Electrical Estimate

[Coach1310]

Good day all. Is there any easy way to roughly estimate the cost for a home to get its entire electrical redone? Like a rough price per square foot? I know there are a zillion factors that could change it, but I was curious as if it there was a way just to get a rough idea of cost.

It is a pretty straightforward job. 1600 square foot house. 1100 main level, 500 upstairs/loft area. No electric heat, so just lights, outlets, breaker box etc.

Thanks for any help.... I know I am going to get the "call an electrician" game...however this site is a great resource and convinient so I figured I try to see what I can get here. Thanks

[sparcebag]

WOW! You could probably get a ballpark but there's so many what ifs I dont think a bid, close anyway is possible.What if drywall tearout is required,what if some walls are 2x4 blocked,what if plate holes are small ect.

You can figure a materials list then take it from there bid wise anyway.

[JohnMickish]

Two questions first, why and how old is the house?

[Coach1310]

Well.... we are looking at a sort of "investment property". I can't even explain to you the issues with it. It looks as if the each part of it was half finished. What amazes me is someone lived in it just the way it is.... not to mention the 3 outlets that have a lovely black circle around them...SCARY!! Anywho, I am trying to find out what it would cost to get it up to speed. From the looks of the work you can see on the outside, the electrical is scary looking, so I would just replace all of it. From what the realtor told me the entire place was wired around 1990 when the size of the place was tripled with an addition. I can't believe from what I have seen, a professional did it. I look like a DIY'er that didn't know what he/she was doing. If I were to purchase the place with hopes of selling I would not want the poor electrical on my conscience. I could get a formal bid, but I'm not the owner and am trying to estimate if it is worthy of offering on with the $$$ it would take to fix it up. Thanks for any help.

[chasineyes]

I'm guessing 5-10,000$. I know that a friend bought a house that the basement electrical was NOT inspected and the city is telling him they may have to rip down sheet rock to get to the guts of it. Sheetrocking my basement alone was $3,000. If you can't do these projects yourself, I always wondered how people "made" money on flips/investments?

[JohnMickish]

My company does not do residential work but I have to guess that if you wanted to rip out every wire and start over without tearing down any sheetrock you will be looking at way above the $10,000 mark. You have to figure it's $2,000+ just to change a service, let along everything inside a house. If it was redone in 1990 or so the wired are more than likely stapled to the studs inside the walls. Not easy to remove existing wire and replace with new. I am just guessing here but I'd have to say it's going to take three times as long as a new construction project since access is limited.

You would be money ahead to have someone come in and open every box and see whats wrong. Honestly, I don't know how someone could put a bid in on a project like this since there are to many variables involved.

I believe you had the answer in your first post. You will be better off getting a couple of electrical contractors out to give you their thoughts after looking at it. I'm guessing you can use this as a leverage point if you decide to purchase the property. I know it's not the answer you where looking for.

[Coach1310]

I have already gotten more info then I expected. In case anybody wants to guess on a ballpark... We plan on gutting the whole place down to the studs because some of the house is sheetrocked, some is paneled and some is chipboard that is painted if you can believe that. It is a foreclosure which in my opinion complicates the bargaining process because banks like to act as if they are almighty.

If possible, I would like to do all the tearing out myself...not sure if that is what an electrical contractor would want, but we would be doing as much of the manual labor ourselves(demo etc.) and contracting the rest. So basically it would be like wiring a newly framed house without any obstructions, limited access, etc.

Thanks again for all the replies.

[sparcebag]

In that case just figure out how many bedrooms,baths,Kitchen is 220 required,elec.stove/oven.If basement is gonna be finished and how many rooms.Call a elec contractor tell he or she sq. ft. and info explain your not in house and ask for a ballpark.

If you remove all wireing existing,I'll guess around 8 grand with min. requirements nothin fancy like computer wire Phone, TV,garage

[JohnMickish]

Yep, if the walls are going to be bare it's going to be pretty close to a new construction price. Call some people and give them the square footage, # of bath/bedrooms and I bet you get a quote over the phone. Work as a whole is pretty slow so I bet you could get some shops willing to do it for cost. Just make sure you get a good shop and not your brothers neighbors uncle's grandson who took a shop class once. If it's going to be used as a rental I would have it done right but not fancy.

[PerchPounder]

A friend of mine just built a new house this fall. We did all of the wiring ourselves with nothing too extreme but a little more than necessary. He spent close to 8 and that's with a partially finished basement and a minimally fishished garage.

If you decide to go to contractor make sure you do some extensive research. Just because a company is the most well known does not make them the most qualified it also doesn't mean your going to get a quality installation that you'll be completely happy with.