Been on here a few times recently about our possible garage conversions - one either side of the house and each attached to the house.
A local established and recommended building company quoted me around £50,000, including VAT to convert them!! Now I've got another much 'younger' company - young directors, recently established (one's a carpenter and one's a brickie by trade) not yet VAT reg. who've quoted me £26,500 (no VAT).
Is that a reasonable quote for converting two garages - one to include a shower room/toilet? It seems higher than I'd expected, given they're recently established. I was thinking along the lines of about £15k in total - but is that unrealistic for two garages?
On another thread, someone said they'd only paid £1K to £2K for a single garage conversion. So I'm deeply confused, given one company quoted £50K (they'd originally suggested £60K) and this tiny new company now suggests £26,500.
Is this much lower - but still not that cheap - quote indicative of a possible botched job to come - or would it be a good, reasonable figure for potentially serious, professional works?
Both companies have been recommended by acquaintances who've each used one of them for their own other building works. I really liked the two young directors of the new company, as there wasn't an 'edge' to them - but I may be a hopeless judge of character (and they were very good-looking!).
The other company sent the owner out - much much posher middle- aged man who was a bit condescending - and took nearly 4 weeks to get back to me and return my plans, having said he'd get back to me within a few days.
Should I get a third quote before deciding what to do? There's no question of going with the expensive company, as I can't afford it but the smaller company is still more than I'd hoped to spend too.