Sale at 51 Fifth Avenue #2A

I suspect everything stayed where it was. Seems basic kitchen and bath reno but $140k is good value indeed even if you count 40k for Kitchen, 20k for each bath. 20k for 4 inch wide floors, + painting etc. Primer may have more of an expert opinion.

So if everything stays in place they won't need to replace things back to the risers?

One thing I have trouble finding information on is the cost of moving things around. For example, moving the shower in a bathroom so it's next to the window, and moving the toilet a few (~5) feet away to make space. Or, moving the gas range to the other side of the galley kitchen. The contractors/architects I talked with either tried to steer me away from this, or told me "we do it all the time". What's not clear to me is how much of a hassle it is or how much more it will cost. Maybe this largely depends on underlying conditions?

Same thing for adding a light fixture on the living room ceiling where there isn't one previously.

But 300mercer, you still have finish work, and you're also not putting in central air for only $40K. Firedragon makes an excellent point, which is that that reno number seems too low.

FD, as far as adding a light fixture, a lot depends on what the ceiling is made of. In my turn-of-the-century building, the ceiling is easy to cut into, and it isn't doing too much of the structural support work, so cutting a hole and adding a fixture is easy. In an early 1960s building (think of the white brick piles that are fairly common around the city) the ceiling is a concrete slab, and it's got a major supporting job, and the boards either won't let you do it all or make it verrry expensive.

Ali, $140k does seem low. AC seem to be split unit which if possible are much cheaper. I would have thought bare minimum $200k.

FireDragon, we are renovating our kitchen. Everything is staying where it was and we still had to take plumbing and electric back to the risers. Some buildings require it no matter what the renovation. As to moving the gas range, we were not allowed to move it even a foot. Since last summer's explosion in the East Village, our building has clamped down on alterations to gas lines. I understand this is pretty common.

The irony is that the East Village gas explosion was caused because the building hid the gas line modifications, causing the fire department to think the lines were not in use and leaving the valves open after an inspection.

Making it easier to have official modifications to the gas lines would make this type of thing less likely to happen.

Moving a gas stove is relatively easy gas it's just the gas line which is under pressure and there is no return. The difficulty in moving plumbing fixtures isn't in getting the supplies to them but in the waste lines which are gravity fed. So when you want to move a waste line you need a certain amount of "rise" per foot of "run". Also you need a larger waste line for a toilet than you do a sink or shower, plus the vent line (for sewer gas).