Renovating a house...are we mad to consider it ?

[HellInAHandCartThatsWhat]

We’d have a builder who would project manage. He did a good job for us before.

He reckons about £100 to £120 k for the work. Some wall knocking down, new kitchen, two new bathroom, poss new staircase in different place, new window opening, veluxes, replacement of all spitting birds and adding cornices, adding a utility room.

It’s a 1920s house that’s been extended over th3 years.

We wouldn’t be living in it. Do normal people do this? What should we consider?

If you can afford it and are not living there during the work it will be fine.
What are spitting birds though? Lol

Things to think about...

Does the £120k include VAT, professional fees and client supply items? Often not when a builder gives a quote like that, and that can push the cost up by 50% +

Could you afford it if the budget (before VAT and CS) was £200k+? Perfectly possible for jobs this big to creep up by that extent.

What does living around the build really mean? Would you have a kitchen/ bathroom/ hot water for all of it?

How long does the builder say it will take? This will always go up.

What's your view of having the lack of privacy that living with a builder entails?

Yeah, I was just coming on to say the same thing - if the quote is £100-120,000, can you afford £180,000+? Big renovations are such an unknown quantity.

Spitting birds..v technical term that! Skirting boards. And we wouldn’t be living in it while work was done but would move in afterwards.

Builder quote was him coming round house with us to give a ballpark figure...we’d get a more detailed quote. And we might need building control for the stairs.

What is included in the builder's quote and does it include his insurance?

How much extra will the bathroom fittings, kitchen fittings, furniture and decor cost?

Do you need planning permission before getting the work done? How much extra will it cost?

Get an architect to see how far your budget can stretch.

Always check if the price includes VAT and have a 10%-20% contingency budget.

Will getting the work done add value to the property if you wanted to resell it?

If you can live with it costing considerably more than you estimate and taking twice as long and you ending up moving in before it’s finished, then it will be brilliant and you should go for it.

If you are the worrying type or have a very fixed budget with no contingency then I’d avoid it.

I’m Speaking as a serial renovator with experience.

I’m not sure why it would be a big deal especially if you’ve got the money and somewhere else to live. It should get sorted very quickly and you’ll have the house ready.

I’d just make sure the quote is detailed and broken up into stages.

If you had to sell, would the house be worth what you paid plus the amount spent?

I think that's a lot of money.

We are renovating atm. A 1930s bungalow. Ripped everything out. Knocked two walls through, bricked a window up, bricked a doorway up. 2 steels in and a studd wall.

Boarded all ceilings, plastered every single room. New kitchen. New bathroom. New radiators. New skirting. Painting throughout. New flooring throughout and carpet. Changed the lead water pipe in the house and moled under driveway to change too as well as gas lead pipe changed. 2 x skips and 1 x rubbish removal. We have spent 17k altogether.

That's a 3 bed bungalow though.

If you have the money then go for it of course, but in my opinion builders who project manage always wack on a hefty amount. We got a quote for the above from a building company and they wanted 70k

We are in the south west but obviously not living in the bungalow and also although we want to get in asap but dont mind how long it takes.

We got keys end of may and will be.moving in mid august

WBWIFE, 17k? My kitchen cabinets and appliances cost more than that (and I think of it being a budget kitchen)...

I think 100-120k is what I'd expect to pay for refurbing a large-ish property in a pretty expensive area.

If you. Can afford another 80 grand, and are really happy making continual decisions , do it.

But don’t move in with a nine month old Velcro baby( who is your first) and there’s only one tap and no kitchen and only one floor down. Ok?

@HellInAHandCartThatsWhat
My kitchen is a shaker kitchen from DIY kitchens and was £3200. Including belfast sink and tap. The worktops are real solid oak and are £700 including a a solid oak chopping board plus hot rods.

Bathroom was £1500 including towel rail, free standing bath, large walk in shower, toilet and vanity unit.

Depends what you want I suppose and where you shop, but I love a bargaina and it still looks fab.

Sorryy I @ wrong person, that was meant for @JoJoSM2

My kitchen is also from DIY kitchens ;)

If you aren’t living there do you mean you are renovating to sell? Look at sold prices for houses that have been done up and see if the figures add up.
Also do not forget fees. Planning, building control (they cover new windows too), structural engineer/surveyor, council tax during the work, utilities etc.
Make sure your builder gives you a very detailed schedule of works with stage payments. Specify exactly what windows, what flooring, what bathroom fixtures, and of course what kitchen. Don’t forget rewriting and new plumbing. Do you need a new boiler to handle the new bathrooms and utility? Penalty clause if job overruns too. And try not to change your mind once work starts!

jojo - A £17k kitchen most definitely isn't a ''budget'' kitchen, congrats on being so wealthy and well done for the stealth boast though.

It’s a 5 bed 2 storey house where part of the issue is sorting out the previous poor extension. They are good build quality just badly planned.

I think £17k for a kitchen sounds a lot.

I think we’ve decided that despite it being on a fantastic plot, it would take it above the ceiling price for the road to turn it into what we want.

Subcontract to trades and manage the work yourself and you can save 30%. This is the builders profit, source fitting yourself and the price can be 50% less.

Look for bargains, lots of ways to do building work cheaper without forgoing quality fittings. You do need to find good tradesmen though.