Is this kitchen renovation quote very high or am I naive about how much things cost now?

[ForSnugLimeExpert]

• Disconnect and strip out the existing kitchen and dispose.

• Remove wall tiles and floor tiles and dispose.

• Support the wall and remove wall as needed.

• Fit steelwork, subject to engineers input.

• Remove ceiling to allow for rewiring.

• Fit sound insulation and new plasterboard ceiling.

• Plaster ceiling, around steels and chases for rewiring.

• We have included a provisional 2 days and £250.00 + VAT materials for creating the larder cupboard area.
• Supply and fit kitchen as per plan
• Included a provisional sum for the following items,
• Flooring
• Tiling
• Plumbing
• Electrical work
• Decorating.

Estimated Investment £55,000 incl. VAT.

nb. The kitchen and appliances itself are ~£20k, so £35k for the labour. I’m based in the Southeast.

Gosh I really did get that percentage wrong on the VAT!

My point being that whilst you can't avoid the VAT, it's not all going to the local firm as part of their labour costs.

Yes that’s fair!

Pre Covid (early 2020) a similar job cost me £35,000. I had a cheaper kitchen from Wickes(about £8,000) with a marble countertop which cost £3000. So 5 years on and with all the rising costs, I think that sounds about right. And I’ve never regretted it for a moment - it’s transformed the way we live and makes me feel joy every time I walk into it.

This thread is making me feel much better about how much our extension ended up costing! It all costs so much these days. We love our new kitchen - go for it!

Just because that’s how much people charge these days, doesn’t make it worth it. Unless your salary has doubled in the last 5 years, it’s still poor value compared to only 5 years ago.

Whether it’s worth it to you is completely your shout.

Personally I’d leave the layout as it is, do all the demolition yourselves. Then get a carpenter in to fit a new kitchen. I could never justify £55k on a new kitchen - I’d much rather see it in my kids bank accounts for when they need deposits on a house!

If they are chasing and the floor is being lifted anyway think about a thin mat underfloor heating and if its worth the extra cost

As others say reasonable
my kitchen is 23k
rewire whole house 8
plaster 1
harwood floor 3
bricklayer 1
plumber 0.5
Medium skip 0.3. Need to get another one later in the year

weve removed kitchens , ceilings , tiles and floors ourselves. Took us 5 days to do so (and we still have to remove some of the cupboards) we will put ceilings up again ourselves

Have you considered not ripping up the old tile floor and just leveling (I think they use a silicone?) And then re-tiling? We're embarking on a kitchen remodel and this has been recommended to us as a safe way of cutting some cost, especially as once they knock out the old floor tiles they will likely need to level the damaged/ uneven floor anyway.

We also took out the old kitchen units ourselves which wasn't difficult.

Did ours last year, also SE.

Back to brick, repositioned the backdoor, moved the boiler, rewired all electric and moved all plumbing, 32k labour costs (no steelwork), 16k additional for the actual kitchen and appliances, ceramic floor tiles also. Doing the work identified an issue with our electric consumer unit so needed another 2k to replace that. 🥴

I had a very small shower room renovated recently, back to brickwork, with some alterations to plumbing and electricals. It cost almost £10k and that was with me providing the tiles and sanitary ware. They did a bloody awesome job though. If yours is a kitchen, with steelwork, removing a small wall and providing all materials and kitchen cabinets etc, then that's an ok price.

Forgot we are doing this. We removed tiles and had to put a self levelling compound. That’s £500 for us

you already have to step up to get from the hall into the kitchen so i think it might be way too high unfortunately!

We had that too. They dug out our kitchen floor (half a metre) in order to level it with the dining room and remove the step (which was about 10cm). It took them all week to do!

We renovated our kitchen about 4 years ago. Knocked down a supporting 3 m wall! Had steel work put in new kitchen wiring plumbing ceiling etc etc. Did it all ourselves but had in electrician, plasterer and plumber for specialist jobs. Took 3 months and cost us about £18,000. IKEA kitchen so not high end. But goodness the labour was unreal so I think that is a great price!

It all depends on how big the kitchen is, how big the steel needed is.

Tbh the first job you could get for free or have someone pay you if the kitchen in place is is structurally ok

Advertise it on FBMP as free or a nominal amount and buyer removes.

Also the £55k quote is not a quote it is an estimate

• Included a provisional sum for the following items,
• Flooring
• Tiling
• Plumbing
• Electrical work
• Decorating.

How much is the provisional sum they have allowed. How much are your Tiles/Flooring etc compared with their “provisional sum”

I would be wanting a Quote rather than an Estimate

I'd be inclined to ask them for an itemised line-by-line breakdown of their estimate.