Renovation Costs

[croon979]

Trying to get an idea of how much it may cost to renovate a large 4 bedroom bungalow (3000 ft2). Considering putting an offer in on one. No extension is required as the footprint size is great. We would like to knock through between the existing kitchen and snug. We would also wish to knock through the bathroom and separate loo to make one big family bathroom. Don’t believe that either of the walls we would be knocking through are load-bearing. After that the bungalow needs gutting, new flooring throughout and all walls/ceilings skimmed. I was thinking £100k may do it? This is based on the following:

£30k for new kitchen
£10k for knocking through the two walls
£20k for new bathroom and new en-suite
£10k for any rewiring and plumbing
£20k decoration costs (flooring walls etc)
£10k for window replacement/ bifolds

Does this sound reasonable? What have I forgotten? Anything I have under budgeted for?

Bungalow was built in 80s as is in generally hood condition.

Anyone done a similar project?

Words of wisdom appreciated!

Not a bungalow, but we have a 5 bed house bought as a restoration. It’s needed pretty much all the work you said, no walls down but total reno otherwise. We are looking at coming in at about £65k for it, but my husband can do most trades so we’ve had very little paid for help. Your budget sounds reasonable to me to be honest.

Doesn’t sound way out to me. Your decoration cost might be low if that needs to include flooring throughout. How is the boiler and the heating system in general?

Depends on where you are.

I'm in the SE and did a full renovation pre Covid. £100k would have cut it, as long as you were savvy with your spending and whiling to compromise/not too fussy.

Now, post Covid, prices for labour and materials have gone through the roof and £100k might be tight even if you're willing to go for the lower end options.

Hmmm, yes haven’t assessed boiler or heating system yet. Am based in the Isle of Man.
We have a bit of room in our budget - could push it to £120k/£130 so your responses are reassuring that I may not be way out…

Oh and probably looking at mid-range for kitchen etc

We done a 3 bed semi with £25,000. Stripped back to brick, new heating, re-wired, walls moved, re-plastered throughout, new kitchen and bathroom.
But I was mega frugal, spent hours searching for every purchase to find deals, materials were trade price, didn't pay anyone to do work as my dad and husband could cover most trades between them. Swapped favours for jobs we couldn't do ourselves.

In hindsight I wish we paid for some jobs as I'm a a bit fed up of loosing my husband at weekends to repay those favours, but it's how we done it on such a tight budget so I can't complain!

Have a contingency too.

Yes will try and keep a separate 10% contingency fund too just for peace of mind

Unless you absolutely have to though, don’t do anything for a year or so until the issues with materials and labour shortages have settled down. Costs are crazy at the moment and lead times are ridiculous

I’d have a 25% contingency nowadays

If you handy with a paintbrush then save money by doing the decorating. We did all ours including the mist coat on the new plaster.

Wow, ok. Yes I am a bit nervous about taking on a renovation right now.

I am in a real dilemma as to paying more for a “move in ready” house or taking on a renovation. So hard to know what to do right now with building and material costs as they are…

I don't know about were you are but finding tradesperson round here is like gold dust. You can't even get a quote for stuff. I wanted an extension but had a abandoned it as we just couldn't get anyone. We just got a new kitchen instead and even that couldn't be fitted for over six months. I think the shortage of trades people/builders has got even worse since Brexit.

Yep MoastyToasty I don’t mind painting and doing some of the decorating. I wouldn’t try and do any of the serous stuff though

I do know that tradespeople are in high demand here too. It is very tempting to not bother and pay through the nose for a done up ready house but I know it isn’t the sensible option in the long run really

It is very tempting to not bother and pay through the nose for a done up ready house but I know it isn’t the sensible option in the long run really

Actually at the moment it’s probably cheaper.

I think you’ve underestimated flooring and potentially windows. Separate furnishing budget?

Your kitchen budget sounds heavy (go through DIY Kitchens and get the lot done for £10-15k max).
Your decoration/skimming budget seems a bit light - there’ll be lots of filling etc that takes extra time, maybe rotten word that needs replacing.
Also, check the floorboards - we had a load that needed replacing and that was expensive.
I’d also say your electrics/plumbing could be a bit light, especially if you want to add plug sockets (old bungalow won’t have enough), add wall lights, wire in a security system, move pipe work.
So probably the right number overall, but in the wrong proportions. We did a large three bed, 2 reception, bathroom +separate WC 2 years ago for about 65k, which included fitting out an 18ft long kitchen and having a 50 x30 concrete yard dig up and turfed. We got the whole thing finished in 16 weeks.

Interesting….

I have a builder in our family who is going to come on a second viewing with me on Wednesday to give me his take on the work involved and costings….so I will let you know if I was dreaming with my estimates

Thanks ChilliWillies - I did wonder if my proportions were wrong

We’ve just put off our extension / renovation for at least a year. Our quotes were eye watering - about 3 x our budget. So I’d bear that in mind. It’s a combo of demand, Brexit and Covid. Plus HS2 hoovering up all the steel in the country. Now is not the time to embark on a big project. But if you can wait a year of two prices should hopefully come down

I don’t think we can put off moving for a year or two. We are really cramped in our current house and desperate to move locations too. It may be that the best option is to forget the renovation and buy a turnkey one

I mean put off the building work...

We moved into our house 18 months ago, planning to do the much-needed work last summer/Autumn. Covid buggered that plan up, and then it was further scuppered by the recent insane rise in prices. So we're having to hold off even longer than originally planned.

It's not ideal (we have single glazing, rotten window frames, an aged heating system, and a tiny kitchen), but we're making do.

So yeah, I guess if you feel you can't live in the fixer-upper as is then I wouldn't buy it. Because now really isn't the time to be taking on a renovation project. Not unless you've got bottomless pockets...

Your total is probably not far off, but I'd say your kitchen, bathroom and wall removals are a little high. Probably high enough to include the contingency fund for the project.

The other thing you've said is that you can't live in a fixer upper for that long. How about if you tackled the kitchen, bathroom and wiring, but spread the decoration and making good over tiime?

Are you going to get someone in to project manage it all, or are you doing it yourself? How quick do you want it done?

I’m not convinced the materials costs are coming down any time soon. Prices are sticky (once they’ve gone up they rarely come back down by as much).