Cost of replacing and reconfiguring a roof on a bungalow?

milly_molly_mandy

I need your help please. I am considering purchasing a bungalow in the middle of a street of a mixture of houses and bungalows.
I am buying the bungalow in order to refurbish and add some
bedrooms upstairs and extend it to the front and rear. My dilemma is I have no idea of the cost involved to remove the roof in order to add 3/4 bedrooms up there as the original roof is not big enough. We will need to take the roof off and add a new frame. Can anyone help me with their experiences for the costs and work involved as I have no idea at the moment and this will of course affect my offer.
Some have mentioned that it would be cheaper to knock down and
build a house...but surely this is going to cost much more?

Your experiences and help will be greatfully received.

Mandy

crazyguy

milly_molly_mandy wrote: »

I need your help please. I am considering purchasing a bungalow in the middle of a street of a mixture of houses and bungalows.
I am buying the bungalow in order to refurbish and add some
bedrooms upstairs and extend it to the front and rear. My dilemma is I have no idea of the cost involved to remove the roof in order to add 3/4 bedrooms up there as the original roof is not big enough. We will need to take the roof off and add a new frame. Can anyone help me with their experiences for the costs and work involved as I have no idea at the moment and this will of course affect my offer.
Some have mentioned that it would be cheaper to knock down and
build a house...but surely this is going to cost much more?

Your experiences and help will be greatfully received.

Mandy

Find a builder you can trust that has worked on family or friends houses and get 2 quotes one for extending the said property and one for a complete re build, as a rule normaly extending it should work out cheaper as no work is required taking the old one down and starting from scratch required.

CloudCuckooLand

About £40k, 10 years ago, a family friend once got it done for...but what size it was, and how it compares to yours, who knows...

Even if someone comes up with a more recent figure, it would likely be for different footage, features, complications...

Get the contractor who you plan to do the work, to view it with you and give a quote..?

If you don't know, and don't have a friendly builder/architect to advise you, are you sure its a feasible plan?

milly_molly_mandy

Thanks, I really am only looking for a rough idea as I need to put my offer in pretty sharpish and was just hoping
that someone could share their experience and knowledge with me. To get a quote from a builder, I will need to have drawn up
plans which at the moment I dont have time to do. As I have no clue....i wondered if i was looking at a few thousand or 50 thousand!
Many thanks for your very quick reply though.

crazyguy

milly_molly_mandy wrote: »

Thanks, I really am only looking for a rough idea as I need to put my offer in pretty sharpish and was just hoping
that someone could share their experience and knowledge with me. To get a quote from a builder, I will need to have drawn up
plans which at the moment I dont have time to do. As I have no clue....i wondered if i was looking at a few thousand or 50 thousand!
Many thanks for your very quick reply though.

I would say think nearer 50k, you must get a builder to look first as it does depend on the work required, you will need new steel beams all throughout to take the weight of the up stairs providing the base of the bungalow is in good order.

If its not then your only choice is to rebuild and looking at 4-5 bedroom place my rough gestimate is going to be nearer side of 160k at the minimum

crazyguy

You wont need plans to get a rough figure from a builder just give them details of what you want and ask for a estimate !

milly_molly_mandy

Ok, thank you...I am looking up roofing contractors now.......The purchase price of the bungalow is 300k and i was hoping to do a roof conversion and front and rear extension for 80k. This would be for the shell and not include any electrics, plumbing and plastering. For
rebuilding a 4 bed 2000 sq ft it has been suggested will cost around 200k.

Doozergirl

milly_molly_mandy wrote: »

Thanks, I really am only looking for a rough idea as I need to put my offer in pretty sharpish and was just hoping
that someone could share their experience and knowledge with me. To get a quote from a builder, I will need to have drawn up
plans which at the moment I dont have time to do. As I have no clue....i wondered if i was looking at a few thousand or 50 thousand!
Many thanks for your very quick reply though.

If you want three or four bedrooms upstairs where there are currently none then we're talking about a fair amount of square footage, then it's certainly going to cost much, much nearer to £50k and in excess of that, especially as you're not talking about a simple loft conversion, you're talking about replacing the roof in it's entirety. I'd be looking at something nearer 6 figures to employ someone to do it for you. I'd use the rough estimate of £1000 per square metre you add, as it is an extension more than a conversion.

I've done it. It was a lot more extensive than just a loft conversion though.

VAT is 20%, if you knock it and rebuild it, then you claim back all of it. Where it benefits you is if you can get an even bigger house on the plot and the subsequent value is higher.

CloudCuckooLand

As you have not told us the size, it could vary from £40k to £400k....

Instead of panicing about getting the offer in, do your homework properly and get proper advice.

Otherwise, you risk substantially being under-prepared and under-funded...

DO NOT go making an offer based on a "rough idea"...!!!!!!.

crazyguy

Forget roofing contactors, you need a decent builder that you can either see the quality of work and make sure they have worked on someones place that you know.

Also a complete rebuild would be a lot better option for you as Doozergirl said you can claim back all the vat and 20% of a couple of hundred grand is a lot of dough.

Remember only pay the builder in stages, ground work 10% , wallls up to a certain height 20-30% and so on

mufi

Have you researched your market properly? Most people who want a bungalow want a bungalow, not a house - a little bonus may be one or even two extra bedrooms upstairs with a bathroom, but you're planning on turning a bungalow into a house. Except that you'll be paying premium bungalow price for it in its existing state.

It will still look considerably smaller than it actually is from the outside, it will probably lack storage space upstairs and it will not be worth as much as a house with similar square footage. We looked at something similar when we were househunting - it's still on the market. Oh, and the bedrooms will be boiling hot in summer.

Putting three or four bedrooms into the roof space of a bungalow does not a house make...