't pass the savings on to you. You can negotiate as good as they can. Even with the volume of work they supposedly have, now a days building is at an all time low, so subs are happy to take any work they can. Look out for yourself, nobody represents your interests better than you can!

Answer 2

I am in S.CA, and I built a 1100 sq ft guesthouse five years ago. I did all the work myself, except for exterior framing and roofing, electrical and plumbing. My countertops are laminate, and my roof is asphalt shingles, not cement tile (which require a heavier structure to support them, and which are more expensive.) It cost me about $90,000.00 Prices are better now, with the slow economy, but I dont think you can do it for $70,000, especially if you are going to hire the work out. Also, what you are describing are high end finishes, not middle of the road. Call around to local contractors, and see what they say. Dont forget about the cost of permits and school fees (those are substantial in my area.) Also, verify that you can legally put a full kitchen into a guesthouse. In my area you cannot.

Answer 3

This should not be a first DIY project. This is a big, complex job.



If you do it yourself, you also should pull the permits, and make sure that you have all of the required inspections, to make sure that you will be safe, and also to allow you to be able to sell it in the future, without expensive fixes at that time... cheaper to build it right, the first time.

Answer 4

Don't forget that acting as your own GC will not save you as much as you've been led to believe. Established GC's have a consistent set of subcontractors that they use on a regular basis that give a discounted, or "contractor price." These same subs will give you a higher "homeowner price" simply because you will not provide them with the volume of work they recieve from a builder. This essentially will be your only job for them so they will charge you based on that fact. I've seen prices vary between the two as high as 30%. A typical GC will charge, on average, 18-25% of the total job cost to make his living. Other factors to include are- you will never get your materials, lumber, supplies, and fixtures for anywhere close to the price they get them for. They have accounts with suppliers that discount a lot of money due to volume of sales that you will be paying full price for. For example, walk into sherwin williams and buy a gallong of paint that retails for $38/gallon, I'll walk in next to you and get the same gallon for wholesale at $11/ gal. Suddenly, your percentage of DIY GC savings is dropping Not to mention all of the time you will have to take off work during random hours of the day to meet with different trades and building officials. You have to factor in your time spent at all these meetings, including the many phone calls you will receive asking you to rush out to the job right away because there's a problem.....and it's going to cost you more money and worse....it's your fault because you made a planning error because you have no experience running a job. I don't mean to sound discouraging but rather to inform you of what really goes on behind the scenes. It's how GC's make a living. By using their experience to give you a quality product. There's really a lot more to it that what you see on HGTV and the like.

Answer 5

This can really range depending on where u live and your taste if u contract it yourself it can b done for 70 dollars a square ft keeping it basic

Answer 6

Threefitty

Answer 7

It would be much cheaper to buy the mother-in-law a broom stick and tell her to fly away. I tried it with my mother-in-law but the old cow keeps coming back, darned nuisance.

Answer 8

Shame on YOU, you will be OLD someday...just hope there is someone with a brain to help you...shame...shame..