Carpentry

[MadgeMak]

We are in the process of gathering quotes from carpenters for some work and received the first one today. I've never had work like this done before and have no idea what is reasonable. We are having cupboards built into the alcoves either side of a fireplace x 2, plus some understairs cupboards built in. First quote has come in at £3900 (then almost as much again to have them painted!). Is this reasonable? I feel like the amount to paint is but not sure about the price for the carpentry is. I'm in Herts if this makes any difference.

The amount to paint isn't reasonable, I meant.

We had a couple of quotes for similar at our old house. They both quoted nearly as much to paint as install, the final chap suggested we use a decorator at £120 a day as it would work out much cheaper. Is that an option for you? I would imagine a good decorator would have all that done in a day or two?

The carpentry quote seems a tad high tbh. My DH is a chippy and if self employed would charge ~£150/day for labour, plus the cost of materials. Suppose it depends on the complexity of the cupboards but I'd prob be expecting more along the lines of £3k or a bit under. I could be completely wrong though as obviously never actually have to pay for carpentry! Hold off and see what the other quotes say. And I definitely agree with consuela - £4k to have some cupboards painted is bloody ridiculous! Look up a good decorator instead, they'll do it for a tenth of that.

Thanks! I will see what the others come in at. It's nothing complex, just shelves inside with very plain cupboard fronts that touch close/open so no hardware. I was at the price to paint!

I think there is a lot of variation. We had a rather fancy carpenter round to quote for alcove units, a lot of people round here seem to use him as see his van a lot, but he quoted over 2k to make and paint them. I then got someone else who quoted £900. I went with him and he did a great job. I also then used the guy who did our kitchen tiling to make a basic cupboard in our utility, it was a simple job and he charged about £350. Took him a couple of days. I painted it. So get more quotes and not just from carpenters is the long winded point I'm trying to make!

Have just asked DH and he says it's 'how long is a piece of string' - depends how big the cupboards etc are, how complicated it is (will it be proper joinery or just bits screwed together), do you want drawers at the bottom, etc etc - but he did say it seemed on the steep side. Under stairs cupboards can be a bit complicated though apparently depending on the shape. And the decorating also depends on how complicated the cupboards are (the more 'bits' eg drawers, the more expensive) and what they're made of, but definitely shouldn't be £4K - he reckons £1k max and that's including the paint. This might not be very helpful but thought I'd pass it on anyway!