Small room renovation: what to ask before you sign a quote

What to take away

A small room renovation, a compact renovation of a bathroom or kitchen, looks like it should be cheap. It is not, and the reason is arithmetic rather than greed. Fixed costs do not shrink with the room, and the items that cause overruns are the ones a quick estimate leaves out.

Why the price per square foot goes up

A bathroom of 40 square feet still needs a plumber, an electrician, a tiler and a painter. Each of them shows up, sets up, works, and leaves. That mobilization cost is nearly identical whether the room is 40 square feet or 140.

Add the fact that small rooms are usually the ones full of systems. Kitchens and bathrooms have the highest density of plumbing, wiring and ventilation per square foot in the entire house.

The cost categories people miss

None of these appear in a per square foot estimate found online.

Protection is the one worth buying properly rather than improvising: plastic sheeting held on spring-loaded poles with a zippered door, hardboard or corrugated sheet over finished floors, and a fan pulling air out through a window where dust is heavy. Our review of worksite equipment scores dust barriers and hard floor board on what they save when a compact job goes wrong.

Concealed conditions

This is where budgets die. Behind a wall you may find failed plumbing, undersized wiring, rot, an unexpected structural member, or previous work that was never permitted.

Building code inspections exist partly to prevent the last of those. The International Code Council's account of why code inspections matter draws a distinction worth understanding before you budget. Code inspections apply to new construction and to remodeling, are carried out by officials working for a jurisdiction, and set a minimum standard for safety.

A home inspection is a different exercise with a different purpose. If your project uncovers unpermitted past work, the cost of legalizing it lands in your budget, not the previous owner's.

Hold a named contingency for this. Fifteen to twenty percent is a reasonable starting point on an older property.

What counts as unpermitted work, and how a retroactive permit is usually handled, is covered in our piece on permits and small room layouts. Your local building department decides both, usually against the International Residential Code as your state or city has adopted it.

Financing changes the ceiling

If the work is substantial, the financing route can change what is possible. HUD's 203(k) rehabilitation mortgage insurance program insures a single long term loan covering both acquisition or refinancing and rehabilitation of a home at least a year old.

The rehabilitation funds are held in escrow and released as work is completed. Eligible property types include single family homes, two to four unit properties, townhomes and eligible condominium units, where improvements to a condominium are limited to the interior of the unit.

That last detail matters a lot for small space owners. HUD runs two versions: Standard 203(k) for major rehabilitation or repairs, and Limited 203(k) for less expensive repairs and improvements, which is the one a single small room is more likely to fit. For work that does not also involve buying or refinancing the home, HUD points borrowers to its Title 1 Property Improvement Loan Program instead. Read the program terms with a lender before assuming your project qualifies.

Questions to ask before you sign

Our piece on hiring questions shows how to force these items into a written quote, and the article on regional differences explains why the same scope prices very differently across the country.

Common questions