can you ballpark the price of these?

I know this will vary by a lot based on contractor and materials used but we are about to be first time homeowners and know literally nothing so I'm trying to get an idea of the difference between some of these options, and an idea of what they might cost us.

what ballpark range should we expect to pay for each the following:

- refinish hardwood floors (price per sf)
- lay new hardwood floors (price per sf)
- lay carpet (price per sf)
- paint (is it based on sf?)
- update outlets from 2 to 3 prongs, add new outlets
- add hi-hat/can lights
- put in a new banister
- new washer and dryer

also, I know you don't necessarily want to go with the cheapest person but how do you decide who to use? is there a website with reviews of contractors and businesses?

Re: can you ballpark the price of these?

We just had our living room and dining room floors refinished The LR is about 15 x 18 and the DR is about 15 x 10 (I think). We paid $1600 for the two rooms. We also just ordered carpeting for den & 3 BRs - the prices were between about $60-$90 sq yd.

Re: can you ballpark the price of these?

Not sure what we paid per sq foot but we laid a new floor in our family room ( big room) and finished LR, D,R, hall! Steps! Landing and 3 bedrooms total almost 2500 sq feet and it came to like 5500.

High hats we paid $180 per light no existing wiring

Re: can you ballpark the price of these?

Paint we had everything except my kids 2 bedrooms Done and it was 3400. They did a beautiful job that included removing wallpaper.

Oh and we got brand new front loader Washer and dryer for 500 a piece at the pc Richard outlet store

Message edited 4/2/2012 9:22:23 PM.

Re: can you ballpark the price of these?

thank you! that helps a lot. We want to rip up the carpet in a large room (i think it is 15x22) and are hoping there is hardwood underneath but if there is not we would like to lay some. Or, if both will cost way more than we can afford we would consider laying carpet for now if it is much cheaper.

we are also debating whether to paint ourselves or hire someone to paint. i have a feeling everything will cost more than we expect

Re: can you ballpark the price of these?