How do I get quotes for an extension?

moneyshoe

Hi Everyone,

Sorry if I sound clueless! We are seriously considering sinking most of our money into a very small house because it comes with quite a bit of land (6.5 acres) and whilst my dream is to carry on working in the city husband wants to keep sheep! The house already has planning permission for a massive extension and I would like to get a rough idea of what sort of costs we would be looking at. I've read £1000/m the extension is over 100m2 so I would be hoping for less than this. Is it acceptable to show the plans to local building firms and ask for a ball park quote or should we speak to the architect who drew up the plans? Can I do any of this before we have actually bought the house or will they just refuse to speak to me as I'm clearly not a gauranteed client?

muckybutt

Easiest way is to ring around / email reputable builders, i'm doing exactly that at the moment for a traditional extension or a timber frame extension - several firms interested several different quotes

This might be of use to you, the Homebuilding and Renovating extension costing calculator http://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/costs/calculator

SailorSam

Is there anything on here that can give you a guide price ?
http://www.whatprice.co.uk/utilities/

Maquarius

Hi Moneyshoe, this really depends on the complexity, the materials and finish etc. Also is it a single or 2 storey extension?
£1000 / m2 is a rough guidance for general new building work but not always applicable to all scenarios.
A 100m2 extension is very large indeed!!!
Best is to ring 3 local builders for quotes or use a quoting website such as mybuilder.co.uk where you can see customer reviews.
Do not be surprised to get 3 very different quotes in though, especially if you have no accurate drawings and specifications for builders to look at.