Renovating costs?

Lemoncurd

We have made an offer on a 40 -50 year old house which needs a bit of work to fully update it. We've done some research into how much everything might cost but the amounts vary wildly so if anyone has any experience of doing any of these things I'd welcome some advice on how much they might cost or the types of workmen we'd need to get involved. I realise to get a real idea we'd need to get some quotes but we're just at the negotiating stage at the moment so I want to know if our estimates are realistic so that we don't pay more than the house is worth considering the amount of work needed. It's a bit daunting trying to work out what kinds of workmen would be needed as well!
My only past experience of "renovating" has been DIY as cheaply as possible but this time we'd like things to be done to more of a professional standard. We're prepared to do basic things like painting ourselves.


The main projects are:

Refit original bathroom
A small room with bath, washbasin, toilet and some form of shower over bath.
We expect we'll need the help of a plumber, electrician and tiler here?

Refit ensuite
Has large shower cubicle toilet and washbasin.
This needs retiling and a shower (one suitable with a combi boiler), we would probably retain the toilet, shower tray and sink.
We expect we'll also need the help of a plumber, electrician and tiler here? Most of the walls are tiled with two layers of tiling, would this be time consuming and expensive to remove? How likely is it that the walls would need replastering as well once the tiles have been removed?

Electrical work
Need to check but we think the house has already been rewired however there are some scary looking light fittings and very old sockets. I think the sockets, switches and light fittings should be changed throughout the house (4 bed house). The cooker hood needs wiring up and we'd put new recessed lighting in the bathroom and ensuite. A couple of new sockets would need to be put in as well. Also what would you expect wired in smoke alarms to cost?

Replace back door to garage
Not the up and over door but a normal single external door.

Replace 14 internal doors
I guess this cost depends mainly on what type of door we choose but what type of workman would you get to fit them properly? (have found doing this tricky to get right in the past so don't trust ourselves to hang them well), they all vary in size, would the fitter cut them down or would you order them to fit?

Recarpeting 4 bedrooms, landing and stairs
Do the carpet stores generally include fitting in the carpet price or would you pay extra?

The cloakroom has a new toilet and washbasin but these haven't been fitted properly. Although the toilet looks compact it is too far forward and you can't open the door properly. It has a big block behind the cistern to bring it forward 6-8 inches. I guess this is because of pipework or something... do you think a plumber would be able to re-adjust something like this or would we prob have to look into getting a different type of toilet?

Our estimate is about £12,000 to do everything (there are a few other bits that I haven't mentioned here). What do you think?

lynseyf

Hi
Sorry but going by what I have spent getting my basement renovated I don't think this is enough. A big thing i "forgot" about was vat, I had to pay it on half the total cost of the work and materials. I think by the time you include everything it would be nearer £15,000 - £20,00. Just my opinion, I'm by no means an expert

v0n

Prices for labour, either on per day basis or per specific job done vary on location. Higher in London/South East, cheaper up north. Where about are you based? Is your £12,000 estaimate for labour only or supply and fit?

squeaky

Actually it doesn't really matter what you decide on in terms of what works you have done and how much you then budget for given the quote(s) by your various contractors. Add it all up and then add at least 20 per cent to that total. Really. No project *ever* comes in on budget. Sorry, but that's the way thing all too often turn out.