Bang on Budget

moneyuser

Does anyone watch this on C4?


Does anyone know if the budget includes labour?



I'm assuming it does but astonished at how they can do the rooms so cheap. For example today they did a total bathroom refurb for 4800 (budget 5k). I'm currently doing my bathroom and had 3 quotes just for labout at 4k, 1 at 3k and 1 at £1800. 3-4k would seem the going rate? Plus 2k for goods.



They said they spent £750 on the toilet and sink and 1300 for tiling so 3k left for bath & tap, shower and large screen, custom sized mirrored splash back, large mirrored wall cabinet, radiator, fancy lighting, decoration plus fitting for all of this!



Just can't see how they can do it so cheap

[Deleted User]

5knis the very maximum I’d pay for a bathroom. I did ours for under 2. You need to put work in sourcing your supplies as cheap as possible. Use a local plumber that someone has recommended to you. NEVER use a plumber that has a fancy showroom as those overheated have to be paid for by his customers.

that

Having known some shop fitters that do London's Oxford st and surrounding up market stores. The company they work for employs northerners who live in a depressed area as they work on the cheap, do stupid hours, and eager for the money compared to London workers.

Once that company have found their team, they just have to keep winning contracts and the blokes do the work.

I'm sure the the other people here that do renovations have their own team too, My friend who converted his large bathroom into a study and a small bathroom cost £45k, constantly amazed how cheap they do it on tv

armchaireconomist

I've watched it on occasion. I must be from another planet though, as I was astonished at how expensive it was...

moneyuser

Deleted_User wrote: »

5knis the very maximum I’d pay for a bathroom. I did ours for under 2.

2k for full suite, shower and fully tiled and getting someone to fit all of this?

armchaireconomist wrote: »

I've watched it on occasion. I must be from another planet though, as I was astonished at how expensive it was...

What would you expect to pay for a bathroom installation?


In my case the quotes for labour were all around 4k so it would seem this is the going rate although this was from general builder. However, I can't even get a one man band plumber to come out to quote so don't have a lot of options.

Ganga

that wrote: »

Having known some shop fitters that do London's Oxford st and surrounding up market stores. The company they work for employs northerners who live in a depressed area as they work on the cheap, do stupid hours, and eager for the money compared to London workers.

Once that company have found their team, they just have to keep winning contracts and the blokes do the work.

I'm sure the the other people here that do renovations have their own team too, My friend who converted his large bathroom into a study and a small bathroom cost £45k, constantly amazed how cheap they do it on tv

As a Northener i would find London a deppressed area:eek:

phill99

I fit bathrooms and kitchens for a living.


For a standard sized bathroom with full strip out, a skip, replastering, new suite, taps, shower screen, app. 20m sq of tiles, spot lights, heated towel rail, extractor, decorated, the average (Essex) is in the £7500 - £9500 mark (inc vat).


It's the labour that is the biggest cost and will typically account for over half of the budget.

moneyuser

phill99 wrote: »

I fit bathrooms and kitchens for a living.


For a standard sized bathroom with full strip out, a skip, replastering, new suite, taps, shower screen, app. 20m sq of tiles, spot lights, heated towel rail, extractor, decorated, the average (Essex) is in the £7500 - £9500 mark (inc vat).


It's the labour that is the biggest cost and will typically account for over half of the budget.

More than what I've been quoted but I live in the depressed North East so that may account for the difference.



Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that this programme doesn't include labour as one of the episodes I watched had 2k budget and they came in at 1600. The costs they mentioned amounted to 1300 with the toilet, towel rad, shower still to buy so there would be no way labour could be included in the budget.


I would've thought a budget should include labour so this is a pretty pointless programme really.

troffasky

Just repeat to yourself "it's entertainment, not a documentary" over and over whilst you're watching it and you'll be fine.

that

moneyuser wrote: »

More than what I've been quoted but I live in the depressed North East so that may account for the difference.
(

Well my 45k bathroom friend lives in posher? Battersea, in a pokey 2 bedroom house (now 3?) that I could never afford. He lives in the poor (depressed) part

His wall inside wall was cracked and the builder used wall ties every 2 bricks up and that cost him £800. The gardener is £30 an hour for his possibly 10m by 10m lawn with plants on the edges. Nursery school for his daughter cost £1650* a month, and that was the cheaper one. He is end of terrace and wanted to put in a 'side return' - enlarge the kitchen by using the path on the side of the house and incorporate it into the kitchen, effectively moving the kitchen wall 1m onto the path - 80K. A one bed house conversion cost £1700 a month to rent there.

* that was the cost two years ago.

Doozergirl

H was offered a job on one the Channel 5 building programmes because we've won awards and he was an actor in a previous life.

Their suggested budget for labour each week basically involved people doing it for the desire to be on TV. It didn't cover the wage of two people. If you're doing things properly and all sorts of random jobs, two people isn't enough anyway. He turned it down because it doesn't show intergrity. They spend as much on the designers as the builders. Which, when you've got a low budget isn't exactly how it works, but they do need them for the TV.

Entertainment TV is not real by any stretch of the imagination. Anything about building usually has me raging because misinformation seems to be perfectly fine on TV; no one could know better than the 'expert' on a daytime TV show, could they? One who's getting paid less than they would if they were at work on their proper job?