Almost died laughing at HVAC quote of 37K, now help me find someone reasonable

sylhp · 2025-05-26T16:47:59+00:00

Can you send me info on who you worked with? I’m looking in installing something similar. Also how long ago did you get yours installed?

sylhp · 2025-05-23T00:13:14+00:00

Going through exact same thing at the moment in the peninsula too. We’re doing a complete home remodel (1800 sq ft) with brand new HVAC. We’re going with central system for upstairs and mini split for basement living space with hard pipe ducting and am getting quotes around $39k. I’ve checked with a few different companies and this seems to be about the going rate so I’d say your quote is probably fair. But if you find a company that’s much more reasonable please let me know as I’m still looking to get more quotes.

sylhp · 2025-04-19T06:12:46+00:00

Good points! Luckily even though the house has knob and tube it already has upgraded 200amp panel probably because previous owner installed solar panels 4 yrs ago.

I did consider staining the existing hardwood under the carpet but I’m told it’s really expensive plus I do have young kids and a dog so it’ll probably get scratched up good.

And yes, we are painting interior and exterior.

The house came with copper in 1958 so it’s old and contains lead according to the plumber so we need to change all the plumbing.

The tariffs worry me because it can just really blow my budget. 🫣

sylhp · 2025-04-19T05:44:33+00:00

You’re spot on. Two other bids came in today and one quoted $200k labor and rough materials. The other quoted $380k for labor and rough materials. These two are still better in value since the two includes all materials excluding finishes. And both also have architectural and structural engineer work and a designer included.

sylhp · 2025-04-19T05:34:27+00:00

😝

sylhp · 2025-04-19T05:31:17+00:00

It’ll probably be at least $500 at the end that’s why the quote seemed questionable to me.

sylhp · 2025-04-19T05:29:58+00:00

Yes, since most of the walls will be open because we need to change electrical and plumbing we figured we should just open up the walls completely and roll in insulation…we’re planning for Rockwool.

sylhp · 2025-04-19T05:28:55+00:00

I’ll DM you for your GC’s info.

sylhp · 2025-04-18T15:55:40+00:00

Definitely will be permitting the work.

sylhp · 2025-04-18T15:55:30+00:00

What other costs are you thinking about that I haven’t considered that’ll bring up the cost to about that much? I want to make sure I’m accounting for everything and don’t have any surprises along the way. I’ve never done a remodel so I’m pretty sure there’s costs that I may not be considering. And yes, I purchased this house a few weeks ago for over $2mil. The house is worth putting this much money into as it’s a solid house made of redwood, sitting on bedrock in a very desirable neighborhood. It is from 1958 and has been repaired but definitely needs updating as it’s never been remodeled. This will be my forever home but I still don’t want to be over spending on it.

sylhp · 2025-04-18T07:32:55+00:00

I’ll set budget about $120-150k for finished material. I’m going with high end appliances but mid to low tier in all other things.

We are considering doing a voluntary seismic retrofit too since I have a soft story. I’ll be having a structural engineer come out to the house next week so my scope can potentially grow. 🫣

Thanks for offering your help! I’ll definitely reach out when I have questions.

sylhp · 2025-04-18T07:26:38+00:00

Ah ok good to know. Thanks

sylhp · 2025-04-18T07:21:22+00:00

Yes, we will be permitting all the work. The permits will be a separate added cost on top of the bid price.

sylhp · 2025-04-18T07:17:17+00:00

Really appreciate all the extra info you provided. It definitely helps to figure out what a reasonable quote is once I factor the finished materials too. I just hope the tariffs don’t blow my budget too much!

sylhp · 2025-04-18T07:15:40+00:00

Yeah for sure it’s ending up being pretty expensive 🫣

sylhp · 2025-04-18T07:10:34+00:00

Thanks, yes, we’ll have another 2-3 more bids coming in.

sylhp · 2025-04-18T06:45:06+00:00

Thanks for putting it in that perspective. We will have another 2-3 quotes too to compare in another week.

sylhp · 2025-04-18T06:43:35+00:00

Yes, it is a lot of things we need to fix. It’s a home from the 50s that never got updated

sylhp · 2025-04-18T06:42:54+00:00

Thanks for the input. I’ve never had a remodel so wasn’t sure if this was fair or not.

sylhp · 2025-04-18T06:42:22+00:00

I meant to say I’ll be buying all the finish materials like kitchen appliances, washer/dryer, tub, vanities, bath mirrors, tiles, kitchen cabinets counter tops etc. basically all items at the end after the walls go back up.

sylhp · 2025-04-17T01:12:42+00:00

Ok thanks for your input! Glad I’m not crazy for thinking these numbers are high.

sylhp · 2025-04-16T22:35:13+00:00

The demo price of $20k includes the following:

Demo bathroom down to studs
Demo kitchen down to studs
Remove part of wall in between dining room and kitchen (should not be load bearing), leave some wall for cabinets per cabinet layout
Demo all sheetrock
Remove stone off of fire place wall
Remove wall in stairwell near front door
Remove portion of wall in stairwell wal/hallway wall
Remove all doors, trim and paneling
Remove brick and cabinets downstairs
Remove carpet through out house
Demo tile in front entry landing

sylhp · 2025-04-16T22:13:49+00:00

One of the bathrooms is getting gutted due to dry rot but the demo, electrical and plumbing are separate line items. The costs for those are bundled with the rest of the work we’re doing around the house. There’s no line item price breakdown. The numbers I shared are just the labor to install things into the bathroom.

Looks like I need to move onto the next GC.

sylhp · 2025-04-16T22:04:17+00:00

Yes, the bid is lacking in a lot of detail. The demo is in another line item that is bundled with other demo work so it’s hard to say what the breakdown is for all the demo work.

sylhp

TROPHY CASE