Complete refurbishment quote

tulipz

Dear all,
I got the following quote from a builder with good reviews. This is my first house and I am having it completely refurbished. Does it sound reasonable?

Appreciate your suggestions in bringing the costs down:

1. Rewiring (Labour & Materials) - £4000
2. Redecoration: £5000
3. Plastering (Labour & Materials) 2500
4. Laminate flooring (Labour and Materials) 4500
5. Fit new kitchen - size 12X7 (Labour Only) 2200
6. Bathroom renovation and fitting new shower - 2000
(Labour & Building Materials only)

total appx 20k.

The property is in South east london (Orpington)

MGolden

Hi there,
Without knowing the size of the rooms it's impossible to say with any confidence. But I would say that the laying of the laminate floor seems pricey unless you're doing the whole house in laminate. The fitting of the kitchen also seems pricey unless it's a huge kitchen.

You probably need to put a bit more detail in - for instance what exactly does the bathroom renovation entail?

Also - get three quotes, check references and go and see work they have completed.

Good luck with it!

tulipz

MGolden wrote: »

Hi there,
Without knowing the size of the rooms it's impossible to say with any confidence. But I would say that the laying of the laminate floor seems pricey unless you're doing the whole house in laminate. The fitting of the kitchen also seems pricey unless it's a huge kitchen.

You probably need to put a bit more detail in - for instance what exactly does the bathroom renovation entail?

Also - get three quotes, check references and go and see work they have completed.

Good luck with it!

Appx size of the house is 1200 sft. its a medium sized 3 bed property. Also the kitchen is not huge. Its avg sized.

Yes the whole house will be laminate floor.

Bathroom renovation contains knocking down the toilet wall and converting it into a shower cubicle. It also involves fitting new bath, sink and toilet. (existing ones are too old)

MGolden

tulipz wrote: »

Appx size of the house is 1200 sft. its a medium sized 3 bed property. Also the kitchen is not huge. Its avg sized.

Yes the whole house will be laminate floor.

Bathroom renovation contains knocking down the toilet wall and converting it into a shower cubicle. It also involves fitting new bath, sink and toilet. (existing ones are too old)

Laminate price may be OK then. Kitchen does seem pricey and bathroom still seems a lot.

Do get three quotes though - but also follow your instincts - the cheapest builder may not be the one for you - I nearly always end up going with the middle quote when I get work done but I also trust my instincts and if I don't feel a builder is someone I can get on with (by that I mean negotiate with and feel I will get the job I want done to budget and on time (well as close as possible!)) then I continue to look.

The_Blue_Hatter

Laminate seems a bit expensive. Using Quickstep which is a brand name (that I got laid in my front room) at say £20 per meter for your approx 115 meters is £2300. Underlay £3 per meter down stairs and cheap underlay upstairs at £1 per meter would be approx £235. Shouldnt need any beading if skirting goes on afterwards. My fitter charged £10 per meter fit only so about £1150. That totals £3685. If a more expensive laminate is being used then price is OK but Quickstep downstairs and a cheaper brand upstairs should save a few quid.

clays_mummy

isnt orpington in kent ??

anyhoo, can you do any of the work yourself or get people to help you....we (me and husband) done our entire house inside out for about 20k (new kitchen and its a big kitchen, new contemporary 4 pce bathroom suite, 3 bedrooms, laminate throughout, tiled in kitchen, utility room, downstairs wc AND the entire 50ft sq garden) so look around and do what you can yourself

good luck

jc808

Redecoration seems high

Is this just walls? Ceiling and walls?
Doors too? Woodwork (Skirtings, architraves, stairs etc) also?
Is there any prep or just literally paint

Sorry, need more detail

capeverde

I would say its a minimum of 25% overpriced. Consider buying the materials yourself and employing on a labour only basis getting maximum timescales for the different jobs.

leveller2911

capeverde wrote: »

I would say its a minimum of 25% overpriced. Consider buying the materials yourself and employing on a labour only basis getting maximum timescales for the different jobs.

Your a better man than me if you can conclude its at least 25% overpriced when the job spec is so vague......;)


OP get 3 quotes and go with the quote from the builder you feel most confident of or even better still get recommendations from friends ,family but still get 2 more to compare.

keystone

I had a window of £20 - £30k in my mind just from the thread title. You can nickle and dime on the individual items cos some are probably a bit high but others are a bit low. Its the overall picture which matters and £20k seems reasonable on a site unseen basis. The only way you get to verify it is to get two other independent quotes for exactly the same jobspec.

BTW if you DIY it you'll be looking at a £10k+ investment. When you then estimnate how long it will take you to do and what that time costs you in £s ('cos it ain't free when you analyse it) you'll think that £ 20k is quite reasonable.

Cheers

keystone

capeverde wrote: »

I would say its a minimum of 25% overpriced.

:rotfl::rotfl:How do you work that out?

Consider buying the materials yourself and employing on a labour only basis getting maximum timescales for the different jobs.

Doesn't work as a model. The labour price will have to be adjusted upwards to compensate for the inevitable Fubars.

Cheers