All Forum Posts by: Eric Teran

@Aaron T. I’m going give you advice from an Architect’s perspective and what can derail this projects. Hopefully, it doesn’t but here is you list.

1. Puerto Rico looks like they follow the International Building Code (IBC) of 2018 which means a lot and even though old building may not have those requirements you will be changing the use of the building from a school to a hostel and the occupancy. That means you will not be grandfathered in for many parts of this project. It also means it isn’t a third world country where you might get away with a lot of things.

2. Plumbing. There is a ratio on how many people you have for how many toilets, showers, and sinks you need. Plumbing can cost a lot to update. Is the property on septic or public sewer? How much will it cost to enlarge either of those. If you are on septic you can kiss the pool away. Unless you get a company to fill and drain it. I know of one in the DC area that does this so a property owner doesn’t have to hook up the pool to the sewer systems.

3. You may need to adhere to ADA guidelines. Puerto Rico is part of the USA and people may sue your small business if you do not meet ADA or ANSI guidelines. For example, clear pathways, restrooms and showers, beds, and so on. Even how hard a door may be pushed is taken into account. You can sometimes get away with not complying if the occupancy is lower than a certain threshold.

4. Mechanical requirements. I know COVID will go away sooner rather than later. However, a lot of codes have been updated for Air filters. For example, some daycares I am working on had to change their 4’ wall to 6’ because of COVID to separate spaces. Is Puerto Rico hospitality industry requiring anything like this? The good thing is that you are near a beach so opening a few windows may do the trick but you need to ask.

5. Electrical may need to be updated. The panel, outlets, etc. Once you open a wall to change one thing then there are a hundred things to update. Do all lights need to be converted to LED?

6. Fire alarm system or sprinklers. This will cost an arm and a leg and you need to check if this is required. It may be an occupancy thing again. Same goes for the number of egress from a space.

7. Energy requirements. Does the code require new windows and doors and insulation and so forth.

8. Structural. You need to make sure it is still in good shape after all those hurricanes every year. If anything needs to be repaired it will fall under the new IBC 2018.

9. Certificate of occupancy requirements and any other type of licenses you may need from Puerto Rico’s tourism industry.

10. Finally, figure out the best spot for the bar! That will bring in your revenue.

I love hostels and have traveled the world staying in hostels. I’ve stayed in over 100 and maybe one or two would pass all the new code requirements. I bring all this up because there is a lot of due diligence that needs to be done and any of these items may add a ton of money to the construction budget. I’m on your side and I hope I see this built in a year so I can take my kids surfing.

Good luck!

@Patrick Sears I have a client where I designed 8 bedrooms that are all suites (bath, walk in closet, microwave, 200 sf rm) with one large communal area on the first floor. Each room will be individually rented as you stayed. However the market audience for this is for profesional military people who travel to different bases and only stay for a year or so. My client knows this market very well and knows how much different professions are given for for their housing per diem. We haven’t started construction yet but we hope to soon.

He did spent some time with the zoning department, lawyers and so forth to make everything legal.

I think it is a good idea if you can do it legally, your ROI makes sense, and you are prepared to have a piece of property for 12-24 months where you invest a lot of money before the returns start to pour in.

Good luck.

@Erick Chavarria first off, great name. I have done about 15 of these types of projects for my clients in the DC market in the last three years. It can become expensive but it depends.

1. Most important determine the depths of your existing footings. You can do this by digging a hole about 18”x18” and dig next to the party wall. Once there is no more brick or concrete then you have reached the bottom of the footing. Let’s say the footing is 13” deep then you subtract 4” for a slab and you are left with 9” of additional ceiling height. If you want to go lower than the footing then that will require underpinning and that may become expensive. Be sure to dig a hole on both party walls.

2. In addition to egress you need natural light to come into the space. I forgot the requirement but usually if you have an egress window or door with glazing it is enough.

3. If you drop the slab you may have to drop all your existing sewer lines. Theo will add costs. Especially if they have to be dropped all the way to the street.

4. Is there any mechanical or other equipment in the way to have a decent bedroom and space down there? This is where an architect may come in handy. In DC we are required. I’m not sure about Baltimore as I’ve only done a few bigger projects there like a full gut rehab.

5. To confirm you only want additional bedrooms and not a separate unit because that is an entirely different ballgame?

6. You will most likely need a structural engineer to ok drop the slab. You might be able to get away without an architect. Don’t let a contractor do all this on their own unless they have a structural engineer on their team.

Good luck

Eric

@Brenden Giroux Russell gave a good price range. Within the beltway you are looking at roughly the same price range. Unless If you go towards Anacostia or Capital Heights áreas and you will find it a little cheaper for construction costs. Last year I had two very similar projects for an areaway stair and one was in Georgetown and the other in Anacostia. Guess which one was $30k more expensive?

@Jay Hinrichs as an Architect in my day job I found this statement interesting. Here in DC where most of my clients are based the city has recently updated to the 2017 IBC (international building code). Most places are a few years behind because they then add amendments to the IBC. Anyway, the 2017 compared to the 2015 has much stricter energy and building codes. For example, lighting efficiency must now be 85% LED compared to 75%. The Structural bracing, lateral loads, snow drift, etc. require a higher safety factors. Insulation must now be at least R5 continuous plus R19 between the studs. This will vary depending on the climate region but the point is the new code is a lot stricter on energy and building compliance.

All these upgrades that are now required will add cost to the construction budget. Right now it is required and not a choice for any work requiring a permit. Will the government help homeowners or investors cover the difference when they are looking to renovate?

The Weatherization Assistances Program (WAP) was created in 1976 (thanks Wikipedia) and they have been helping low income families weatherize. Will this potential new plan help real estate investors as well? How about a flipper?

I’m all for this but I know it is going add more to the construction budget and make it difficult on some people. One day we will all be living in a Passive House.

@Chi Ta I’m an Architect and what I do for my developer clients if they want to take the risk is to start the plans as soon as their offer is accepted. They ask for a longer closing period around 2-4 months. During that time we have permission to submit plans and get a permit. The risk is if my client backs out of the deal because they still pay my fees and other consultants. The gain is four months and less holding costs. That’s the legal way.

The riskier way is start the work and hope to get a permit before you call the first inspector. However, a neighbor can call and you will get a stop work order which are expensive.

Another option is you get a demo permit first to start the work and that is pretty straightforward. Unless you demo the entire structure. Another type of permit is non-structural and those are easy to obtain in a few days.

These developers have being doing for a while so they have their system down so much so that they don’t even have to speak to their architect and waste time making decisions. I have two clients like that. I also have first time developers that can’t make up their mind and the project just takes longer to design and submit.

I Hope that helps.

@Bob Fu are you planning on making the basement a separate unit with a kitchen? If you want a separate unit then you do have to separate the mechanical, electrical, and hot water. That will cost much more than $40k. There is are a lot more questions if this is the route. If you just want a basement door for egress it sounds pretty straight forward from what you are describing. You may need to do some underpinning un the porch columns but everything else will be straight forward.

Send me a PM and we can go through both scenarios in more detail.

@Bob Fu I’ve designed a lot of these for my clients. Here are a few question that will help determine cost. Are you only looking to do an areaway and nothing on the inside? If you are adding a door how does it work with the basement layout? Is there an existing window that will convert to a door or just a wall? Is the front of your property part of public space? How deep is it from grade to the basement floor? Do you have to move any utilities? Is there a porch that is in the way?

With all that said I agree with @Russell Brazil that the low end is around $20k but I can see the high end being around $40k or more. It just depends on your answers to all those questions.

@Mauricio Osorio, @Mark Caudill, @Raisa Rodriguez, @Frank Edwards, @Federico Morales I figured I would tag all of you in case you want to register for their webinar. They will be holding a few of them for the next few weeks. I signed up for tomorrow.

https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/8411220377670097931?fbclid=IwAR0XlQDXe1F7RsukiYrXYlON4FliIk1QPe_Y0Ko7aQNvhVojrhCZBIAD45A

Should be interesting.

@Jacob LeFebvre rock wool and adding an extra layer of drywall help. However, to get the best result you have to separate the vibration. This is done by installing clips under the floor joists. I’ve used Genie Clips. The clips have a rubber pad on the joists side and the other a space for a hat channel. The drywall is then attached to the hat channel. The rubber piece stops the vibration. At the edge of the ceiling and walls leave a small space and fill it in with expandable sealant. The trick is to separate the vibration.

This is your best solution but most expensive. Then rock wool and then drywall. If you do all three then you will be golden.