Renovation/Remodel costs - massive quote

[Mem77]

Hi all, just bought a 1960s four bed house that needs some remodeling work. Let me list what's needed then give you our quote from the builder. Would love to hear what you think.

So:

Open up back of house, remove two walls, put in steels
Under floor heating to kitchen/diner
New flat roof on existing extension with roof lantern and sliding doors to garden - 5ft approx
New kitchen - mid range
Create utility room and office space
New windows -8
Log burner
Create new ensuite
Replace existing bathroom
New flooring throughout
Redecoration throughout including plastering
Rewire

House is 184sqm.

Only one quote so far for 110k plus VAT. That's way over the top isn't it?

Sounds like a full refurb of a 4-bed house? I can’t say it sounds extortionate to me (by London standards).

If you’re in a very cheap area and ‘mid range kitchen’ means Ikea, then it could be a lot cheaper,

It sounds OK - well, what I might expect - to me too. That’s a lot of work. But it depends where you are. I guessed at 100k before I read your price.

Sounds like a good price, I had a small kitchen extension, toilet installed, and new kitchen, that was 50k

London here - I also think that sounds about right... depends where you live I guess!

For what you've listed that doesn't seem too bad. Another home/property post on here recently gave the advice to join the House Talk group on FB. You'd be better asking on there, I reckon. Good luck with your renovation 😊

£600 per m2 for a complete renovation and remodel doesn't sound crazy. Maybe get some more quotes.

Thanks for the replies. Forgot to mention we are in the southwest.

Yeah I think that sounds fine if not cheap! We are doing a similar project on our 4 bed , no log burner. It’ll prob be nearer £200k to final finish!

I nearly choked on my cornflakes when the quote came in. Is it really reasonable considering no extension costs?

Your list is quite long and some of the items on there could be very expensive by themselves. Its really difficult to tell though as so much depends on your individual property and spec. "Create a utility and office space" could be 5k or 50k. The price of flooring throughout is going to be a big cost, but carpet could be done much cheaper than tiling or solid oak. Get some more quotes. I've had huge variation in quotes from builders. Sometimes they just don't want the job.

Without a breakdown I'd say that looks like a reasonable quote.

What number were you expecting OP?

That looks fine. We just built an extension on top of the garage ( 1 bedroom & bathroom and large utility room. ) cost 45k all in (bathroom, tiles ...)

I also think it sounds reasonable. Several of the items on your list are quite pricey on their own and the whole list as a combination sounds like a pretty good price for that

We’re doing similar, £200k. We are having to scale Our ideas back.

Sounds similar to what we did and about the same price all in although we sourced all the fittings (floors, bathroom, kitchen etc.) ourselves. You might find that the quote is for the lowest priced option and when you actually choose the flooring/sinks/doors/whatever there will always be something different you want that costs more.

We were looking at between 60-70k as the place is already in reasonable condition. A lot of the work would be cosmetic. Kitchen price want included in the original quote so final price including vat would be more than 150k. I feel like I could build a new house for that!!

It’s not over the top.

Also builders are inundated at the moment. Everyone seems to be using the money they didn’t spend on holidays on renovations so builders/gardeners are cashing in.

I think it sounds a lot for the South West. We were quoted £1000 psqm to do something similar in London but we’re getting separate trades in and doing it for half of what we were quoted. So try that - you’ll need an electrician, plumber, structural engineer, a plasterer and a decorator.

When you say "Create utility room and office space" and "Create new ensuite" do you mean put up a stud wall or build an extension? Are the pipes already there or will they need redirecting? Soil pipe?
It sounds a bit higher than I initially guessed (I guessed £100k) but it does depend on finishing - new flooring throughout, for example, could vary wildly depending what you lay.
Also - I'm presuming this quote includes the builder project managing all the work - arranging all the different trades at the right time, ordering materials etc? If so, I think it's about right.
It would probably be cheaper to arrange all the component parts yourself, but much more time consuming.

I agree about setting separate trades in to save money. People like plasterers might not even be VAT registered making it even more affordable.

And I don’t understand what you mean by saying that the house is in good condition if you need to replace all windows and all electrics etc It sounds like a complete fixer upper.

Sounds about right to me too. Even on the low side, but then I'm in London.

Sounds around what I’d expect to pay and I’m in Scotland.

Sounds about right to me too. If a lot of the work is cosmetic you could see if your original idea of £60k would cover the actual building and electrics and you could do the decorating yourself. I still think £60k to £70k would not cover it though, I would say close to £100k. Do you have to do it all in one go? Could you separate off some of the work to do at another time?

Sounds about right to me. We've done similar work on a 1930s house and we're at about that figure even with some friends doing favours for us cheaply.

Sorry but it's expensive work! They say £1.5k -£2k per sq metre for extensions and your internal work sounds quite extensive also - things like plaster have gone through the roof price wise as they've not been producing it since lockdown )bag costs around £8-10 in wicked and was selling on eBay for £50 plus) - all that adds up. Under floor heating means digging down I believe (we wanted it but it was too much and our budget was over £200k). Waste pipes and water pipes all add up, along with attaching things to drains, digging etc. Steels are expensive also as are wages.

Can you hire a project manager maybe? It'll cost you but they could save you in the long run from cowboy building firms (I have experience! And wish we had invested in someone)