How much should I be budgeting for these renovations?

DumbMuscle

I am in the process of buying a house, but there are a couple pieces of work I will want to do shortly after completion (FTB, and completion is likely to be before the end of my current tenancy, so I can get them done before I move).

The house currently has a chimney breast in the living room, with a Baxi bermunda back boiler installed. I would like both the boiler and the chimney breast removed, and replaced with a new boiler (which will go in the kitchen - the hot water tank would be removed, but otherwise keeping all radiators etc in place).

A little searching on the net suggests that about £1,500 is reasonable for the building work, and about £1,500-£2,000 for the heating work. Does that sound about right?

Obviously there is then redecorating the wall and replacing the carpet to consider (or just putting a TV stand over the gap!)

This is mostly so I can budget for furniture/other new toys for the house. I will be getting quotes from local tradespeople closer to the time (I have asked the sellers whether they would permit access to the property between exchange and completion, so that I can get accurate quotes and get the work started as soon as I have the keys)

martinsurrey

DumbMuscle wrote: »

I am in the process of buying a house, but there are a couple pieces of work I will want to do shortly after completion (FTB, and completion is likely to be before the end of my current tenancy, so I can get them done before I move).

The house currently has a chimney breast in the living room, with a Baxi bermunda back boiler installed. I would like both the boiler and the chimney breast removed, and replaced with a new boiler (which will go in the kitchen - the hot water tank would be removed, but otherwise keeping all radiators etc in place).

A little searching on the net suggests that about £1,500 is reasonable for the building work, and about £1,500-£2,000 for the heating work. Does that sound about right?

Obviously there is then redecorating the wall and replacing the carpet to consider (or just putting a TV stand over the gap!)

This is mostly so I can budget for furniture/other new toys for the house. I will be getting quotes from local tradespeople closer to the time (I have asked the sellers whether they would permit access to the property between exchange and completion, so that I can get accurate quotes and get the work started as soon as I have the keys)

both your quotes look very optimistic.

for the chimney
Are you removing it right up to the roof? if so who's doing the roof works?
Who is doing the structural calcs?
Who is doing the building regs applications and documents
Who is doing the plastering and paying for the skips?

For the boiler
Where is the gas supply, as in how far from the kitchen?
Is the supply pipe big enough?
Are the radiators up to the new higher pressure of a combi?
Does the system have TRVs?
Do you have a thermostat?

all of the answers will effect the cost.

DumbMuscle

martinsurrey wrote: »

both your quotes look very optimistic.

for the chimney
Are you removing it right up to the roof? if so who's doing the roof works? Just the part in the living room - the upper parts of the chimney are shared with next door, so I couldn't even if I wanted to
Who is doing the structural calcs? Ah, I had assumed these were included in the online estimates
Who is doing the building regs applications and documents? I have asked my conveyancer for advice on this
Who is doing the plastering and paying for the skips?Again,
I had assumed this was included in the estimates I had seen online

For the boiler
Where is the gas supply, as in how far from the kitchen?Currently unknown, and is one of the things I will be checking post-exchange. The kitchen has a gas oven, so there is clearly gas available there
Is the supply pipe big enough?See above
Are the radiators up to the new higher pressure of a combi?Another thing that will presumably require an inspection by a plumber
Does the system have TRVs? I beleive so - will check for certain
Do you have a thermostat?I am planning to get a new one (budgeted separately)

all of the answers will effect the cost.

Answers in line above. What's the worst case for the ones I'm unsure on? (this is work to turn the house from "very good" to "perfect", so if it turns out I can't do it then I'll keep things as they are and still be happy with it - hence me being willing to wait until exchange for some answers).

Robin9

OP Are you saying that no one has actually seen the job ?

DumbMuscle

With a bit of further searching, I have found this: http://householdquotes.co.uk/chimney-removal-costs/ which reckons £1500-£1775 for removing the breast on a single floor, and £2050 for doing it all the way to the stack (which, looking at it, is probably going to be my preferred option, as it means the support for the stack can be in the loft).

I was also wrong about the upper parts of the chimney being shared - I'd misremembered how the houses were arranged (i.e. the terraces are all the same floorplan, where I had thought they were symmetrical).

I'll head over to meet the neighbours when I have a free evening, and sound out how easy it will be to get consent for work on the party wall - as otherwise that might delay getting the work done beyond the point where it is worthwhile to do just after purchasing - in any case, the heating work is going to need doing before the chimney breast (since they can hardly remove the chimney breast when it's still got a boiler in it!), so the more leeway I have for the work, the better. Target completion date would give me 3 weeks between completion and the day I must move in.

Doozergirl

As far as the heating goes, it's quite light for a boiler replacement and subsequently low when considering the relocation and additional pipework. It won't come close to upgrading any other part of the system.

I'd put the chimney breast removal, carried out properly at nearer to £2000 with fees, not through two floors though. Your conveyancer is not going to help with building work. You need a structural engineer to assess what support is required and then to apply to the local authority for Building Control Approval. A good builder will organise this but you need to be aware that an officer will come out to inspect the work twice. Don't forget that a certificate needs to be produced for it to know it's done. Councils are not very proactive when it comes to chasing up.

Annie1960

Where are you based? Online price guidelines are not accurate if you live in the South East where prices are higher.

The best thing would be to get a local builder to give a quote. Ask via the vendor's estate agent for access for the builder to do this before exchange.