I think our extension quotes are ridiculously high!

[MaryPoppinsPenguins]

If I'm wrong, I need to know. I'm going by local friends, the spaces they've had made recently and also google!

We have a 1930's unextended house, with the living room, dining room and small kitchen. We want to knock the rooms st the back together snd extend out the back and side to make a large kitchen diner. Kind of like everyone I know has done!

They have all told me 40/45/50 at a push...

My quotes so far are 87 and 110!! I almost had a heart attack.. surely the exact same extension on the exact same house can't be that different??

Or have extensions rocketed in six months??

I was hoping that for that kind of price we could get two stories!

We extended to the back and side and it cost about 50k but only because we had the shell built by the builders then did everything else ourselves (electrics, plumbing, plastering etc).

Builders cost was about 30k inc materials the rest covered what we did inc windows and doors etc.

Both of these posts have lowered my heart rate!

Where are you based?

We're Epsom, Surrey

That does seem a bit crazy. But is it fully finished, including kitchen etc?

To a plaster finish?

Up North and my friend had a 4m by 6m rear extension for under 30k. That didn't include any services but did include windows and doors.

That was to a plaster finish.

I'd keep looking.

I have been told that builders costs have gone up by 20% in the last few months... increase in raw material cost, Brexit uncertainty and people choosing to extend rather than move. We are paying 170k for a granny annexe

Sorry forgot to say: was told to allow 1.1 to 1.3k per sq metre

If it is being done to a total finish, you need to allow 2 to 2.5k a square metre.How many square meters is it?

Too expensive- keep looking

Brexit is having a big effect in se also some builders quite based on added value to property now rather than cost keep looking!

Yes, as more people are choosing to extend than move, builders can charge a premium. I want some work done, struggling to find a builder who will do it as they are so in demand here they can cherry pick the best jobs, whereas mine is a small job so less lucrative.

We are in Kent and doing similar (to a 2000 house) building the shell (excluding the kitchen & fitting, flooring, decorating etc) our quote is 35k inc VAT so your quotes seem very high. I would say we are in a quite similar area for quotes too.
Keep getting different builders and also ask what can you do to reduce the quote.

I had a 12sq m extension built last month for 19k, including French windows and a velux. Your quotes are way out!

Depends exactly on your plans, especially the internals. If you are going very open plan then the steels required will not be cheap. Likewise if your plans require moving boilers, drains, mains water etc then costs will rocket. Again, alterations to chimneys will cost in an older house as these tend to be structural.

From your description then I would have estimated on average 50k -60k. The above will quuckly add to that. You really need to work out the sqm cost.

If you have 5 quotes all in the same ballpark then there is something in your design at fault. Work with your preferred builder to bring the cost down.

Just been through this process. We were going "high end", They told me to budget 100k including flooring, under floor heating and windows/doors.

Depends exactly on your plans, especially the internals. If you are going very open plan then the steels required will not be cheap. Likewise if your plans require moving boilers, drains, mains water etc then costs will rocket. Again, alterations to chimneys will cost in an older house as these tend to be structural.

+1

Complicated T steels needing to support the entire weight of the house, moving boiler, meters, drains all get crazy expensive.

I want to do a similar thing to my property but I want to move boiler, move down pipe, have a new water supply taken in as i'm on a shared supply and those things alone are many many £k which is quite depressing. The ultimate result won't be anywhere near as good if I don't do them.

Probably a stupid question, but have you had quotes from the builders who did your friends' extensions? If so have you asked them why they're quoting so much more?

I think they're not as overpriced as everyone is saying. We've just extended our 30s semi. What area are you actually adding and how much internal work are you doing?

We came in at about £2k per square metre plus VAT to plaster finish with everything else then on top.

Have you got one of the builders to see if there are ways you could reduce costs? I dint mean by squeezing them on price, but our builder had lots to say about using existing openings and patio doors being cheaper than bi fold doors and how a tweak here would mean not moving the sewer.

If they quote on exactly what you ask for you can unwitting be asking for really expensive stuff

We've changed our plans to rear extension only and not filling in the side as first hoped. Going into the side return doubled the price, its long and thin so lots of square metreage. 5.5m rear is going to be about 50/60 plus vat.

We've been quoted about 60k for our extension; it's about 30m2 down the side of our house, knocking out from the existing kitchen. Would be a bootroom, utility and kitchen diner. So around 2k per M2 (have had two very similar quotes). That is to plaster finish, not including kitchen, flooring, painting - includes basic electrics (so that cost will be up too).

We're nearing the end of our extension - kitchen/ family room and a smaller room upstairs. Only gone out about 1.5m and had a conservatory pulled down and gone over that.

Down south.

Estimated cost was £200,000 but we have gone over a bit with extra foundations, extra beam etc.