Loft Conversion Cost....

suisidevw

Thanks Doozer. Much appreciated. They will also complete the reroof that we required for £1.9k. They are fully booked until October so will be starting then - all booked in! Thanks for advice all

gingerdad

Our builder is under the vat threshold but we pay all sub-contractors & suppliers directly we've a trade account with the local building suppliers.

Our job is about 30k in total this includes new slate roof, dormer with UPVC window, ensuite, 4x velux, new facias and guttering. It's helping slightly that our neighbours are also getting their roof done.

wongjoebon

Ours is for £50k VAT inclusive, job includes lower ceiling, 1 bedroom ensuite. This is a loft specialist company and we are in rip off Kingston Upon Thames

suisidevw

Ours has finished at £43.9k to include full reroof. This gets us ensuite, full width dormer, hip to gable, about the sq footage is approx 275sqft. Based in S Wales. Yes, we could have got cheaper but we chose this company after extremely good feedback all round. And they are booked up until next year which says something!

ds1980

its utter rubbish that only reputable "Loft conversion" companies are VAT registered.

They might be but do you think the people that do the work are?
;-). None of these companies "employ" anyone. They're done by self employed people who probably don't pay VAT or at best pay as little as they can. I can pretty much guarantee you the people doing the "work" on yours aren't VAT registered. 'Tis your money though.

Mine was built by two guys that work for dozens of "loft specialists" in london. I didn't pay any VAT on their services. A friend owns his own loft conversion specialist company in london. He is VAT registered but do you think all his jobs he charges VAT? Companies that do are pricing themselves out the market (slightly different in london) as they're plenty of people who aren't charging it or willing to "absorb".

Think you misunserstood the door closers. Ive recently finished a loft and dont have any door closers nor intumescent strips. Ive actually installed standard width (35mm) fire doors in mine. You wouldnt believe how many people in the trade tried to tell me they wouldn't pass building regs.

Ours was built in Feb and it lashed down, blew a gale throughout the 3 weeks it took to build the shell. we never had any bother whatsoever. It was never cold in the house as the dont need access until theyve made it water tight.

I dont understand people coming on a moneysaving website to not save money but its your money? I wish you well with the project.

suisidevw

I can confirm the people doing mine are all 'employed' by the company. NOT Subbies!

onlyroz

Our loft was completed last year and we paid £35k for the loft plus about another £5k for the ensuite bathroom (the units, tiling etc). This was a hip-to-gable conversion with a full-width rear dormer.

We were told that either we needed all first and second floor bedroom doors needed to be fire doors, or we needed a smoke alarm in each bedroom. We went with the fire doors and they look fine. We also needed to add a fire door between the lounge and the hallway because the lounge goes straight through to the kitchen without a door.

And yes, all the builders were self-employed non-VAT registered sub-contractors. We had to pay each builder separately which was a complete pain in the bottom.

ds1980

That's what they'll tell you. It just doesn't work like that. Do you think they get sick pay, pension and holiday pay as well? Ha!

Here's how the companies work. They know that materials are ~ £10-£15k depending on whether its hip to gable etc. New roofs are obviously more.

They know that it's ~ £12 - £15k in labour for 6 weeks work. Anything else on top is what they call their mark up.

Companies will mark up exactly the same jobs between £2k and £10k depending on what they think they can get away with and how much they want the work. Just cos you live in a pricey area don't make the materials or labour cost any more! If you live outside of london i imagine you could reduce labour costs down perhaps due to cost of living but now by much i wouldnt have thought.

By going with a company you are already paying the extra on top. I don't begrudge them earning a living but why would you pay this?

add VAT @ 20% and youre paying a shed load more cash on top of that.

Guarantees ain't worth the paper they're written on as most firms will wind up and start again as something new if it all goes off.

saying all that it's very very very important to get someone you trust and that does the best job. Some people are happy to pay a premium for that which is understandable.

Id be extremely wary about anyone saying they could put smoke detectors in all rooms though!!

Doozergirl

ds1980, the key word here is 'reputable'.

You speak as if people are stupid to use reputable firms. There are different ways to save money. One of them is to use a variety of people who genuinely operate under the VAT threshold and project manage yourself. Everyone pays VAT on materials so the saving is made on VAT on subbie labour and the reduction in labour of not having a project manager. A reputable firm, with project manager will add different types of value - mainly for those who have no time or no experience or simply no inclination to find a raft of tradespeople prepared to work together and manage a build and want a clear line of responsibility, a quality manager on site and a job that is properly insured.

You can't have experience of a firm that takes their responsibilites very seriously if you believe that most just set up under a new name. To be reputable means exactly that - building on your own name.

The largest proportion of spend on a project is labour - that is why London costs more. Not just direct labour but bespoke materials from joineries etc are cheaper outside of London because the labour is cheaper. It all adds up.

gingerdad

My builder who's trading sub vat (one man band) is project managing our build, he's sorting all subbies and getting 3 quotes for materials also sorted us a trade account with local building supply. The only extra work for me is paying extra invoices. He is local to me and known within the community as are the subbies.

A few years ago we had a similar situation with a joiner when we did our kitchen and bathroom. The joiner took the lead and sorted all the trades.

Don't think you need a big company with big company overheads to project manage jobs like this.

Best is to go on local recommendations get references etc as well.