2nd story ADU Cost Estimate
Aloha! We are located in Kaneohe, HI and have engaged an architect to design a second-story 800 sq. ft. ADU (over the carport and kitchen, to take advantage of views), and redesign the footprint of our existing kitchen. Our home was built in 1956 and is single wall construction. We received our first cost estimate from a reputable GC this morning, and the quote is over DOUBLE what we had communicated to our architect (for context, we discussed construction costs over a year ago, and was told $500/sq. ft. at that time). And this is with lower-end finishes. I understand costs have increased over the last year, but over double? We cannot afford, nor would ever entertain, spending this amount of money for what we are trying to do. I’m trying to understand where we went wrong here. For those in the trades, is this an architect problem, a contractor problem, or a combination of both?