Fair price for extension

Darkstar

I really want to extend my house and have a budget of £25K, and seriously there is no more this year.

I thought I would like a two story 2.18M by 4.22M and have a quote for everything for £22.5K. I have now realized I have to do the best I can with my plot and therefore should increase the extension to 2.78M by 4.22M which is the biggest extension I believe I can fit in that corner, building regs need checking as I will be 60cm from my wall which is the distance my utility room is from the wall. The extra area would push me over my £25K budget and I am worried if I go back they will agree and then half way through when they believe I can't pull out decided to up the price to £27K which I can't afford this year. I am trying to get other quotes but most will not quote without proper drawing and that means I need to commit further than I can afford if it is a dead end.

What do you recommend?

latecomer

Personally I think if the extension size you want takes you to your absolute limit then dont do it all. I dont believe many projects come out on budget and as you dont have proper drawings, how can any quote be accurate?

Tucker

There will be other costs, so you would have to have some spare cash for things that crop up and those you haven't thought about.

Then there are fees, which will be in addition to the builders quote. Allow a £600 to £1000 for those alone. Building regs is £400 or so, your ground rent company will want a slice if it's leasehold (mine asked for £300 just to give permission), planning permission and possibly a structural engineers report if there's any knocking through etc...

You can't sale so close to your budget and have no room to add where it's needed.

You could dig the footings only to find the ground isn't upto standard strip foundations and building control insist on mini piling (an extra £3k), straight away, you are stuffed.

If you have a £25k max, then you need to be working on quote under £20k or don't do it.

dander

I agree, there are bound to be things that come up along the way that push the cost up, allow 10% for unexpected extras at an absolute minimum. I assume for a two storey extension like that you'll need planning permission as well as building regs, and you'll need detailed drawings just to apply for that, which cost money to draw up. You'll be amazed what can crop up - for instance if you're building close to a sewer, some water companies charge £300+ to survey and agree if you can go ahead without damaging their property.
It's frightening how things can spiral cost-wise, so you need to be very prepared!

Darkstar

The quote for £22.5K was for everything, including moving the utility meters at £1500. They provide an architect and guarantee to get planning permission and pass building regs. I feel you are voicing my concerns that I don't have enough margin. I have two more builders booked to come round, a local small builder and a large company that does everything again.

I will see what they have to say before putting my plans to bed for another year.

Tucker

If it's all inclusive, just be sure about what you may be responsible for should a problem occur. If all bases are covered, go for it. You probably won't get a better chance to build as everyone is looking for work and tradesmen are readily available.

I've just done a single story extension and getting people in to quote and do the job has never been easier.

temba

I am in the middle of a one storey extension, and my original quote came in at a total of £25K including architect and structural engineer, planning permission, building regs etc. Everything adds up - you wouldn't believe, just extra things that the planning needed, the structural engineer needed extra stuff, then the builders discovered damp, and I needed damp proof, the outside wall (which becomes an inner wall) had a beam that noone was expecting in it, and suddenly bricks needed to be removed, when the door frame was cut out the plaster fell off all around it and now my wall needs replastering, the electrics ended up being more than originally planned, etc etc, and suddenly my £25K quote has become £30K during the project. None of this was anyone's fault, but fortunately I had budgeted an extra £5K, though having said all that, I'm now having to wait to get my kitchen doors, as I simply can't afford them.

My advice - make sure you can afford an extra 20% of the quote, as you never know what will be round the corner.

Darkstar

So if I can negotiate a two story 10.5 Sq meter extension, comprising study & bedroom, for under £20K all in then I will have £5K to cover unexpected problems. But having negotiated them down can I then expect them simple to create the extra £7K of problems so they end up where they planned to be. Or am I being to cynical.

Tucker

They would have to justify it and that's probably where you need to carefully select who does the job. However, you'll need to be on the ball, both in advance to check what's included and during should something arise i.e. you will need to be prepared to question / check costings of extra work to see if the extras are reasonable considering what's involved.

One of the reasons I organised my own build was so I was in control of things that came up without being under pressure from a builder on timescales and feeling compelled to have them do the extra work and accept the additional costings at face value.

I had a few bits that building control asked me to change. It put back jobs whilst I corrected them, but it's easier to put a joiner back a few days, whilst I dealt with it myself. It's not so easy when the building firm is committed to your job alone, so they won't want to wait around whilst you review your options.

You probably need to ask them how they would deal with any issue that arose and express your concerns about how those might be costed - i.e. if something came up that would add a day, the labour would be 2 builders at £xxx each per day and one labourer at £xx per day and the materials will be receipted?

Darkstar

Exactly this sort of issue came up during the initial consultation when the subject of foundations was discussed. Their response was if they have priced the job wrong or made an incorrect assumption then it will be at their cost, if however I ask for some upgrade, e.g bigger window then it would be at my cost. It was also stated that if any changes had to be made to get planning or building regs then that was also at their cost. As you say the key is ensuring I have made clear what I wanted at the start and they have clearly documented their position regarding problems Vs customer changes.

Regarding the foundations they plan to build on a wall of a previous extension and they have assumed the foundations will be suitable with out additional work, if not they will put it right at their cost, or so I was told.

nickyx

The trouble is if the builder comes across bad ground conditions, can't build on the wall of the previous extension and if other unexpected items are required, by Building Control can they really cover the costs? Building work is always uncertain that's why 10% to 15% contingency is required. If the builder then finds he isn't going to make any profit will he walk away from the job? Builders are desperate for jobs but be careful of the lowest price with them saying they can cover all problems, doesn't seem realistic.