About the cost of turning this space into a wardrobe?

[VelvetSpoon]

My DS has an alcove in his bedroom which I want to turn into a wardrobe (at the moment it has a free standing clothes rail and a small shelving unit in it but he wants something more permanent. And some doors so his mother doesn't keep nagging him to tidy it!)

It's about 6ft long and 2.5ft deep. So we basically want a couple of rails on one side, a divider and a load of shelves the other, plus doors. Something like the pic below but with doors and less rails.

I've been trying to find someone to do this for 3 years. Eventually got some people out to look and quote. The cheapest quote was over a thousand quid. The dearest was 3x that.

Now I understand labour and material costs but really a grand?! It's the kind of thing my dad would have done from scrap bits and bobs (ok not the doors but the rest of it - in fact he did something exactly like it in my childhood home). I was expecting to pay 4-500 tops.

Am I being completely U?

Have you approached a joiner or carpenter as opposed to a company that specialise in fitted wardrobes? They are likely to be slightly cheaper. I had 2 massive (3.4m high) built in wardrobes done and it cost 1200.

Yes all the people that have quoted are either small local businesses or one man band type places, I've not gone to any of the big companies.

I wouldn’t want to pay that sort of price. I think I’d get a unit from Ikea.

Given the time it takes to measure up, buy stuff, bring over, cut to size and fit + cost of materials , I'm not too surprised if you're in a more expensive part of country.

How much do you think it should cost ?
I would think that a guy comes out to measure up, draws it up and costs the materials, depending on type of doors, i.e. sliding ? standard opening etc.there will also be the door frame and then comes back to you to approve the design, and then makes and fits it. As it is non standard and bespoke all parts will need to be made/cut to order.
They will then need to come back and fit it.
£1000 seems reasonable as they have to have a wage out of it, as well cost of materials and cutting. possibly 3 days work and materials.

That's expensive OP! I paid £1800 5 years ago for a wardrobe to be built over my sloping stair bulkhead(?), and that involved putting up a frame and plasterboard.

Saying that, I do feel like the builders responsible did overcharge me and did a bit of a rubbish job tbf, even though they came highly recommended. twats.

Just get a quote for doors and build the interior yourselves from Ikea. Pax is ideal.

Am I being stupid, or could you not just pay for a couple of doors fitted over the current shelves and rails - looks like good shelving already anyway.

Honestly I thought 4-500. My dad (who was just an average guy, not a carpenter) would have got the rails and shelves up in a couple of hours. I know they have to build a frame and hang the doors but I had a guy hang 10 doors once in 2 days so I wouldn't have thought a wardrobe door would take more than half a day.

I don't live in a million pound house, I don't want luxury bespoke fittings or detailed consultation and plans. I just want someone to go ok you want rail/ rail/ shelves/ doors, build it with offcuts of wood or whatever (as I'll be painting it) and just get it done. It doesn't need to be a piece of master craftsmanship.

If I could do it myself I would. But I am terrible at DIY.

Think that's a stock picture

@thecatsthecats the picture is to illustrate what OP wants

We had two done, in smaller spaces than those, and it cost £1500. So a grand doesn't surprise me. Ours was done by a local carpenter and it i they are one of my favourite things about our house, so I see it as money well spent.

@VelvetSpoon have you thought about getting a quote for doors instead and then filling the inside with ikea units?

The picture isn't mine sadly! Yes if it looked like that I'd be happy just for doors.

Maybe getting a quote for the doors only is the way forward. I might even have a crack at the rest myself if the doors are done.

I think £1000 sounds quite reasonable for the work involved. My df did similar when I was a child, and I know how much work was put into it-many hours.

I built something like that myself while 7 months pregnant last year. There's hundreds of tutorials on YouTube. Could you not try to build it yourself with him?

@VelvetSpoon you could even just do ikea pax in its entirety - you might be able though get a really good fit

I recently had something like this done along with other work so I'm not sure on the cost, but two sliding doors were £500 for the doors and the runners, so I'd say £1k is about right if you think of the work and other materials needed.

OP if your unskilled dad could do it, why don’t you give it a go?

What about Ikea? Try measuring it up and see. There’s lots of Ikea solutions.

I’m a great lover of an IKEA pax but they do cost quite a bit once you start adding up all the bits. A frame is £60, the cheapest door is £30 and the hinges £10. A drawer is £25 and the runners £10.

The deepest Pax is 58cm so you wouldn’t be utilising your available depth.

We used a company called tidy bedrooms. There's an online design tool and you put all your measurements and can choose loads of configurations, it's suitable for diy installation or hire a local handyman

Have a look at the Algot open storage system on Ikea. There's a wall upright with shelves and hanging rod for £57- you could get two of those and a shelf system at £38, then just get a handyman in to put in doors.

Dh did ours much bigger than the picture, we used doors we already had (one mirror and two solid) and it cost him nearly £400 in just parts, not including his time, rails, shelving, flooring and paint, and the bits the sliding doors go on. So £1k sounds about right. He did one for oldest Ds in his alcove and Ds bought the ikea Nordli drawers for inside, so only needed some hanging rails and shelves.

I'd give it a go myself before I paid that out. If you really cant face it then I'd sort the shelving out, you can do that and get a rail up/track and have a curtain to pull across.