Is this a fair quote?

[goingcrazymakingadecision]

I've name changed in case any of these details are identifying (I've moaned to a fair few people in real life about this!)

We were meant to have started on our build project by now, a double storey extension. However, two weeks before starting work our builder pulled out. He said he was "taking his business in a new direction".

Anyway, we've been busy trying to find a new builder. It's really hard to even get builders to come out and quote round here as they are all so busy at the moment.

My dilemma is this - have a possible new builder, his quote is £52k + Vat. But my previous builder was £43k + Vat (and that included fixing the garage roof which the more expensive quote doesn't).

What I can't work out is if builder 2 is just really expensive, or builder 1 had under priced the job (and pulled out when he realised this).

If all quotes are going to come in round about 52k mark we could probably borrow more money, cut back on type of kitchen and eat baked beans for months to cover the extra costs. Or do I hold out, keep trying to find more builders to come and cost the job in the hope of finding another one around the 43k mark??!!

Anyone with any experience of what a double storey extension in Harrogate area would cost, your thoughts/advice would be very welcome! Thanks

[alwayshappy101]

I really have no clue how much this will cost in your area,but I think the most sensible thing to do is to get at least 3 quotes.but the more the better,then you will have a good idea if somebody is majorly over/underpricing.

Also before you commit to a builder make sure you get a few references from previous clients,as there can be some dodgy builders out there.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

[whatsthecomingoverthehill]

The quotes aren't that dissimilar so I wouldn't necessarily say the more expensive one is really expensive, and £52k doesn't seem that bad for a two-storey extension. As always with these things the prices do depend significantly on how busy they all are. I'd be uncomfortable only having the one quote though.

Maybe try widening your search for builders to Leeds (if you haven't already)?

[goingcrazymakingadecision]

Don't be sorry, it's lovely just to get an answer or two!! Feel so totally confused by what to do for the best. Not helped by the fact that my husband would prefer to move (but I don't think we could afford to buy anymore space, so think we have to go down the building route).

I get what you're saying with only having one quote, sorry didn't mean to mislead anyone, we've had a few quotes overall. Just the one I had signed up to go with was £43k, and the one the architect is recommending is the £52k one.

Quotes we had were:

1. 43k
   
2. 44k
   
3. 52k
   
4. 48k
   
5. 100k
   
   we also had one three builders who came out but then declined to quote as they decided they were too busy. It seems to be a very busy market at the moment.
   
   Of those quotes the cheapest two were Leeds builders, others Harrogate builders.
   
   Problem is that I've been trying to get quotes from builders recommended by friends, and I'm running out of names of builders to approach that way!
   
   Good idea to ask about references, I confess I hadn't done that (I guess I thought it ok as I was only contacting builders through personal recommendation). Surely a builder is only going to point you in the direction of his "happy customers" though??

[alwayshappy101]

www.trustatrader.com/builders/

You can get reccommendations from websites such as this.

Your quotes sound fairly close,so perhaps look to the web to see what reviews other people have given these building firms.

Good luck with the extention.

[goingcrazymakingadecision]

It's funny, the 100k one is obviously way over priced. But I thought the 52k one (being 20% more than the one I was going with) was also possibly over priced, but a couple of you saying that it's not that big a difference. I guess over the long term it's going to amount to nothing. Maybe it's because I've never done a build project before that 10k seems like a lot of additional cost to me

[namechangedtoday15]

Has the builder broken down what is included? I think the difference is often in the detail - so some quotes gave a price for instance for electrics which included lights/sockets and additional works "to be confirmed" etc, another quote included all the additional electrics associated with the fitted kitchen (assuming we'd have built in over / ff / hob / dishwasher / extractor etc). Just that difference can be a couple of thousand. Also look if it includes internal doors / door furniture / radiators / bathroom fittings (as one quote didn't include them thinking we'd want to choose and therefore supply ourselves, and then some included installation of bathroom fittings & flooring etc, some just included getting the plumbing ready but not actually installing.

If the quotes include similar things, then I think sometimes its to do with the area. I guess in Harrogate which is generally more affluent than Leeds, builders can sometimes price according to location!

[alwayshappy101]

Namechanged has made a good point.make sure you know exactly what is included in the quotes.

[goingcrazymakingadecision]

Thanks, good advice. I've emailed the builder to suggest a meet up so I can be 100% sure what is covered. His quote didn't go into the specifics of what electrics (for example) were covered - it did say however that he'd used the information provided by the architect, and our architect did get us to think about everything, including where we were going to put sockets and switches. So in theory he should have been able to cost and include all those things, but no harm checking.

Thanks again folks. I feel better having been able to get some other perspectives on this

PS - think you're right namechanged. Harrogate is generally very affluent area so probably pushes prices up. I guess the fact that we aren't in the poshest part makes no difference, as the builder's hardly going to price to reflect that when they could easily be working on someones mega bucks property a couple of miles down the road

[Hippee]

If it is not too late, I would recommend Total Property Solutions www.facebook.com/Total-Property-Solutions-309772585699455/ - they are great and very reasonable - but have a lot of work on (so quite a wait) because they are good and reasonable.