The average cost to gut the interior of a home is $1,066 to $5,058, with a national average of $2,991. If your house is larger than 1,500 square feet, you may need to budget for more.
Transforming a house into your perfect space sometimes requires stripping away what's already there. While the cost to gut a house to the studs ranges between $1,066 and $5,058, most homeowners are paying $2,991 on average to demolish what they don't want.
Gutting a house to the studs costs roughly $2 to $7 per square foot. If you have a standard 15,000-square-foot home, you’ll spend between $3,000 and $10,500 to create your clean canvas.
“Before you decide to gut a house, make sure that you know what your goals are,” says Bob Tschudi, an Expert Review Board Member and Raleigh, N.C.-based general contractor. “Gutting is a very extreme action when all you want is a simple change. Talk with your general contractor before deciding to tear everything up.”
No matter your budget, you can make a gut job work.
If you can spend up to $2,000, you're comfortably in the range to gut a bathroom for your bathroom remodel. With costs for gutting a bathroom ranging from $15 to $60 per square foot, the average project cost is between $500 and $2,300 based on your bathroom's size.
As you may have noticed, gutting your bathroom is a pricier project than other gut jobs because you'll need to remove plumbing and electrical fixtures. Hauling costs are also higher for bathroom fixtures because they're bigger and bulkier.
Gutting your kitchen for a kitchen remodel is within reach if you can budget up to $3,000. Costing $5 to $20 per square foot, gutting your kitchen has a total average cost between $500 and $3,000. Much of the price covers the removal of cabinets, counters, and drywall.
If you're in good shape to add $10,000 to a renovation plan, you can get a true blank slate with a whole-house gutting. The cost for a standard 1,500-square-foot home falls between $2,800 and $9,800.
Only experienced DIYers should approach this project. The big requirement for gutting a house on your own is patience. It could take several times longer to attempt this project when compared to bringing in a local demolition crew to get it done for you.
The heavy-duty tools needed for a DIY home gutting will eat into the savings you're getting from not paying someone else to tackle this job. Here are the average costs of the basic tools required to even attempt a house gutting:
| Tool | Cost |
|---|---|
| Circular saw and extra blades | $100 – $350 |
| Reciprocating saw and blades | $50 – $150 |
| Pry bars | $15 – $50 |
| Sledge hammer | $15 – $30 |
| Contractor trash bags | $15 – $45 |
| Jackhammer | $500 – $1,200 |
| Gloves, safety goggles, and dust masks | $50 |
| Dumpster rental | $450 – $900 |
If your home has asbestos, this turns from a potential DIY job to an expert-only job that needs to be carefully managed according to all regulations. Hiring a local asbestos removal contractor is a must for safety.
While many factors can affect the cost to gut a house, the most important are size, the complexity of the rooms (such as fixtures), how old the house is, and whether or not there is asbestos to deal with.
While some contractors provide flat quotes, the size of the area always impacts price. At $2 to $7 per square foot, the bigger the space, the bigger the cost.
Gutting bathrooms and kitchens will almost always be more expensive than gutting something simpler, like a bedroom or den, simply because you have to deal with heavy fixtures, complex appliance hookups, and plumbing.
If your home is older, getting down to the studs may reveal issues like lead paint and rotting wood that require remediation before you can move forward with your remodeling project. While these factors don't necessarily impact demolition costs, they will make your demolition more expensive simply by uncovering hidden costs to be addressed going forward.
Asbestos impacts price the most. If your home was built or renovated before 1980, always assume that asbestos could be present before you take a sledgehammer to a single wall. The average cost for asbestos removal is $2,020. It's also possible that your contractor will decide it's more efficient to safely encapsulate asbestos instead of removing it.
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Gutting a home means stripping away drywall, insulation, and fixtures until you have nothing left other than your unfinished floors and beams.
“One scenario that requires gutting is a house that was subject to a flood,” says Tschudi. “In that case, gutting and mold treatment is necessary. Be sure that your contractors are wearing the proper OSHA-approved protection, or they could get seriously injured.”
Yes. Gutting a house to the studs may actually be a good option if you believe a home contains toxic materials like asbestos, mold, or lead paint. However, this must be done under the supervision of licensed remediation experts.
This completely depends on the markets where you'd be buying and selling. However, it's generally much more affordable to renovate a home than it is to build new construction.
Most homeowners will pay between $100,000 and $200,000 for all demolition and remodeling costs. The average cost to build a new construction around the country is between $120,360 and $451,890, according to HomeAdvisor.
