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!

How many windows does it have and what are you planning to replace them with? Our 3000 sft house with 30 windows, sliders, bifolds and french doors cost £40k to reglaze but they were thin profile aluminium. It would have been 25-30k ish in pvc. I would say going on prices at the moment you budget is tight.

Is the property liveable as it stands? If so, go for it and do it up after you’ve sourced a good builder.
You’ve not thought about a new roof, which as it’s a bungalow will be more expensive than a a]house of similar bedroom size.
Your windows estimate is probably too low. I just had a new front door, and 5 medium windows fitted for 5K. Bifold will add a couple of thousand on.

I’m mid renovation of a large house. 39 windows, five lots of French doors and four sets of Bifolds.

Upvc sash windows will set you back circa £500 plus fitting each atm but lead times are long. Bifolds circa £3k plus fitting. Glass is a problem though currently.

I think your total amount is about right, less for kitchen snd bathrooms, but more in other areas.
I'd be inclined to do boiler/rads and electrics whilst you're in the renovation mode, save messing up walls etc in a few years time, but see what your family builder says as they're the expert

Can we see the bungalow on Rightmove?

I think your budget is fine. I think whilst you are in renovation mode think also about heating sources for the future and general insulation to keep running costs down. Does your budget allow you to rent somewhere whilst the work is done? Trying to live in a house that needs a rewire/replumb is false economy as tradespeople will charge more overall if they can’t get access to all the spaces easily when they want to. They also don’t move your stuff carefully..

I guess only you know how tricky it is to get stuff to the IOM at the mo and with access to materials being at an all time low, rising costs and a labour shortage it is a difficult time to start a renovation. There is money in more people’s pockets than is the norm at the mo to do home improvements so frankly the chances of you negotiating strongly with anyone is remote. I’d get quotes in, start planning in detail what you need and then maybe live in it for 6months whilst you establish how the light falls etc before committing to changes. During that time the other issues you cannot influence may calm down. FWIW, buying a house with potential is always a good idea. The easier option is a turnkey but in the long run may prove to be less profitable. Good luck with it all.

Thanks very much all.

We have been given an advance viewing of the bungalow so it is not actually on the market yet so no link.

We are fortunate to have almost paid off our mortgage on the current property we are living in so, if we decide to put an offer in, we plan on staying put whilst most of the renovations are undertaken. We can then move and sell the place we currently live in, in due course. So no renting costs to factor in.

We have cash savings saved up for deposit and renovations with mortgage approved in principle for the balance. So I think we are in a good position.

The roof will need redoing at some point. It is fine at present but we would probably prioritise the inside renovations, move in and then do any work we need to on the roof.

I think with the other extra you said you may have available that you should be ok overall though am another who thinks you are a bit out with how you have allocated it.

You say that you have a builder in the family, are they able to do the work and have access to the other trades? If so I would be more tempted to go for it.

We have also been lucky enough to have seen a bungalow not on the market and are really hoping to be in a position to go for it. It’s not local but an area we know a lot of people so have a good plumber, electrician, window person etc which is making me more confident about taking it on, though it doesn’t need as much doing as the one you are looking at.

Oooh good luck FoolsAssassin. If we both decide to take the plunge it would be good to compare notes as we go along. I will let you know what the builder says when we have our second viewing on Wednesday…

Yes please do! We are definitely going to as long as can sell as is in a condition we can live with it for some time if needs be.

@croon979

Thanks very much all.

We have been given an advance viewing of the bungalow so it is not actually on the market yet so no link.

We are fortunate to have almost paid off our mortgage on the current property we are living in so, if we decide to put an offer in, we plan on staying put whilst most of the renovations are undertaken. We can then move and sell the place we currently live in, in due course. So no renting costs to factor in.

We have cash savings saved up for deposit and renovations with mortgage approved in principle for the balance. So I think we are in a good position.

The roof will need redoing at some point. It is fine at present but we would probably prioritise the inside renovations, move in and then do any work we need to on the roof.

We pretty much did this - bought our new house in September last year, then due to covid restrictions in travelling didn’t move in until the end of May this year. We did have to freshen up the old house for selling as well as modernising the new house so it was time we’ll spent. We had the major jobs done while the house was empty. It was hard managing the project from 200 miles away and we’re pretty sure with electrician moved in while he did the rewiring!

So we had rewiring, new boiler (relocated in the cellar) and gch, new kitchen, new bathroom, three new windows and new patio doors. Like you we had the wall between the separate toilet and bathroom knocked through (not load-bearing) and a gap knocked through between the kitchen and dining room (load-bearing).

We are in now and still have all the decorating to do but it’s liveable in and we’re doing it at our own pace.

Our expenses so far are just under £30k but we still have flooring to fit throughout. I expect all in it will be around £40k.

Depending on your location, your budget may be a bit tight. If you’re staying in the house forever than you may not be bothered about reno costs. House prices right now and the high cost of reno work will probably be more expensive than buying a ready done home.

The cost of building work is extortionate. We're due to start next month.

We're not extending, but refurbishing instead. Our budget is now double what we started off with!

I'm spending wisely and bringing in multi-buy discounts on appliances and getting trade prices on sanitary ware etc. I'm still flabbergasted by the cost.

I have to say I am talking myself out of it today and leaning towards a done up ready house. Just so nervous or costs. I guess I should at least have the viewing with the builder

I think as your relative is the builder, they'll give you a realistic take on the work and estimates (time and cost).

I keep thinking that I wish we'd bought the other house we shortlisted, as it was "done". We'll easily end up spending as much (actually more) on this place once finished. On the one hand, it will be exactly to our style, but the hassle and moving out etc isn't worth it. We've already spent £20k on architect fees and Airbnb that I've conveniently excluded from the "budget" I agreed with DH 😂

It's all ridiculous. I don't think my DC should pursue uni, I'd much rather they become general contractors in future.

So I went on the second viewing yesterday and took our builder with us. He confirmed that a very healthy budget for all of the renovations was likely to be £100,000 and with a contingency he said £120,000 should be ample.

The only not so good news is availability. We are looking at March next year for renovations to start. This is a bit disappointing but in the grand scheme of things it is only really another 5/6 months by the time the conveyancing would be done. Thinking it through logically it would give a great amount of time to plan, to buy items ready and do it is a relaxed manner.

We talked it through last night and have decided to make an offer. Which is scary but exciting.

Good luck op. You’ll find the conveyancing process will take 3-4 months anyway and so you’re probably looking at moving in at the end of November/ start of December now anyway. So you’re actually pretty much looking at starting work immediately.

Good luck. I’ve family iom who are getting big Reno done at moment, the lead in for trades is ridiculously long. They have been waiting weeks for the screening man to turn up. Joiners are like hens teeth. Theit builder is tearing his hair out.

Building supplies also really gone up.

It should be better by March with restrictions lifting. But with all the house moving going on get your builder booked.

Thanks very much. Offer put in so now I wait.

That’s interesting Barking. I will definitely book builder in the event that my offer is accepted.

Rewiring and plumbing for 10 grand? How much plumbing? We had to shell out over 8 grand for a rewire to a place similar to yours, and that didn't include the kitchen, but did include moving the consumer unit to a different part of the house.
With all that work you will be living in a building site for years rather than months, give how difficult it is to get tradesmen and materials. You can wait months for a plasterer round here, for example.
We are having to do rather more work than you (as our place was a real doer-upper and 1920s) though we're not knocking through, we re having to do roofing etc. We're speeding it up where we can doing a lot ourselves. Thanks to covid and brexit making materials and labour expensive and in short supply, my estimate of about 2 years for the bigger stuff like kitchen, bathroom, roof, etc. and another four for the cosmetics is now four years for the big stuff and another two to complete the cosmetics, which I'm doing as I can between the big jobs- which always turn out bigger and more extensive than they look, and always take longer. Add covid and brexit into the usual delays and costs, and what it comes to is that if you don't like living with renovations, this is not the time to buy a doer-upper.

Good luck OP, we’ve just been quoted £145k for 12 weeks of building work. 20sqm extension

Thank you all for your feedback! We have had an offer accepted on the property today! So delighted! Emailed the builder and asked him to get the work in the diary - so very excited!

@croon979

Thank you all for your feedback! We have had an offer accepted on the property today! So delighted! Emailed the builder and asked him to get the work in the diary - so very excited!

Exciting times! We just signed a contract with our architect to do a similiar renovation on a 1960s bungalow we bought. He reckons we should be ready to start in January by the time plans are done, building warrants granted and tenders submitted

That is great news Judge! ooh we will have to keep the other updated as to progress. Looking like the main renovations for us will begin in the spring but w e can do some preliminary other work before that when we complete. Today is a very good day!

Interested to know how you've got on!

If you go for wood flooring rather than laminate on the size of you floor I think your budget is a bit conservative. Windows too as we've just order a front and back door and that's just under 5k. As previously mentioned boiler/ radiators. What about the roof? Gutters and fascia?
I think all in all you aren't far off and as long as you have a decent contingency you should be ok