Basement works - any idea of costs?

[allaboutmoving]

Hi,
Could anyone give me any idea of how much it costs to sort out a basement? By 'sort out', the basement is already there (i.e. doesn't need to be dug out) and has been rented out in years gone by, so has all the necessary head height and plumbing/electrics (although I wouldn't be surprised if at least some need replacing). There is damp, so it would obviously need a damp proofing course at the very least, probably full tanking. I assume this would have been done previously before renting, but if so, is either old or has failed (or both). No walls to be moved but it needs a complete rip out, all new flooring, plasterboarding etc. Any ideas of costs please? Thank you

This is all very dependent on size of space and area of the country? Assume we are talking a basement flat? Will you live there or rent it out - there might be some specific requirements to legally rent it that could add to the cost...

We previously looked at a house with a big basement that needed renovation and we estimated that fully tanking the basement (3 rooms plus bathroom), fully ripping everything out and re-installing everything inc new ceilings etc, plus sorting out the hodgepodge electrics and central heating job would cost around £50k. It was a big space that had also been rented but everything was a patch job to keep it rented out - we intended to reinstate it back into the upstairs house and found so many things wrong with it as we peeled back the layers especially with the way that the utilities had been separated. But the tanking alone was about half that and was absolutely necessary to do a good enough job that we would be comfortable with people using the rooms down there safely.

We couldn't manage the scale of the renovation in the end, around work and kids but it would have been amazing I am sure (though I am not sure if we're talking £50k more than the asking price amazing).

Again though, it depends on where it is - where we are is insane for trades while I have friends in the NW who are paying less than half what we are for loft work, for example.

Thanks so much, that’s helpful. Not in the North either, sadly. No, not a basement flat, much as you describe - it’s a basement in a house we will live in, to be reinstated. The previous owners rented the basement out separately, and it hasn’t been touched since, hence the need for reinstatement. We have done big renovations before so the scale of the work doesn’t worry me, but the cost really does as it’s a complete unknown, having never done any basement work before. £50k is do-able but I have nightmares of it being a never ending pit of money, in which case it wouldn’t be do-able at all!

Yep that's why we walked away. My parents in law have spent over £80k in under 10 years trying to sort their basement out and it still isn't fixed and now one bit is pretty bad. And we had that fear too - if the previous owners had tried fixing it and it was still damp then maybe it's an issue that can't be sorted. The damp specialist we spoke to actually said, really a damp basement is probably a life long issue no matter what you do. Especially if it's been cut into a hill (this house was). So, if you haven't already bought it I suppose it's down to whether the risk is worth it

Yes I think you’re right. Everyone always complains of damp in basements so it feels like one of those things that is probably always there. I think we will reconsider!