Just had quote. Nearly fell off chair. Is this right?!

[superlambanana]

We're in the north west and have just had prices back from three companies for our extension. It's a detached house and we want to demolish an existing falling apart 'sun room' (think prefab style), turn existing kitchen into small (2 unit wide) utility and separate WC, and build a 4x5m kitchen with a new bedroom and very small ensuite.

The cheapest quote we've had is £47k and the most expensive is £64k. We had four builders round before we did plans and they all reckoned about £30-40k. I am staggered and really quite worried now!!

Do these sound reasonable? We're not doing anything fancy and it doesn't even include the kitchen itself!

You haven't said if the bedroom is above or part of the ground floor extension. If it's above, the quotes seem very reasonable indeed for South of England. Where we lived in Surrey a few years ago everyone was doing similar extensions to what you describe and getting no change out of £100k.

You will add the value instantly to the house, because of the extra bedroom and bathroom.

Have you got quotes in writing, with detailed specs of what they do and don't include, and a schedule of work? Not always best to go with the cheapest quote. go with whoever seems most approachable and accurate in their detailing of the work spec.

I'm in the north west and those prices seem cheap to me for a 2 story extension. We had something similar but with 2 bedrooms above and it was 70k a couple of years ago. That was including VAT- is your quote VAT inclusive?

We had a two story extension like that seven years ago and it was about that price and so I think that quote is very low.

The bedroom will be above the kitchen, sorry. I'm just gutted because the indications we got from builders before (when we were putting the offer in on the house) were so much lower and we just don't have that much. We have a baby coming in June and the idea was to get it all sorted before then and now it looks like we'll not be able to do it at all. Our kitchen isn't nearly big enough, the sun room is falling down, and the bathroom is ancient!

Agree with above, cheap for a 2 storey extension

And the house needs a complete rewire. And we're on an extortionate fixed rate mortgage until April.

You could do it in stages. Have the kitchen and rewiring done now, but tell builders you will definitely be extending above it when you can, so ask them to lay foundations and prepare any ceiling structures in anticipation of there being extra load bearing at some point.

Newborn will probably sleep with you for at least first six months anyway.

Can you temporarily brighten up the bathroom by giving it a mega clean, fresh paint and flooring?

I think we're going to have to. We are bursting at the seams - the spare bedroom which would now have to be the baby's room is crammed full of stuff including DH's wardrobe, my clothes are in piles in the floor as I can't fit them in my ring wardrobe, and I'm not sure where we'd put a cot in our current room. We desperately need the extra bedroom! The bathroom doesn't currently have a shower.

We'd done so much research on prices per square foot, had builders round, and worked out our finances carefully. We'd accounted for it being a bit higher with an actual quote but not that much and now we're stuck in a small house that I'm really beginning to resent.

That would cost you twice that here dahn sarf. Hence why my house is shithole!

I actually disagree, I think it is a bit high. We're adding 62sqm in a two storey extension for around £80k not including fitting out. In Zone 4. I think what you need to do is look into what your mortgage will be off the fixed rate - even if you book someone now, they're not going to start for a couple of months anyway and I doubt you would have finished by June. You may be able to afford more than you think (call London and country, best Mumsnet tip I ever had) and get some more builders round.

Get freestanding kitchen units for a couple of years if you were planning on spending lots on the kitchen. You could live with Ikea Varde or Udden for a bit, then splash out a new kitchen when you could afford it. varde is lovely and has great resale value. And no fitting costs apart from a nice man to plumb in sink and any gas.

we are in Scotland but are getting quoted about £900 per sq mtr for building work - that's to a finished standard incl electrical work, roof finished, plasterboard on etc.

We have just had a single storey extension done, which included knocking down old conservatory. We were told to allow £1.5k per square m for ground floor and £1k per square m for 1st floor (although we didn't go for that option for a number of reasons). We got three quotes and they all came in at almost exactly the same amount of approx £45k for a 35 square m single storey extension, and that's what we ended up paying. I think that's the going rate (in east Anglia) as most of my friends have paid similar amounts pr sq m for their extensions. Does that fit with your floor area? I had always assumed building prices would be slightly cheaper in the North but I guess it depends which it of the north you're in.

We have just had extension over existing single storey- quite small, turned old bathroom into fourth bedroom- knocked through kitchen diner added downstairs bathroom new roof soffits gutters etc. bathroom added to the new extension upstairs. Cost was approx 28k but we spent 10k on extras- our choice.

I am in NW as well.

We had a high spec glass box type garden room with sliding doors (c24 sq m) and converted a shed into a tiny en-suite in Scotland. Cost about £80k. We were quoted c£50 but were quite naive about the whole process...

We are in the NW too, I think the 'cheaper up north' philosophy is rubbish! Certainly when it comes to things like this!

Couple of things I would suggest - are any of the builders who have given you quotes the builders you initially saw? If not, get the builders back who suggested you initially £30k and see what they say?

I would also speak to them again and tell them your position I, e. The quote is much higher than you anticipated, you can't afford to do the work you wanted at that price, you have X, what could you get for that / where could we change the plans so we get close to what we wanted for the budget you have?

Good luck!

Thanks everyone :-) I've asked what it all includes and waiting to hear back from architect. We're still waiting for a price from one of the builders who came round - the thing is that the ones we sent the tender to are recommended by the architect and I'm a bit nervous of going with ransoms from yellow pages, which is who the initial quotes were from. Difficult!!

Have any of your neighbours had work done? Do you know anyone through maybe your antenatal group? Is there a builder's van that you see in your area quite a lot (so hes doing work in the area)? Does anyone you / your husband work with live close and had work done? I would definitely ask around for recommendations.

I'm in Scotland (but quite a supposedly well off bit of Scotland. Added about 30sqm. Told about £45,000 before we started but ended up spending more than double this by th time we added Vat, bought a new kitchen, new batroom, knocked down walls, decorated and flooring, newvbits and prices for inside and yes re wiring.

We were told at most £1,500 per sq. m. But way way more than this.

Compared to what we paid finally quote sounds quite cheap to me.

I should add that my £45k for 30 sq m didn't include new kitchen or the flooring, but we always knew that would be additional to the quote. Our quote did include windows, heating, lighting, walls to be plastered and painted, etc but not the flooring or new kitchen. That added an additional £15k to the price but we could have done the kitchen more cheaply if we had wanted different units etc. We paid exactly what we were quoted, the builders were great, and I didn't feel we'd paid over the odds. I think the rule of £1.5k per sq m is a good guide, but obviously it depends on your final spec. We didn't have an amazing or complicated design, just a straightforward extension. We are very pleased with it.

You need to add a good 20% to estimates as they never stick

Do you really need an architect? They bump up costs of pretty standard jobs IMO

If you used the architect's builders they are getting a % of your payment.

Use yellow pages for alternative quotes, then ask around for recommendations. We used a small builder who came recommended from a friend, we have now recommended to 4 others.

I am in Yorkshire and just paid £11.5k for a small 2.5 x 3m single storey kitchen extension which worked out at £1500 psqm.

The builder was amazing and quite particular which is why we went with him, he was recommended by a friend of a friend. I have no sticking out wall bits so paid to include a vertical steel to take the weight of the new horizontal steel because we extended our current kitchen, not an add on like yours will be.

The kitchen fit out for the new 6m long kitchen was £9k; that was an Ikea kitchen with all new appliances, worktops, sink, tap, boiling water tap and flooring from elsewhere. The fitter charged £2k so build cost wise £11.5k seems cheap but once you add in a £9k kitchen then it escalates fast. I had researched everything for a year.

If I were you I would build the extension part and compromise for a bit on the kitchen front, free standing cheap as chips Ikea or just enough of their cheapest range to tide you over with their cheapest worktop just laid on top.

You can also have the space for the en-suite with pipework laid but no suite fitted etc. Get the bones of the structure done and sort the inside space as and when.