re: Cost to renovate a gutted house?

Good Lord.

How are we coming up with these numbers. As another poster said, go engineered hardwood. You can get a nice one for around $4/ft. Glue will run you around $1-1.50/ft. Install will run around $2/ft.

That's around $7/ft. 1800ft2
$12,600 for floors. If floor leveling is needed, add a few bucks. I'd budget about 13k MAXIMUM.

Keep in mind that porcelain tile and grout will be about half the cost of wood, so if that's your plan for baths, 13k will be more than enough.

My painter finished yesterday. He hand painted my entire interior (including trim) for $4k (2500ft2). This house had Coca Cola red cabinets in the entire place, inside and out. When I tell you this guy painted everything, I mean everything.
Ceilings, triple crown, walls, baseboards, baths, cabinets, doors, etc. I MAYBE spent $500 on paint. Flat on walls and semi gloss for trim.

No way on God's green earth the painting should cost more than 5k, regardless of who's doing it.