Quoted waaaay more than expected for extension

[TweeterandtheMonkeyman]

Think I got over excited with the architect and the builders quote has come back much much higher than expected- anything obvious that you did to bring the price of a similar project down ? (It’s a single story extension across the back of a 1930s 3 bed semi detached) . At this moment I’m thinking to write off the money already spent with architect and scrap the whole idea …

Sounds a lot. In 2017 I had a double storey extension on a 1930s semi for 100k and that included a new kitchen and two new bathrooms. I know it's going back 5 years but in comparison yours sounds expensive.

Thanks @RettyPriddle

Long story re the builders but I know they are reasonably priced compared to others and have seen their work .

Well we're putting on a two-storey extension this spring, and the architect is a friend and not charging, and the builder is a friend, and giving us price reductions on lots of elements, and it will be about £120 k.

I work in construction. Labour shortage, material shortage, material costs and high demand are all contributing to ridiculous costs and long delays.

Honestly for anyone considering any work atm just wait a year or two if you can.

You need a cost breakdown. I spent £30k to get a shell of an extension with windows and doors. My husband and his brother boarded the walls, plastered, decorated, laid the floor, and did all interior finishing. Then when they were finished the electrician, plumber and kitchen fitter came back to finish it off (an additional £15k). If the builder had done everything that was DIYd it would have added another £20k to the price.

Yup I’d definitely chat with them - we also had architect drawings and they were massively over engineered. I reckon we’ve stripped off 10k ish and it’s not changed the room much at all. We’re also having to replace and resite boiler as part of Costs too.
I’m trying to view the extra cost to expected as cheaper than a new mortgage. Hope I’m right and it doesn’t fo much over during the build!
Our builder has also said that the cost he’s quoted won’t go up and if any savings on materials etc - we’ll get them back on the final bill. I believe him as he’s worked with people I know and done that too. So have that conversation as prices are changing quickly - up and down.
I think it’s a good convo generally so they appreciate you’ve a budget and aren’t throwing money at it

Doesn't sound crazy at all, according to our builders and some friends who work in the industry the price of an average job has increased hugely in the last year or so - sometimes double.

Thanks so much all, this is really helpful. Love Mumsnet in a life crisis ! Going to write some notes from this thread.

Just need to break the news to DH

Waiting a couple of years definitely a possibility.

We had a garage conversion done a couple of years ago. Much smaller project than yours, but some things we saved on were:

• sourcing and paying for kitchen/flooring/switches etc separately from those the builder was pushing. They have companies they like to work with but often you can get a better deal elsewhere.
• asking the builder for a break down so we could see where things were costing too much, for example they quoted us loads to paint the room, so we did it ourselves and scheduled it in around them.

Obviously all of those things took work on our part, so if you don't have time that could be an issue and you may have to pay for the convenience. But it saved us quite a lot (around £2/3k on a £15k project!

I don’t think the price of materials will go back down to what they was previously.

Where are u? Doesn't seem unreasonable to me (w london) especially as they need to pay more to get rid of stuff as well as materials...
Do u need foundations etc? We paid approx 8k for glazing 1xbifold 2x large skylights 1x large window 1x small window..
Work out your cost per sqm....the value of a builder you trust is also worth it so think about that when getting quotes
Does that Include decorating?

Make sure you compare like with like for example we had a cheaper quote but they'd only included 12 plug points.. . We worked out needed 30 (approx) they would charge £200 a socket
You need to really work out the detail and don't change your plans once you've started..

Pressed send too quickly

I would definitely get the builder back, tell him what your rough budget is and see if he has any advice how to work to it.

Is your husband handy at all? Doing the removal/demo of conservatory and kitchen etc will bring the price down a bit.

So at what point do you need an architect then? I'm hoping to do a wrap around extension with two storeys at the side and part of the back, plus a big one storey box across the back. So not as simple as the big box, but not rocket science either. What kind of person draws up plans for that/ converts my scribbles into plans?? Sorry to hijack....

Partner is a builder, we live in Ireland that price is about right here too. Materials have gone up huge and there is a labor shortage. Talk to your builder get more quotes , yes you can reduce costs, depends on what finishes standards etc you want ( I personally wouldn't pain a house as don't have the time and also wouldn't do as good a job as a painter who does it every day for their living nut then other people want to do this). Disagree though that you can get materials cheaper, here in Ireland builders claim the VAT back and the people selling them the paint, flooring etc will always give them a far better discounts to them then to you as they know that the builder will come back to them every month or so to get more materials so therefore more sales. My partner does pass these onto the client before anyone jumps down on me - You can see this from the cost breakdown. Also talk to your architect and get them to reduce things, i disagree that an architect is a waste of money, to me they always think of things you would never think of and especially if you have to deal with planning. Currently starting a complete new build and our has been invaluable.

We had a similar single storey extension done in 2019, flat roof with a skylight, 2 patio doors, patio, very small garage turned into an office/ laundry room. I think with new fitted kitchen, flooring, new toilet, sink in downstairs toilet it came to about 65k. But as others have said prices have gone up significantly now. Some things we were not entirely happy with, don't think our builder and his apprentice were the best, so probably on the cheaper side than most good ones.

MotherOfCrocodiles you can get an architect to draw the plans then apply for planning permission yourself, hire a builder and project manage it yourself, right down to choosing the materials and accessories. Very time consuming but does bring the price down significantly.

I agree about the cost of materials having gone up. Had a builder round a couple of weeks ago to spec a job in our garden - paving work. He came back the other day with the quote and even he was astounded by the cost of materials. He'd phoned around all the local suppliers for quotes too. He mostly subcontracts so doesn't usually order/ supply materials.

I love how so many people are blaming the architect for the building cost. It's a single storey extension that I am assuming the OP gave them the brief for (and got 'over excited with according to the first post). Building costs are extortionate at the moment and builders are very busy so can pick and choose. Either reduce the size of your build or look at cheaper alternatives in your specification. Otherwise you may need to wait until things calm down again and prices become more reasonable.

We want similar doing and I'm putting on hold as I expected it to be in the ballpark you have been quoted. Crazy times

They reduced our footprint slightly to cut our quote, and it seemed to make quite a difference to the price without making a massive difference to the end result. Go back to them and see if there's anywhere they can cut costs.

Architects aren't the expensive part! They get paid a pittance. But, hey if all you want is a watertight box stuck to the back of your house - go ahead without one.

Exactly @Jaxhog.

Grrr I hate this aspect of the new normal and with the other crises they will only head northwards.

@Jaxhog

Architects aren't the expensive part! They get paid a pittance. But, hey if all you want is a watertight box stuck to the back of your house - go ahead without one.

Ours is a genius, and works like a dog. He's not actually charging us because he's a friend, but we have a fairly good idea of what what he's doing for us would cost, and it would be well worth it. Especially as our builder is great, but has the visual sense of a dead person.