Stud wall + moving radiator - big job?

laurathree

Hi all,

The previous owner of our maisonette took our part of a wall - approx. 1.3m, which gives a semi-open plan feel to our living room. However, we want to re-instate the wall, because we'd like this room to be our bedroom, and the bedroom (larger, with a chimney breast wall, and at the front of the house) to be the living room.

What the job will involve as far as I can see: re-instating a wall and a doorway, moving a light switch (annoyingly the kitchen light switch is on the short end of the wall where it was cut away), and moving a radiator.

This is the current layout, with the green marking the current placement of the lightswitch, and the red marking the current placement of the radiator: https://www.flickr.com/gp/134301044@N04/Pbt423

And then this is what we would LIKE to do, with the same as above, plus blue marking the new wall and door:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/134301044@N04/4i8a2K


However, its our first home (in London) and we live nowhere near our families, so we haven't got anyone to help us who has done this before, or any builders anyone could recommended. I think this job (especially the radiator) is beyond even ambitious DIY skills, but can I get one tradesman to quote for the whole thing, as it involves plumbing, electrics, and putting up a stud wall (so plastering too)? I'm really not sure how to go about getting trusted tradesmen in to quote, so any advice on how to get started would be great.

Many thanks,

Laura

laurathree

*quick bump*

thescouselander

Have you tried the various sites like myhammer, mybuilder, checkatrade etc etc. I've found these to be a good place to start but get the tradesmen round to your place and ask plenty of questions. Go with your instinct too.

TBagpuss

You can get a single quote, I would expect this to be from a larger company who will then bring in the different trades as needed. That will probably be a but more expensive that if you source the workers separately and coordinate them yourself.

What I would suggest id that you start contacting people and get some initial quotes done. This will give you an idea of prices, and you can also get a 'feel' for them - they should be happy to discuss what would be needed, and may be able to give you names of other tradespeople.

Try the sites suggested above, and also listen to your gut.

PheoUK

Stud walling is easy to do yourself... Just YouTube it. As is moving a rad.

zaax

Getting a builder to do something in London will cost an arm and a leg. Stud walling and radiator etc is quite an easy job - watch a number of YouTube videos.

tonyh66

light switch move is easy, moving the radiator over to the other wall could be complicated, depending what the pipes are coming through.
Could you not perhaps just move the rad along the wall its already on? much easier.

laurathree

Thanks all for your replies - I will indeed get on those sites.

The Radiator can't be moved on the wall its on currently unfortunately, and to move it to a whole other wall which has yet to be built is beyond my DIY skills. I would leave it until the wall was done if it weren't blocking the other end of the *new* wall.

laurathree

Update - two quotes so far, £900 & 2 days (didn't like the guy - didn't feel confident in him as a worker) and £800 & 1 day plus returning to fit radiator when plaster is dry (felt much better about that guy and the time he took to investigate lintels/ pipes etc). Couple more coming but I'm quite happy with it so far. Thanks all for your advice (three of the quoters I'm getting come from myhammer/ rated people, and one local guy whose van I saw while out and about).