Wow, just had a quote for an extension - is it too much?

[Whatdoiknow31]

We are wanting to build an extension on the side of our house.
Falls within Permitted Development rules as only 20ft x 7ft single story.

Just had our first quotation, two walls, pitche'd pan tile roof, two velux windows, and reusing an existing window. All on a raft as too close to neighbours foundations.
No electrics included, and no heating included. But decoration included but not the paint.
1st quote is for £26,000 inc vat.
Does this sound excessive? Does not seam worth it regarding value to the house as it would only be used as an office or spur we out of touch? We are in East Anglia.

[Tutt]

Thing is OP no one can tell you yes or no because unless we see the plans etc there is no way to tell.
But 26K for a normal 1 storey extention sounds about average to me.

[Whatdoiknow31]

Really? Gosh, seams an awful lot for what is involved.

It really is just one 20ft long wall with no windows and then a 7ft wall with one window (reused as not old). The two other walls are already there as are part of the original house. The roof would be pitched up against the house in pan tiles with two velux windows.

No plumbing required as will be an office / study.

Electrics or heating not included either.

[MrsJamin]

We are having similar done and that sounds very reasonable indeed! Depends where you are in the country. Of course you are getting more than one quote to compare?

[brumeye]

Doesn't sound outrageous to me. £1500 per sq metre + VAT is usually a good rule of thumb - yours is about 13 sq m which works out at £23,400. Very small extensions will cost more per sq m because the builder has fixed costs just to get a job started (and some builders will try to only take bigger jobs as there's more profit in it).

The only way to really find out is to get more quotes.

[123rd]

Don't ... We have just had quotes back in for a two storey extension. I felt sick at the prices coming back

[nikki1978]

The foundations/groundwork will be a large amount of the cost. I don't think it is unreasonable although you could definitely get it cheaper. Could you do some of the work yourselves or project manage it and employ contractors separately? Buy the materials yourself so they can't make money on them? I'd shop around.

[Whatdoiknow31]

Omg wow, my chin hit the floor when I openend the quote, but if you say it's about right :-(

Yes we are awaiting another quote, so will see what he has to say.

Just not sure if it's worth spending that sort of money. Yes house is in the country in a good area, but will another room increase the value enough to warrant the expense?

[UsedToBeAPaxmanFan]

We had an extension done recently, its about 28ft by 13. The quote did include electrics, heating and windows. We were advised by friends (and Mumsnet!) before we started that it would work out at roughly £1.5k per square metre, and that's what all the quotes came in at.

I think we paid about £45k for the extension itself. The total cost was higher because we put in a kitchen, wood flooring etc etc.

Your quote sounds about right to me.

[vienaa]

I am in East Anglia, The fact is its not just 2 walls, its the ground work, that is going to cost, they are going to have to break up all the concrete, dig out the footings, and get the ground ready for your hard core, sand, insulations concrete, that is even before building... You could do most of the ground work yourself, we are in the middle of ours and OH is doing it himself, as its only materials and hard work.. Then different contractors to do brick work, plumber, electrics, roofer...

[Whatdoiknow31]

Guess I am going to have a chat with the Estate Agents then, not that we are thinking of selling, but I can't think that putting such a small room on the house would balance out the cost by an increase in value.

The extension would only be used as an office as we run a business from home. It would really have no other use as we already have two lounges and a kitchen diner downstairs as well as a utility room and cloakroom.

Just thinking what it would be classified as if we ever decided to sell. Would it be a bit of an odd ball room or do people like Studies these days?

[vienaa]

If its only going to use for an office, can't you put a log cabin at the bottom of the garden, my neighbour did that for his son as he needed an extra room and with heating electric also has a tv it cost him 10K

[ImperialBlether]

Are you using one of the lounges at the moment? Is there a problem with that?

And yes, a log cabin would be great.

[Whatdoiknow31]

No, I have a mental 'thing' that rooms should be used for what are intended.

Hubby came up with a brainwave of putting a conservatory on the other side of the house. The utility room is this end and houses the boiler / fuse board so would be easier to get onto for the underfloor heating and new electrics.

My only concern is the heat in the summer, it's south facing ( and also the noise from the rain) but from reading I understand the new glass reflects the sun and we would also have blinds for shade and security.
But I have also read that you can retro fit tile roofs on which would eliminate both problems, but might make the Day Lounge that the conservatory would lead off dark. Decisions, decisions.

Has anyone got a modern conservatory that they use all year round? Is it warm enough in winter, bearable in summer? Can you see any obvious stupid reasons why it would not be suitable as an office?

[Whatdoiknow31]

Re log cabin - the office needs to be easily accessible from the house at all times as we are a service based company. So running out to a cabin, although a great idea, I don't think would work for us x

[chairmeoh]

I second getting a log cabin. We bought one that we erected ourselves. Together with foundation, electrics etc it's cost about 6k. Insulated, double glazed, heated.

We had a conservatory on our last house and it cost 10k+ and didn't have any fancy glass that reflected heat/insulated etc.

[chairmeoh]

Oh, sorry. Cross-post

[MarvinKMooney]

Think really carefully about a south facing extension. Ours was only 18 months old when we moved into the house and we never use it: freezing cold in winter and boiling in Summer - to the tune of 30-odd degrees!

It was meant to increase the size of the tiny kitchen but we only use it for ironing / recycling bins / general dumping ground. We actually want to get rid of it and knock into the room next door to give us the space we need. Is moving internal walls around an option for you? Otherwise I second (third?) the 'garden' office too.

We were thinking of a small extension too but it was too expensive. Instead, the idea of reconfiguring / knocking through came from George Clarke's Home Bible. It was really useful in helping us to get ideas on how to achieve the space we need with using what we've got:

www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Bible-George-Clarke/dp/0297860321/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430775972&sr=8-1&keywords=george%20home%20bible&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[MarvinKMooney]

Sorry, south facing conservatory, not extension!

[MarvinKMooney]

And, yes, our kitchen from which the conservatory leads is very dark, even though it faces south ...

[meandjulio]

Our single storey extension plus new bathroom, kitchen and floor throughout the ground floor was £42000 7 or so years ago. I would doubt that it's overpriced for the job, there's a hell of a lot involved.

[Postchildrenpregranny]

Added a conservatory to our kitchen 12 years ago (no door between) Use it as breakfast/sitting area .Best thing we ever did . It doesnt make the kitchen ,dark which I thought an extension might .
Has roof windows and roof blinds so rarely gets too hot (we use a fan if need be).Faces South. Ditto it is not cold .Use a convection heater occasionally, mostly on summer evenings .. It has a radiator.
Was £9,000 3m by 3m .

[frogsfromrumrah]

Please find yourself a freelance chartered quantity surveyor and ask them to price the job using BCIS figs or spons. This will give you a guide price to which the Qs will add approx 10% contingency. They will also price for things like access issues and site prelims. When you have these figs either you or your Qs can review the quotes and weed out exactly what the builder has over or maybe under priced. When you appoint your builder, Make sure you set up a formal contract for minor works so there are processes for any alterations to the required work if you change your mind on say finishes half way through, again these contracts can be purchased online, off the shelf. Please also check out new book called 'building contract for a home owner/occupier who has not appointed a consultant to oversee the work. ' It is £24.82 on the RICS books website. Please also check out CDM 2015 as these are new rules for health and safety and impact also on domestic projects -you will have legal responsibilities for h&s due to these new regs. Hope this helps.

[Whatdoiknow31]

Well we have had our second quote, well estimate through for the extension and its £18k, which is much better. But concerning as it's an estimate so price could rise.

It has made us re-evaluate what would be best for us and the house (a 20ft x what would end up 6ft extension would be an odd downstairs North facing room with what we already have) so after doing a lot of research have requested quotes from three local companies for a conservatory using heat reflective glass.

Will update for those that are interested. Thanks for all the replies :-)