House that needs work - Estimating costs

bluedrop

Hi all,
I've seen a house today - it's a old property in a nice area in Beckenham (SE London) . We liked it and we are considering putting in an offer. Can someone pls help in estimating the refurbishment costs? I am going to get quotes from builders next week....I would like to hve a rough idea of wht to expect

1. 1300 sft - remove flooring (carpets) and install laminate flooring throughout

2. New kitchen (13' x8')

3.new bathroom

4. Remove old built in wardrobes and put in new ones in the bedrooms

5. Electric re wiring

6. Remove the old conservatory downstairs and put in a new one

7. Re plastering and re decorating

8. New doors - internal and external

Also, how manageable will it be to handle a full refurbishment along side full time jobs? We plan to hire a builder - but I am not sure about what to expect really...

Gibzy_2

We are currently looking to complete on our first property (3 bed terraced, victorian) next Friday.

We need to do the following

Full new heating 5k
Full Rewire 3k
Full UPVC Inc front door 3k
DPC on lower floor 2k
New Bathroom / Kitchen 5k
Straighten out some wonky floors 1k
totally decorate every room 5k
Install small WC / basin upstairs 1k
Plaster all walls and ceilings 3k

We will be looking in thew region of 25-30k to get it all sorted. Plus a further 5k to rebuild garage at some point.

Hope this helps.... all prices above are guesstimations from friends in the trade

bluedrop

Thank you Gibzy. Are you in London?

abankerbutnotafatcat

You don't give sufficient information but you're talking a lot. For the rewire for instance it could be £2k - £5k depending on many variables including size of house and what you want done I.e. like for like or additional sockets and switches.

Personally, I'd do things in a logical order for instance rewire before any decorating as it will create a lot of mess and cables will be chased out of walls.

flea72

Too many variables, ie size, style of conservatory, type of kitchen/bathroom, etc. quality of laminate

But if going low end and a standard 3m x 3m conservatory, then i wouldnt expect much change from £100k

ognum

Gibzy wrote: »

We are currently looking to complete on our first property (3 bed terraced, victorian) next Friday.

We need to do the following

Full new heating 5k
Full Rewire 3k
Full UPVC Inc front door 3k
DPC on lower floor 2k
New Bathroom / Kitchen 5k
Straighten out some wonky floors 1k
totally decorate every room 5k
Install small WC / basin upstairs 1k
Plaster all walls and ceilings 3k

We will be looking in thew region of 25-30k to get it all sorted. Plus a further 5k to rebuild garage at some point.

Hope this helps.... all prices above are guesstimations from friends in the trade

Please come back and tell us actual costs when you have completed, I wouldn't be surprised if your total was double this, clearly it depends on quality and how much you do!

Ames

Stuff like the flooring and wardrobes could be done by a handyman rather than a builder.

bluedrop

Ames wrote: »

Stuff like the flooring and wardrobes could be done by a handyman rather than a builder.

Agree, but both of us work full time. Taking time off to supervise things is not an option.

cattie

A rewire in London done properly with the walls & ceilings chased would be near the £5k mark I think you will find, could be more if you want quite a few extra sockets & recessed lighting installed.

As others have mentioned, there are too many variables for anybody to give you an idea of costings of the other items you have mentioned.

lessonlearned

bluedrop wrote: »

Agree, but both of us work full time. Taking time off to supervise things is not an option.

I trust this means that you know the builder extremely well, that they know exactly how you think and what you want and that they are a blood relative:rotfl:.

I do hope that it doesn't mean that you are not going to give your builder free rein without some form of supervision, even if he is your favourite brother.......

Forfeit your holiday and supervise the work;)

Seriously you simply have to available.

As for costs. Well - how long is a piece of string. No-one can give you accurate costings on an internet forum. There are just so many variables.

The golden rule is "It will always take longer than you think and cost more than you have budgeted for".

bluedrop

lessonlearned wrote: »

I trust this means that you know the builder extremely well, that they know exactly how you think and what you want and that they are a blood relative:rotfl:.

I do hope that it doesn't mean that you are not going to give your builder free rein without some form of supervision, even if he is your favourite brother.......

Forfeit your holiday and supervise .

This is seriously making me think about not buying this house....

I am self employed. I don't get paid if I don't go to work. No way I can supervise on a daily basis.

And No - I don't have friends or family in the building trade. I've spoken to a cppl of tem via ratedpeople.com