£2500 per square metre ;-(

sujman

I've been looking into extending for a while and the flavour of costs I get is approx £800/sqmt for just "building the box", or £1,200ish for a finished job (single storey extension). However, kitchens, plumbing, electrics etc all all extra.

So I would agree that £32k seems reasonable and if thats half the lowest, then there is something wrong!!

I don't think the credit crunch is going to help me get better prices. I suspect (apologies if this seems insulting to those in the trade) that the skills/qualities required for a new build house are different (i.e. lower) than for extensions.

Therefore, all this "spare" labour can't be transfered into the major home improvements market, resulting in oversupply and therefore lower costs.

Besides, the highly recommended builders are always going to be busy and therefore can afford to maintain their prices. Either they will continue to pay their people good wages and continue to buy quality products or keep the extra profit for themselves.

illzlee

noting the high costs put forward for the 26m2 extension - its strange they are all on the high side. Are you in a conservation area? is the extension traditional build or stone? i wonder if your area is blighted by hidden costs such as poor ground conditions or a dictatorial building control officer! such things can make a world of difference.

27col

jovite wrote: »

Hi Alexei, Thats more like it ;-) I was hoping that I wasn't going mad lol. Their prices ARE extreme and I feel we are being taken for a bit of a ride. Certainly your pricing looks more accurate. Many thanks - keep the feedback coming?

Presumably you will only be taken for a ride if you accept these quoted prices. I should keep looking if I were you.

SL1210

Jovite what's the current status did you get your project started and if so for how much?

I'm in Kent my single-storey side extension is 24sqm and the quotes vary from £33k to £96k go figure. This is my second round of tendering due to having to sack the original builder before he got on site, I'm down to 3 builders now and in the process of taking up references.

Cknocker

I can't think of a sane reason fr those prices unless you've gone silly with the spec.

One reason could be the architect has not put enough detail in and the contractors can see an elephant trap and don't want the work as a result?
does the architect have a good reputation with the builders?
I take it the contractors are just pricing the drawings at the moment, it may pay to get it repriced on a full bill of quants?

Alan_M_2

5 quotes all in the same ballpark, i.e. expensive.

1 or 2 quotes I'd accept as odd...3 quotes an anomaly. But 5 independent quotes in or around that level, then there's got to be a reason for it.

On the flip side...if you continue to get quotes in this area and reach 9 companies quoting at this level...then the 10th quotes half.....you've got to ask yourself if you'd want the guy do it anyway.

I get the feeling there is more to this than you understand which isn't being fully explained to you.

Have you actually spoken to any of the builders and mentioned that your architect even says He's surprised at the level of the costs?

It could be something as simple as your Architect watching too much Grand Designs and specifying high spec stuff.

becs

we had the same thing when we wanted our bathroom redoing last year. All I'll say is that there must be no shortage of work in Cambridgeshire! We rung over 20 different plumbers, we had 6 come and quote, of those 6 only 3 supplied quotes and the 3 that did were unbelievable! It was a refit which involved swapping the loo and basin places with each other, moving the taps from the end to the side of new bath and putting a shower in an old airing cupboard that we had already had tank etc moved from. The cheapest quote we had was £5000 for labour alone! We did it ourselves in the end because I refused to be ripped off!

Alan_M_2

[QUOTE=becs;23798415We_did_it_ourselves_in_the_end_because_I_refused_to_be_ripped_off![/QUOTE]

There's a large difference between the going rate and being ripped off.

I often see this phrase used by people who think they should be supplied items at cost.....I guess it all depends on your perspective.

becs

Alan M do you think £5000 labour charge to fit a bathroom is not being ripped off then? I only ask because I had virtually the same job done at my last property the year before for £500. I guess for £5000 my plumber was obviously going to be charging a very high daily rate or else moving in for a month!

*edited to say that this quote was purely fitting of new suite, not providing any items, not tiling, not flooring*

Canucklehead

becs wrote: »

Alan M do you think £5000 labour charge to fit a bathroom is not being ripped off then? I only ask because I had virtually the same job done at my last property the year before for £500. I guess for £5000 my plumber was obviously going to be charging a very high daily rate or else moving in for a month!

*edited to say that this quote was purely fitting of new suite, not providing any items, not tiling, not flooring*

Good morning: Some trades will quote an over the top price to put off folks they perceive to be a potential 'pita'.

HTH

Canucklehead