Sticker shock

Steve the architect let me know today the initial ballpark estimates from the 3 contractors he had enlisted for bids on the renovation.
That sound you heard was my jaw dropping.
Not only were they all over my budget, they were ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OVER MY BUDGET! DOUBLE what I wanted to spend.
But before I climbed out on the ledge to jump he calmed me down (a little) by explaining why this particular job was getting pricey.

It boiled down to 5 major areas:

SUMMER CONSTRUCTION: The summer season is traditionally the most active for any type of construction, so getting the right workers comes at a premium. They're no dummies, they know they're highly sought after in this productive season so their price goes up. It's basic laws of supply and demand.

Summer construction is costly

ASBESTOS: Since no renovations or updates had been done to my apartment in over 50 years, the original tile flooring in the large gallery, the bathroom, and the kitchen was made of asbestos. It is extremely dangerous to remove and dispose of it. All the contractors said the best idea was simply to cover it up with new sub-flooring and top flooring (marble in the bath, tile in the kitchen, hardwood in the gallery). That said, it was still costly to work around it, there are labor precautions that drive up the price. Ugh.

Asbestos: BAD!

LEAD PAINT: Again, the old place revealed more ugly secrets. All the rooms were done in outdated and health hazardous lead paint. It would have to be totally scraped off, patched, and re-plastered before it could be re-painted. Many steps equals more money. And of course, safety precautions in dealing with the lead drives up the labor price as well. Ugh again.

Lead paint: ALSO BAD!

OLD ELECTRICAL: Three strikes you're out. The wiring in the apartment was decrepit and, most upsetting, out of Code. The entire apartment would have to be re-wired and updated electrically with a new main fuse box. You guessed it, this ain't cheap. Triple ugh! 

Old electrical: SCARY!

WINDOWS & HVAC: Replacing exterior windows to New York apartment buildings is not cheap. I knew this. It was a requirement for purchasing the apartment, a dictate from the building so I was mentally prepared for this cost. I wasn't prepared for the fact that I have expensive taste. The kind of beautiful double paned casement windows that I want are sky high. Add to that the super high labor cost of installing them five flights up. You have to work from scaffolding attached to the roof of the building, sort of like a window washer rig. In addition, the AC and heating unit has to be punched through the exterior of the building wall. Sound expensive? You betcha.

Through-the-wall exterior HVAC units: NOT CHEAP!

So net/net, all these things make sense; there's no getting around these costs. Old properties always come with hidden costs you don't forsee. So Steve and I went over all the other costs in the bids and started sharpening our pencils. We had to find some things we could cut back on or trim altogether. We think these edits will bring down the costs a lot. He's going back to the contractors with these new ideas to see how we affect the bids. I'll outline them all in the next posting (that's if I'm not out on the ledge again). Stay tuned...