Are we being ripped off?

[Christening]

We currently have a builder and his team working on our new 4 bed, 2 floor house while we are in rental. The house has been gutted, then rewired by a separate electrician firm.

The builder is doing the following:

1. Flashings and mortar on the extension roof
2. Making good after electrical re-wiring (all rooms)
3. Plastering, painting and laying flooring on ground and first floor
4. Place simple panel to extension attic hatch
5. Removing old kitchen + removing ground-floor kitchen wall, installing a steel beam
6. Garage - repair lintel
7. Re-fitting ground-floor shower (install shower cubicle, re-tile rest of bathroom)
8. Alter garden wall for driveway, allowing access from existing dropped curb.
9. Re doing skirting-boards and architraves.

10. Re plumbing and fitting new radiators.

None of these jobs include second materials, e.g. radiators, flooring, showers, tiles

He wants £52k for this work. My uncle thinks this work amounts to 10k. He has started already and we have paid him £20k. Are we being ripped off or is this a fair price? Please help. I tried to get other quotes for months and only 2 of 5 builders came and this builder was the only one to bother to quote.

If your uncle is going to do it instead, can you give me the number of your builder as they are like good dust! Just getting one to give a quote is hard enough here.

It seems a reasonable price to me. I doubt you’re in the South East!

@NewHouseNewMe

It seems a reasonable price to me. I doubt you’re in the South East!

OP is in the South East.

Your uncle doesn’t have a clue.

We own a building firm.

Also @onedayoranother runa mile away from any “builder” happy to work for £100 a day. Most labourers are on more than this.

Seems good to me!
We're having work done at the moment... I can't remember much of the individual figures but labour is expensive and materials have rocketed over the past year or so. For five rooms, the builder we choice has quoted decorating at £12k (painting and skirting boards, not plastering, that's a separate line item but I can't remember how much it is off the top of my head). Labour for laying wood floor and tiles is £66 per sq.m.

We chose, not choice...

Dh is a tradesman, his daily rate is about 250.00 if he needs a labourer, it's another 180.00 for them. This is before materials etc. You said it's a builder and his 'team'. I don't think you are being ripped off but ask for an itemised bill. 10k is a joke though Your uncle might mean well but he's wrong.

@RussianSpy101

Your uncle doesn’t have a clue.

We own a building firm.

Also @onedayoranother runa mile away from any “builder” happy to work for £100 a day. Most labourers are on more than this.

My husband pays his labourers (unskilled) £140 a day. His skilled workers are on £300+ per day.

And damn right. It’s about time we rewarded people who work bloody hard and are good at something that doesn’t require a suit and tie.

Materials prices are through the roof (that’s if you can get hold of them within a decent timeframe due to. Brexit holdups) There’s also a shortage of skilled Labour (again, Brexit, there just aren’t the people arriving here that there were this time a couple of years ago)

Your uncle was absolutely right... Back in 1982 🤣

Your uncle is trying to be a know it all dickhead. Ask him to break down the cost of that £10k by job according to your list. Then laugh at him when he ends up telling you that you can get a whole room plastered for £50!!

How on earth did your uncle come up with £10k, your house is 125sqm! That is a lot of house in the South East, and you need to be prepared to pay for a decent job to be done. Just plastering, painting and laying floors on ground and first floor is a huge job! Tell your uncle £10k is not going to cut the mustard

Fir all that work, you've been given a fair price.

10k sounds ridiculous but have no idea is 50k is too much because thats asking how long a piece of string is.

Sounds like a bargain to me !

Your uncle sounds like my DH. Knows bugger all about most trades but his immediate response to any and every quote is "that's extortionate! "

“ For five rooms, the builder we choice has quoted decorating at £12k (painting and skirting boards, not plastering, that's a separate line item but I can't remember how much it is off the top of my head)”

Wow! At that price I’d be doing it myself.

Kitchen work alone is approx 5k I would say based on what we’ve just had done which is similar (wall removal and steel beam etc)

I can’t say whether the £52k is reasonable- to know that you would need alternative quotes or a quantity surveyor. However… it costs us £5k to have our kitchen ripped out and replaced - no structural work at all. There is absolutely no way whatsoever that your list of works could be done for £10k. We are in Scotland!

Your uncle is nuts. If you want the jobs doing properly you have to pay going rate. That is a lot of work and materials included sounds a decent price.

@JaniceBattersby I wholly agree. It’s about time the attitude changed. People like OPs uncle really take the biscuit.
DH pays similar to yours.
Material is ridiculous at the moment. We’ve had a few customers who received quotes last year calling to say they’d like to book in and shocked when the price has gone up. I don’t know how they expect people to absorb the costs.

If your uncle knows anyone who can do that work for 10k , Can he please pass the details to me?

My db had similar work done and it cost 70k

@Lampzade I would imagine anyone who “can do” that for 10k has never built anything in his life and the remedial work would cost ££££££

I’m a QS and 10k… hahaha dream on.
Steel is expensive, for a start, sounds like there’s some wood there too which is expensive too. Lots of man hours in an expensive part of the world? Seems reasonable to me.

Building costs have rocketed in the last 2 years. I don't think you are being ripped off.