Two very different quotes - what would you expect this to cost?

[restisall]

I'm looking to get the wall between my two downstairs reception room knocked through, an RSJ added and new doors put in between. I already own the doors so that wouldn't be part of the cost, and would also be getting the doorway to the second reception room walled up.

I've had the structural engineer round to do the calculations, and had two builders round to quote. One who did more or less the exact same thing for my neighbour who vouch for them, and had photos of that particular job - who says it will cost £6k and take 3 weeks.

Another builder, who I don't have a personal recommendation for, but has good google reviews which seem genuine and seemed to know his stuff, has quoted £2.7k and take 1 week.

What would you expect to pay for this?

i wouldn’t go with the cheaper quote as something is not right there . We had a 3m steel put in about 4/5 years ago and it cost 3k and they literally just installed the steel - no knocking through / plastering . I can’t imagine things have got cheaper .

Okay, that's good to know! Thank you.

How much will the steel cost? You could easily get this price over the phone, don’t forget the delivery.
It will take longer than a week, but 3 weeks seems a bit too long. Fair bit of messing around though, repairing the skirting, floor, hanging the doors etc. What about decorating? Do you want/need new sockets or plumbing moving?

Is the cheaper quote excluding the cost of structural calculations and council sign off? With those things included, where I am you can get it sorted for around 4k so 2.7k might not be wildly off if it's just for the actual building work. Also I think if you're having it decorated and the new doors/skirting/architrave putting in it could be 3 weeks but 2 seems more likely.

I've paid the structural engineer separately for the calculations. The more expensive one did include sorting sign off with the council, the cheaper one didn't.

We will do the painting/decorating ourselves and plumbing shouldn't be affected but we will be moving some electrics. I think I will go with the more expensive one as it's reassuring to have the direct recommendation as much as anything!

Yes a direct recommendation is worth it's weight in gold! £6k doesn't sound too bad really, usually the really rough ballpark is around 5k isn't it and you're having some joinery done too.

But perhaps you overpaid?

If they're like for like quotes and good reviews then I'd go for the cheaper one. You don't always get what you pay for. I've had quotes for building work that have differed by tens of thousands, gone for the cheaper one and been totally happy with the result.

Get a Third quote to see which is accurate. Tbh 3 weeks seems awfully excessive.

@Reallybadidea we didn’t overpay , we had several quotes and the recommendation of a structural engineer as it was a slightly complicated steel .

We had wall knocked down, RSJ put in. It took less than a week and cost £1k. Definitely get a 3rd quote!

Probably good advice to get a third quote when two are so wide apart.
My builder is certainly not cheap, but he was recommended and has been amazing. He doesn't advertise - it's all word of mouth. I'd go with a known quantity every time.
By the way council sign off is not a big deal - couple hundred for the application and a couple five minute (or less) visits.

Does one include vat and one below the vat threshold? You really need to ask for a breakdown and get material vs labour costs. A week seems quick but maybe they have more people working at the same time.

Have the quotes not broken anything down? What's the cost they are both giving for the RSJ itself?

Are they making good the wall? Will they be using anything to reduce dust ie are they putting the rooms into negative pressure (more common in a very high end piece of work in central London boroughs than in my area!). Decorating costs? Waste removal? Provision of temporary structural support like acrow props? Your floorboards will need to be filled in - is this calculated for? Are there joists under the wall for this? New flooring?

Get them both to break it down further between materials and labour, and be specific about what they are actually going to complete for that money and get a 3rd quote IMO.

This. I got five bathroom quotes awhile ago ranging from £3k to £15k.

The £3k had great reviews, his information checked out on companieshouse & he took payment in arrears so we went with him. He did a great job.

Like a few other OP stated, find out the cost of the materials (ask both for a split) so you can then use your judgement.

Don't dismiss the cheaper one - he might be good & available so he's priced it reasonably. If he wants payment upfront then that's when alarm bells should ring!

Builder 1

These 2 steels cost me £130 a year ago ( both 2.4m ). What is the cost of the steel ? 6 grand sounds a lot to me.

6 grand sounds like too much and 3 weeks is ridiculous
We had a similar thing done a few years back. Cost a little under £2k and took 2 men 3 days and was all signed off by building inspector on day 3
For the same job we had one guy quote £14k pluus VAT!

I'd get a third quote. You also need to consider the size of the company. Larger company will have more overheads, smaller one man band types with a labourer less so and will be cheaper. I'm a building surveyor, husband a QS, plus we've had recent work done and I'd think more around the £4k mark and less than two working weeks. What is the bay situation? Is one company exempt?

Vat not bay!