House Renovation

[elay5]

hi

So we bought a house about 2000 sq feet, 4 bed two baths but had not been updated by the previous owner I think since she bought it.

What we have had done:

Two baths upgraded to a high spec, used some Porcelanosa tiles, added another en suite in one of the rooms make it a 4 bed three bath and also updated guest toilet to same spec.

Wood flooring downstairs and carpet upstairs from staircase, also changed staircase to glass side panels wiht a metal rail

Opened up living room to dining and inserted an RSJ to amke it a bigger space, drpped ceiling as well

Refresh of kitchen which we thought would be 2k but ended up close to 5k, we plan to do an extension later so didnt want to go overboard in kitchen but after what one has spent I think that extension aint gonna happen, not told the wife yet lol

Painted the whole house, used F&B in some places and the other expensive paint, in retrospect cant see difference between it and mixed BnQ paint in kitchen but hey ho you live and learn

Complete new electrics, new chrome sockets with dimmers, plugs, 90 down lights, went overboard, have to blame the wife for that lol

New boiler system with water tank, new radiators, some vertical, new doors from Todds, new door handles

Used about 5 skips arghh never knew so much could come out of an empty house

Fixed a minor structural issue in main bathroom where wall had crumbled a bit because previous plumber had put a pipe in wall and it leaked

Plastered most of the house, one area where not toally satisfied, but you live and learn

New Fridge, Freezer, Washing machine, dryer, and gas hub and oven

Work was carried out over 3 months and a bit, used two builders for most of work spend or total bill came to 116k

Keep hearing from people how we over spent and they did theirs for 70k or this and that, do people lie to make themselves appear super smart, so far everybody who has come has been like lovely re the house but I would like to learn from mistakes made

Defo following this thread. Just bought a Victorian 5 bed which was last redecorated in 1992 (not kidding) and very very neglected by the previous owners (the ones before that were very house proud).

So so much to do including moving kitchen to other end of house; adding an ensuite to bed 5; stripping out & refitting 2 bathrooms; a shower room & downstairs cloak, replacing all radiators; attacking 5 years of overgrown garden; repainting; replacing windows.........

I live in London and that does sound a lot to me (I'm sorry). You say that you used two builders - was one a main contractor who organised and paid all the sub-contractors and the other one was someone you brought in for a particular job? Using a main contractor to deal with everything is generally a more expensive way of going about it. Did you get quotes beforehand and the builder you went with seemed in line with others? The bathrooms sound as if they could have added a lot to the bill if you went for very spendy fittings and finishes. 90 downlights does sound a lot in a house of that size so it sounds as if you decided to push the boat out a bit.

Ultimately, one saves money by shopping around (both in terms of labour and materials) and by avoiding the need for unnecessary work and/or redoing work. If the £116k seemed reasonable to you - until people started carping - perhaps it was the right price to pay?

You need to shop around

I think you maybebhad one contractor for a job and kept adding to his list so didn't bother to get anymore quotes?

You probably went above spec on most items

Our bathroom refit is £3000 including suite mirror tiles roughly 50/50 on labour materials All top end products brought individually rather than a package

The stairs seems a big expense and probably not necessary

same with the radiators - look good but aren't necessary

From your post it seems like you have refurbished to a high standard and it sounds lovely .
I think regarding the spend most people considerably under estimate how much all these things cost and also the fact that many materials go up in price over literally the course of a few months so their renovation in the start of a year will cost less than the spend later the same year .
You have used quality materials and these cost more than average materials have they taken that into account ?
For comparison I have just finished a large open plan , five bed , 3 bath & cloaks plus detached 1 bed annex. My spend has been 160 k including landscaping the grounds , I used trades throughout but did lots of basics myself so your 116k spend seems realistic to me

Congrats all on your purchases !
I agree that shopping around can be good - but if you don't have time delegating to one person working onsite /or offsite can work too ! The key with all renovations is it has to work for you !
Be aware that sometimes trades suggest things that make their life easier short term - before you agree to it, consider how it will effect you, living with it long term.

Lecture over !! Keep smiling ! The end result will be worth it !

I also think that it sounds like a lot when you've not added any square footage. But unless you bought it with the intention of flipping it to make a profit, it doesn't really matter does it? You also have to appreciate that white goods (unless they're integrated, expensive paint, glass bannister etc) dont add value. But its your house and you've chosen the finishes you have because you like them. And it's done now, you can't change it so it's not worth worrying about.

It's all about the quality, surely? If you wanted to you could spend £116k renovating just a kitchen.

No point in comparisons with others unless you are really comparing like for like.

GreenTulips I am reassured by the cost you quote for a bathroom refit. I have three to do in the new house (well, one ensuite, one cloakroom with shower I want to remove, and one main bathroom). All are tiny, and all need refurbing. I have expensive taste but a moderate budget! Have done similar refurbs in the past and you can achieve a lot by eg. buying from Fired Earth factory outlet etc. I need to get creative...

Sounds very expensive to me but yes it depends what quality of the bathrooms and kitchen are and the workmanship. When we did our kitchen we used cheaper cabinets (DIY kitchens) and spent the money on expensive worktops etc. DH also does a lot himself (electrical work, decorating etc) and has lots of friends who are plumbers, plasterers etc so we get mates rates!

All white items are the same white

For example baths were expensive in X shop (£600 inc panel and screen) same item £190 but deleivery slightly more expensive

Shower cheaper in first shop - in a sale - twice the price in the second shop - and so it goes on

Tiles were £26 sq mt locally £9 online with £40 delivery

Same with vinyl - quotes £260 fitted - better quality one round the corner £125 fitted

I brought a very expensive bloothtooth mirror online - saving £400 - we didn't need this but I want the kids to use this bathroom so a bit of tech helps!!

GreenTulip what is a Bluetooth mirror??!

It sounds like you might have gone for 'brands' which I think is fine and was obviously worth it for you. I usually try to buy things that 'look like' the brands, they're cheaper.

(We recently had a very good deal with bathstore for 3900 kitting out almost 4 bathrooms but they're not the most expensive store around. You can easily spend 4000 on a copper bath, something I'd love but not willing to pay for.)

You probably have a lovely house that your friends are jealous of. :-)

The mirror connects to your phone so you can have music - it has a radio and clock and anti mist - shave and lights etc

You can buy ones with a TV as well - but they were £1500- bit much

You can also get Bluetooth speaker light bulbs (I know!!) they change colour using your phone as well - just love it

If you are happy with the quality and are able to afford it and not planning to sell then why not? We gutted our 1 reception,4 bed house, completely remodelled it and pretty much doubled our floor space. Its now a 3 reception, 6 bedroom spacious house - yup we spent a lot, just over 200k and others think it could be done cheaper, but we are extremely happy with the quality and end product so not at all bothered what others think about the expenditure to be honest.

OP I've just mentally totted up your list based on how much we've paid for the same jobs over the last 5 years, and it came to just under £90K (North London Victorian terrace here).

But I suspect that you've gone for a much higher spec than we have. We also did each job individually so were able to shop around for each element. I'm sure it looks fantastic - sounds like you both have great attention to detail!

Oh and we didn't drop the ceiling when we knocked through the receptions, so add on a bit for that as well!

God that seems deer!
We did all this plus extension and more, also have porcelanosa tiles in the bathrooms and throughout the living/kitchen/diner(they're amazing aren't they)
Granted ours is a 4 bed bungalow and my OH is in the trade but we only spend 25k, ours sounds pretty similar to yours spec wise.

It is completely impossible and totally futile to try and do a thumb suck comparison like this. Eg. Rewiring costs: they can vary massively between house size, complexity, what you are replacing with etc etc. I have done a rewire on a 4 bed buy to let for a quarter of the cost of the rewrite for my own house. Same with decorating. Massive variation between finish and thus cost. Do not beat yourself up. If you are happy then you have done a good job. Well done for surviving it all.

That sounds a fortune but I'm sure your house is lovely now - was it an expensive house when you bought it out of curiosity? Sometimes I suspect builders charge in line with what they perceive you can afford!
Also you'll now need to do the outside to match - external doors, gutters and fascias, patio, driveway, pathway, walls, planting etc so hope you've got a few quid left

£116k!

We're about the embark on a similar sounding renovation in London. We had 6 quotes ranging from £40-80k. We're going with the one at £60k as the builder was personally recommended to us. We expect to spend an extra £10-15k on finishes/materials (inc kitchen), so will be around £70-80k in total. I do think 116 sounds high but if it's done now and you're happy there's no point worrying about it!

We recently bought a house at auction and needed to do a total renovation on the kitchen and two bathrooms, new heating system (including radiators), replace 50% of lighting, new flooring in all rooms (except the living room).

We looked for a company that could do both bathrooms and kitchen, with modern design and high quality finish. We spoke to a number of companies, large and small, at a wide range of price points (including IKEA), but in the end went with a company called Panelven that offered the best value for money in terms of modern design and top-notch quality. They were incredibly professional, quick and efficient (they started installation ahead of schedule), but most importantly perfectionists, I couldn't find fault in the finish if I tried! The kitchen was done using Burbridge laquer cabinets, New Forest Stone quartz worktops and Neff appliances (SMEG range was separate). The bathrooms were Villeroy and Boch, Vado and Porcelanosa tiles (marble-effect in one and genuine travertine in the other). The kitchen was approximately 15k including Fitting and VAT and the two bathrooms were approximately 25k, but also involved knocking a wall through.

We're not on mains gas, so we've had an air-source heat pump and radiators installed for heating and water, this was approximately 16k. We're planning to add a heat recovery system (as the property already has the infrastructure), this will cost about 5k and also a woodburning stove, since we have lots of wood, this should be about 4k including installation. Finally we had to replace the waste water treatment plant and this also cost 5k.

We replaced the flooring in the kitchen, hallways and utility room with Amtico, this cost about 4k and put new (cheap) carpet in the three bedrooms, which cost about 1k.

We've saved a bit of money by doing the painting and decorating ourselves, but we've probably spent close to 80k now. However, we're in Hampshire and have made a point of shopping locally, whilst things are definitely more expensive, we wanted to support local businesses.