Let’s celebrate National Foundation Repair Cost Clarity Day. Brian advised me to avoid “cost honesty” (he’s my ultimate protector and I’m grateful for that), but I’m going to share some actual numbers as well as estimates for asbestos and lead removal (thanks for the feedback there). My hope is that these figures can provide educational information to others (despite my concerns, I am very aware of how privileged we are to even be able to undertake this expensive project). This particular project is all about learning and sharing for me, so it’s a time to learn and share. Our original goal was to restore this house and make it a suitable home to live in (with some, but not all, bells and whistles), but that has changed…continue reading. So today we’re going to share our four foundational quotes and explain them all (and why we bring them back in a good way).
Foundation quotes
Tom mentioned in our inspection report (above) that major foundation repairs were needed due to subsidence and some dry rot, but he told us multiple times that the entire house was in really, really good condition. When you’re inside the house, it feels solid in addition to the slope. Again, this is not the house we live in. It could be a place where my team creates content or where my kids play drums or play ping pong with their friends. Or, preferably, a place to live after college. We’re not moving any walls (we’re just adding a small bathroom). I also don’t plan on adding tons of furniture or a 500 pound cast iron bathtub. There is only one room that supports the rooms upstairs, and that room is actually in the best condition, basically speaking. This house has been built for a long time, so you may be able to repair it and continue living in it. got itbut not perfect??? But I didn’t have that epiphany until after the first quote…
First Quote – Company A (Hello Sticker Shock!)
The initial estimate from Company A was $114,000, but additional costs will be added as they become known. This involves essentially redoing the entire foundation and using different methods for each room based on individual needs (every room is built over time, so each has different challenges). Weeks of excavation, redesign, crawl space digging, and more than two to four months of work. By the way, I loved this contractor. He was very knowledgeable, communicative, experienced, and kind. Before he sent us his quote, Brian and I were 95% sure we would hire him. However, after receiving the quote, we looked at each other and didn’t know how to proceed. We expected to spend a lot of money, but it just didn’t make sense to spend this on this house what we don’t need (And it was sure to cost even more in the end). Sure, it could add some value to our property, but treating this like a proper renovation could cost well over $600,000. Moreover, the foundation work is not a good design. It’s almost impossible to even photograph the restoration process, and even if you do, it’s just dirt and trees. We would probably splurge here and there for really special design elements, but this first quote made us completely rethink our approach to this project (hence DIYing some of the asbestos and leading the way in abatement). I had 3 other estimates scheduled and I’m so glad I got them…
Wait, but didn’t grit and polish lift an entire house for 35,000??
After receiving the first quote, I re-read Kathy and Garrett’s post. how did they lift the whole house (Indeed, it was smaller before adding the second floor). They spent $35,000 lifting and pouring new foundations (and works). For context, this was in 2021, an hour and a half away from Seattle (so this was near a big city, not 10 years ago). This further convinced me that I didn’t need to spend more than $100,000. We had to get creative and lower our expectations while staying safe. And we’re even more convinced that making our costs public will help others in similar situations make more informed decisions.
Our second foundation quote:
This was from a large national company and I thought they might be interested in PR and social media and might offer me a discount, but they backtracked after I told them this was going to be a very “public project” after the review. He said that wasn’t really what they were doing and they didn’t feel comfortable doing it. They seem to be more focused on strapping up larger commercial buildings rather than restoring vintage farmhouses (and could probably result in a bad PR experience if they don’t do a good job). Not everyone is interested in getting flamed online 🙂
Our third foundation quote:
This team has competed twice and I really liked it. In the end, they said they could do work for well over 6 figures (similar to Company A), or do about 1/3 of the work for 1/3 of the cost (repair or replacement only). While they were getting the actual numbers, a quote (below) came back from Company D. This surprised me…
Fourth and final quote
Company D took a different approach. If it’s within your budget, we can do a major house hoist, re-route the foundation, or simply repair and replace problem areas. He said they work with people of all budgets and have a very clear formula for how much things cost, calculated in the program. Once we give you a quote, we will never exceed that cost (this is not common with contractors). He traveled many times and spent a lot of time in the narrow 8-inch space under the house to make sure we had all the information to plan and give us an accurate quote. He asked lots of questions, trying to understand what we really wanted for each room (and what concessions we were willing to make). Their initial estimate was $90,000…. Wow.
But I really liked him and I remember him saying he could work with any budget. So I reached out and was very direct. I asked, “What if you only want to spend $25,000 to repair the foundation? After thinking about it, you just want to do the bare minimum to actually make it safe and last 100 years, not necessarily 300 years. Yes, one room in particular (the old post room). What if they wanted to level out the extreme subsidence that was causing them to fall to the ground, but made no effort to make them perfect or brand new?? What’s the least they can do? The least amount of money they can spend to make it happen? legal and safety???
He reduced the scope by TON and came back with an entirely new plan based on his experienced assessment of our foundation. The new reduced scope of work was now $29,000.
Now, you may be worried that it will be shoddy work or that the house will collapse, but I am not and neither are the contractors. They do this all day, every day. Basically, it’s only one beam that’s dry rotting (which I plan on replacing) and the rest are fine, but the other company (and Tom’s advice) was based on completely replacing everything as a precaution (wood that isn’t pressure treated can rot). The company will perform light excavation, use steel adjustable columns to replace weak piers and columns, lift the corner of the column room and place it on top of the beam, repair cracks in the poured foundation, and replace dry rotten sections. But if we can accept that the room is not perfectly level, a little unstable, not at a 90 degree angle, but still very safe, he can do it for that price.
Hallelujah! ! ! ! !
I can’t stress this enough, guys, don’t worry. This house is strong. We’re not moving walls. Although it has been around for about 200 years, everyone says it is in very good condition. Is it as strong as a newly built/newly built house? no. But no matter how much dough you put in, that will never happen. There is only one room supporting the room above and that room is in excellent condition with strong original engineering. Rooms that need more help are additional rooms such as post rooms, canning rooms, and garden sheds that don’t support anything other than the roof. I remember reading some of the comments. They warned that when a house is this old and cobbled together, too much tinkering could weaken it. You’re just putting good money after bad. Major foundation repairs do not guarantee 90 degree angles or perfectly flat floors. When a house is this old, you can either work together to repair and improve it, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars or more to make it completely “new” (essentially what we did in our house), demo it and start over, or give up. This guesthouse uses the fourth estimate. While we feel great about this, we understand that it’s still a hefty $29,000.
As with everything in life, it’s all about balance. We are constantly reminding ourselves what we really want from this home right now. Not a fancy restored cottage with a pebble ice maker, but a cute, cute cottage full of vintage charm. We set budget and time boundaries and parameters and have fun within those boundaries (just like with parenting). This home will be a fun flex space with minimal amenities and lots of charming vintage and DIY details. The more I shave, the more excited I get about it.
*Cute pictures: caitlin green
Source: Emily Henderson – stylebyemilyhenderson.com
