£96k quote from builder

[hollowmind]

I recently got a quote from a highly recommended builder and I plan to get a few more quotes but just wanted to see whether people think the price it reasonable as I won't waste my time or other builder time if the quotes come in about the same.

I had budgeted £50k but thought it would be around £35k and we were going to move all the furniture into storage, rip out all the carpets and move out the house to allow the work to be done slightly quickly.

We had a previous quote of £15k for just the electric work.

The quote came in at £96k and was to cover the following:

Install 18 double socket plugs
Reinstate 2 double plugs which currently have blanking plates
Install spot lighting in 9 rooms. Roughly 50 in total.
Remove 11 pendant lights
Replace 1 ceiling fan with new one.
Install 3 outside plugs
Update junction box
Install 2 outside lights
Reskim 4 bedrooms, 1 living room, 2 office spaces and hallway including ceilings
Redecorate reskimmed rooms. White paint and white gloss for woodwork excluding doors.
Replace 13 radiators
Replace hot water heater
Replace skirting board and coving as recommend by builder for reskimmed rooms.
Install 3 air con units.

Its far too high, separate the electrics, plumbing and decorating jobs as suggested above and get 3 quotes for each, this will cut the price in half at least.

Whether or not that’s market value, surely that’s an awful waste of a LOT of money?

There are some beautiful pendant shades out there - drop the spotlights and skimming. Paint yourselves, it’s really not hard.

I don’t know why people are getting non-essential work done at the moment, the trade prices are crazy. Veers on exploitation.

I would get quotes for each trade separately, no doubt costs have been built in for him to effectively manage the project

Get an electrician quote then ask him.to quote without electrics as he will need to pay the electric man separate

I inherited spotlights in my house. I bloody hate them and will eventually pay to get them removed. They make everywhere look so stark, although I don't mind them in my kitchen and bathroom.

Appreciate everyone has different tastes though. A lady moved in opposite me recently and has had spotlights everywhere. I do wish she'd have told me... we could have just swapped houses and saved ourselves the hassle 😆

I was expecting the quote to include a large kitchen extension.

That seems very high to me.

Sounds like a very expensive decoration bill.

We are in the process of having an extension. For 55k we are having a

3m x4m extension which will house a fitted utility room and a separate shower room.

We are also having our entrance hall demolished and rebuilt. This is approx 5m x 2m.

Our quote consists of ALL materials, plus skimming, lights, bathroom suite, utility hardware and cupboards, 4x sockets, 2x internal doors, 1x upvc door, a window being blocked in and an RSJ put in the frame for a future move, all electrics and plumbing sorted, tiling for the floors and bathrooms, radiators. AND a new boiler.

So all we'd have to do when they are finished is move our washing machine and dryer into the utility and paint it.

That's half your quote and a shit load more work! We're up north a bit, but not in the sticks. Go and get a few more quotes op. Sounds like they are very expensive

Good lord. I spent that on a full refit of a 4-bed apartment with new windows, new plumbing, new electrics, walls changed, total plaster and paint, stripped flooring and 2 complete new bathrooms. I am overseas but even so, that quote is absolute madness for what you have listed. Please shop around.

I'd expect £40 or £45k for that excluding aircon. Haven't a clue what that costs.

Defintely separate electrics, plumbing, plastering and decorating among individual trades and it will be cheaper.

I agree with the previous poster about spotlights. I hate them and they are a nightmare to get rid of.

That's a piss take

I know air con units can also supply heating, but are you having those as well as central heating? I wouldn't bother in this country for the short spell of hot weather we get.

Old radiators often last longer than new ones. Steel ones are thinner construction. The radiators from 1990 still going strong in this house.
Also don't see need for spots. You never put them on only lamps or overhead occasionally. Task lighting in kitchen for worktops. We have recessed spots in loft and we never put them on for more than a second as they are too bright...unless you were assembling something,which usually we are not!!

Sent it to my brother who owns a construction company he said that's 100% ripping the piss. He's going to price it and come back to me.

Blimey, we have done a large rear extension and loft conversion for £130!

That’s an insane quote.

All spotlights and white paint?! Are you renovating a house or an office?!

Gosh I thought you were going to say you were having a single storey extension done or something similar !

My brother says he charge around 30k, but that's in Scotland, so likely need to factor in it would be bit more expensive down south.

🙄

Builder doesn't want your job. Get more quotes.

That quote is astronomical. We’re just having lots of work done in the South, there’s no way the quote should be that high.

That sounds a massively massively excessive price. When I saw the figure £96k I assumed you must be getting an extension built or something.

I’d file that quote in the bin and get some others.

Yes I’d say that must be the case here. No builder submittting such a high quote would seriously expect to be given the work.

Get an electrician and a plumber to quote. We paid about £35k for new radiators, new unvented cylinder and all the pipe work for the central heating and 2 fitted bathrooms. Big house too. Just replacing radiators, £100 each?

So with my job (pm in construction) and do budgets etc this is roughly what I would work to (apologises it’s long! )

Install 18 double socket plugs - £150 ea £2700

Reinstate 2 double plugs which currently have blanking plates - allow worst case wiring has been removed £300

Install spot lighting in 9 rooms. Roughly 50 in total. I’d allow

£300 per room plus cost of fittings say £50 to allow their mark up - £450 plus rooms £2700

Remove 11 pendant lights - I’d allow maybe £50 per fitting £550

Replace 1 ceiling fan with new one. I’d allow 1hr labour plus cost of fan plus mark up £40 plus say £100 for fitting

Install 3 outside plugs - depends how long a run you have from point to house I’d budget as a min £200 per socket £600

Update junction box £100

Install 2 outside lights - if nothing there already I’d allow £200 per fitting - £400

Reskim 4 bedrooms, 1 living room, 2 office spaces and hallway including ceilings - no idea but checked on check trade avg cost they suggest £24 per Sqm - and advise £1100 for a small room and £1900 for a large room - so averaging your rooms at £1500 - £7500

Redecorate reskimmed rooms. White paint and white gloss for woodwork excluding doors. I work on a rate of about £10per Sqm for walls
/ceilings and again for woodwork - but obvs don’t your Sqm for rooms. Again check on checkatrade on their price guide - they allow £1600 for a hall, and 450 for a medium sized room - so say £3600

Replace 13 radiators - allow £200 per radiator and then cost for radiator and mark up - £2600 labour then just plucking a random value for a radiator say £150 each £1950

Replace hot water heater- say £150 labour plus heater

Replace skirting board and coving as recommend by builder for reskimmed rooms. - we allow £50per lm - so say £300 each per room to average it £4800

Install 3 air con units. £9k - this is based on daiken units which we have to use at work so probs can get a cheaper brand. But I installed 2 wall mounted units and external wall mounted to an existing system and we allow £5k per unit when budgeting but have longer runs etc than you would in a house

anyway hope that helps but definitely get some quotes as I would be looking around £40k