Phone: 319-266-0807 HOME WHAT WE DO WHAT DOES REMODELING COST? ABOUT US CONTACT US What Does Remodeling Cost? Developing a new construction or remodeling project is a multi-step process, whether it’s for your home or commercial property. With more than 40 years of construction experience, the team at Koch Construction has the ability to help you finish your project with no surprises. Let’s look at the steps that go into making a good estimate: 1. An initial meeting to discuss wants, needs, desires, style preferences, budget, timing, and special considerations. 2. Creating a defined scope of work and/or design. 3. Making a materials list. 4. Developing labor costs based on materials to be used. 5. Securing subcontractor pricing. 6. Creating a working budget. 7. Writing a presentation proposal. 8. A second meeting to discuss design, scope of work, schedule, and proposed budget. 9. These steps will be repeated as often as necessary to get to the final scope of work and the budget necessary to complete it. Remodeling a home can be a very rewarding experience, especially if you and your contractor work well together. We’ve had many customers tell us their home never really felt like their own until they remodeled it to their personal liking and function. It’s also a great way to keep the things you love about your home, like its location, neighborhood, landscaping, etc. It’s usually not wise to enter into a project thinking only about re-sale value and recouping costs. Though we do believe the longer you hold on to your property the greater the payback is, at the same time there is a cost of ownership and the opportunity to get the most enjoyment out of your most valuable asset – your home. A closer look at the steps in developing your remodeling proposal First, we’ll meet with you to discuss what you want to accomplish with your project. The more detail you can share about your likes and dislikes, and images of elements or styles you like, the easier it is for us to develop a plan to meet your goals. We’ll also talk about timing, a very general budget, and any special considerations. Then, we develop a budget, which is the hardest part of the discussion for both parties. You fear giving a figure means that will be the final cost, we fear giving a figure means we’ll end up losing the project before we ever get started. After we’ve discussed your wants and needs, we define an initial scope of work or design, say for a kitchen or bath. Sometimes that involves a fee, which would be agreed upon before proceeding. We use the initial design to make a materials list of needed supplies to complete the project. This part of the estimating process is fairly scientific – there are prices available for what we’ll need to purchase. Then we develop labor costs based on installing or utilizing the materials list. We use historical data from similar types of projects, time studies applied to quantities, and here we can apply our experience as to where the good going vs. the tough going will be on a particular project. We also try to anticipate any pitfalls on the front end to minimize surprises later on. After materials and labor costs, then we add in subcontractor pricing for a project total. Using that estimating process, we can present you with a proposal that is accurate and will be the price at completion, barring any changes you may request, or concealed conditions that may be discovered in the process. The key to the whole process is estimating every project on its own specifications; we effectively build the project in our mind and on paper and base our estimate on that. That’s what makes building and remodeling fun and unique; no two projects are alike. We hope this explanation helps clarify why we never make the estimate match the budget, because the proof is in the estimate as to whether the budget is too low or too high. It also explains why we’re reluctant to throw out “ballpark” figures, ball parks are big with a lot of room for error. We offer the following cost vs. value report published annually by Remodeling Magazine. We have found this to be a helpful tool for people when looking at rough costs for a given project. We feel the numbers in this report offer a fair representation, or at least a place to start, when considering the cost of remodeling. Most projects listed below are listed in both a mid-range and upscale version. National Cost vs. Value Averages M = Midrange Project U = Upscale Project Privacy Policy Terms Of Use Login ©2021 Koch Construction