Buidling Works Estimation

Danny30

Hi, I am based in NW London and have managed to secure a mortgage on a property that we have finally found after looking for a year. The issue is that we got £10,000 less then we applied for on the mortgage so are going to have to do a. bit of work and leave the rest until later The house is a 3 bed semi 1930,s house in not very good condition and our budget is only £20,000 for now. I wanted to install a kitchen (the kitchen is very small) a bathroom and a full rewire. Below is the what I wanted to get. Am I being realistic with the labour budget, I can source the kitchen from DIY Kitchens and get a reasonably priced bathroom suite?
Full Rewire: £4000
Small Kitchen (Size: 2.82 M x 2.24 Metres)  - Install Kitchen, plaster walls and ceiling, tiling and move gas point. Labour £3500
Medium Bathroom: Knock down small non bearing wall and make bathroom and separate WC into 1 bathroom one, plastering wall and ceiling, Toilet, Bathtub and Vanity Unit and Tiling. Labour £5000
Any feedback would be much appreciated

MovingForwards

@Doozergirl can you offer any opinions?

Doozergirl

Rewires are essential and need to be first, but they tend to knock on and cause other work.   If it needs a lot of work then you should be doing the stuff that you don't see before you do the stuff that you can.   Even just things like waste removal really add up in London.  

In the same situation, I would plan to do the rewire and either the kitchen or the bathroom well as a proper building job that will last for years.    You're in London and those prices look low, so I certainly wouldn't try to dive in with both and end up with a half-cocked job. 

The house will throw up surprises when that rewire is happening, and I'd expect to spend a lump on actual building/plastering before the shiny stuff.   

If you want to post a link, feel free.  

Danny30

Thanks, the rewire would be first but the problem is that the bathroom and kitchen are both unusable at the moment so need to be done. A bit disheartening to see that the labour estimations are low. 

FreeBear

Danny30 said: The house is a 3 bed semi 1930,s house in not very good condition

Small Kitchen (Size: 2.82 M x 2.24 Metres)  - Install Kitchen, plaster walls and ceiling, tiling and move gas point.

My kitchen was ever so slightly smaller before an extension was added.. Recently refurbished and installed a new kitchen which also involved the ceiling. 1930s houses (mine is late 1920s) will have lime plaster over laths on the ceiling - Very, and I do mean very, messy work taking one down, and you have to be meticulous in removing all the nails securing the laths in place. If you do the removal yourself, you'll save a sizable chunk of cash on labour costs. You may well find removing tiles will take great lumps of plaster off the walls - You could end up with just bare brick on all the walls.. Removing the tiles is another thing you could do yourself to save a bit of money.

Tip for the kitchen - Install a plinth heater that is plumbed in to the central heating system. Frees up valuable wall space for very little extra cost.

What are the windows like ?

If they are tired old single glazed units, make replacing them a priority - Also get them checked to ensure lintels are in place on the outer leaf of brickwork. A lot of 1930s houses used the timber (or steel) frames to support the brickwork. Remove the old frames and put uPVC replacements in, and the walls slowly collapse.

Danny30

The windows are single glazed I think. Around how much did you pay for labour on your new kitchen if you don't mind me asking? 

FreeBear

Bearing in mind my kitchen is now 3.4m x 2.4m, total budget was around £2K including appliances. Came in under budget mainly down to me doing everything (including the plasterwork) and also scoring a good deal on a hob & fridge.

Unless your kitchen is literally falling to bits, I'd recommend getting the windows replaced and bunging loads of insulation in the loft before doing anything else. Once you have a warm house, start looking at kitchens & bathrooms - Quite often, plaster around the reveals will need patching once new windows are fitted. Even more so if lintels are required.

AdrianC

Danny30 said:

...but the problem is that the bathroom and kitchen are both unusable at the moment...

Actually physically unusable, or just not as nice as you'd prefer?

Danny30

Pretty unusable as hasn't been touched in 30 years by the looks of it. 

ka7e

The prices are comparable to what I have recently paid in Somerset - I'm not sure what a London premium would be expected to add! Our ceilings were basically hardboard with "straps" over the joins, offering no fire resistance. Other than the kitchen/diner, we had straps removed and the ceilings boarded over and then skimmed which saved lots of mess and clearance costs.

AdrianC

Danny30 said:

Pretty unusable as hasn't been touched in 30 years by the looks of it. 

By "not touched", do you mean "not used", or "not refurbished"? A late 80s, early 90s kitchen is hardly inherently unusable.