Home extension costs?

Doozergirl

gzoom said:

We are coming up to completing our build, all in, costs are hopefully going to land at around £2400/sq meter. That includes a reasonable spec to finish, aluminium framed glazing + front door, AC in 2 rooms, tilling totalling 150sq meters (bathrooms, kitchen, entrance hall),  mid spec kitchen (£30k ish), bathroom fittings totalling £8k, and £4k staircase. If we had cut down on the spec for some of the fittings we could have come in at £2300/sq meter.

Costs now do seem much more stable so I think it makes going into any project that bit easier to plan, I would budget around £2000-3000/sq meter to completion mindful for spec/ need for complex ground works.

Our builders have been utterly amazing. I would love to know whose who think they can do it better than the trades how long they could take essentially ruins to home.....or how they would be able to plaster something that has more angles/folds than an 12 year old origami project.

However finding a builder you can 100% trust is absolutely vital, we haven't even got a written contract with our builder, everything relies on trust without it you will end up in a nightmare situation. If you watch various TV home shows you will see its suprising how often people change contractors/builder mid project, I cannot begin to imagine the stress that much cause.....money is money, but having a builder walk off the site when it's a pile of rubble......I wouldn't know when to stop crying!!!!

Having said that Good luck with the project:).

It's looking good! 

How are you calculating your price per square metre?   You've carried out an extensive demolition/rebuild/remodel as well as extension so are you counting just the extension footprint or is the whole house costing £2,400 per metre? 

gzoom

^The cost is floor/living space that's essentially been rebuilt and the new master suite, 200sq meters. The cost also includes a new garage roof. We haven't landed the final costs yet, but invoices for the kitchen/glazing/electrics/stairs are all in. Tilers is coming on Monday to confirm the final quote and than there is inital decoration costs, I've factor's in my estimates so will see how close they are. The final cost is some work in the garden, but that really isn't essential so we aren't pushing the builders for a quote on that yet....

At points last few months we've had nearly a dozen guys on site, nearly 3-4 vans are constantly present at the moment. The end for us is hopefully rapidly coming .

stuart45

Which comments are utterly ridiculous? Being in the trade myself since leaving school I have seen standards drop in some areas, although on site a lot  was in the 70's when a lot of companies went over to using more sub contract labour.
In more recent years the popularity of timber framed buildings and bricklaying profiles has allowing a new breed of Bricklayers who can only lay to the line.
With dot and dab being used so much, it allows for people who can make a living only knowing how to skim.
There are still a lot of good tradesmen out there, but if people don't work in the trade they find it more difficult to track them down. Also the really bad ones find it easier to do private jobs, as generally speaking you have to reach a certain standard to work for most firms.

FreeBear

stuart45 said:  With dot and dab being used so much, it allows for people who can make a living only knowing how to skim.
There are still a lot of good tradesmen out there, but if people don't work in the trade they find it more difficult to track them down. Also the really bad ones find it easier to do private jobs, as generally speaking you have to reach a certain standard to work for most firms.

On top of dot'n'dab, you have plasterers that will slap on a thin coat of drywall mud and then sand back - Whilst you can get an acceptable finish with minimal skill, the amount of dust is horrendous. Durability of the finish is also open to debate. Only a few (or at least the ones I've come across) understand where gypsum is appropriate and when alternative materials should be used. For example, around a fireplace, gypsum breaks down above 50°C, so lime or a heat resistant plaster (a high alumina cement render) should be used.

And for me, there is also the cost to consider - When plasterers were charging £150 per day, it was affordable. But now that many are charging £250-300 without a commensurate increase in quality, my budget is severely compromised.

stuart45

I do my own plastering at home as well. As it's an old cottage the rustic look fits in. I occasionally do plastering jobs for people who can't find a spread anywhere, and are desperate to get the work done. 
Doing that plastering course is going to save you a lot of money.

FreeBear

stuart45 said: Doing that plastering course is going to save you a lot of money.

Did a short course a while back with the local adult education department - They only covered skimming a (small) flat wall, but it was enough to give me the confidence to tackle larger jobs.

JusinScot

gzoom said:

We are coming up to completing our build, all in, costs are hopefully going to land at around £2400/sq meter. That includes a reasonable spec to finish, aluminium framed glazing + front door, AC in 2 rooms, tilling totalling 150sq meters (bathrooms, kitchen, entrance hall),  mid spec kitchen (£30k ish), bathroom fittings totalling £8k, and £4k staircase. If we had cut down on the spec for some of the fittings we could have come in at £2300/sq meter.

Costs now do seem much more stable so I think it makes going into any project that bit easier to plan, I would budget around £2000-3000/sq meter to completion mindful for spec/ need for complex ground works.

Our builders have been utterly amazing. I would love to know whose who think they can do it better than the trades how long they could take essentially ruins to home.....or how they would be able to plaster something that has more angles/folds than an 12 year old origami project.

However finding a builder you can 100% trust is absolutely vital, we haven't even got a written contract with our builder, everything relies on trust without it you will end up in a nightmare situation. If you watch various TV home shows you will see its suprising how often people change contractors/builder mid project, I cannot begin to imagine the stress that much cause.....money is money, but having a builder walk off the site when it's a pile of rubble......I wouldn't know when to stop crying!!!!

Having said that Good luck with the project:).

I'm looking for something simple. No bathroom, no kitchen. Two storey 7m x 5m, one lounge at the bottom, 2 bedrooms at the top. As

Albermarle

 mid spec kitchen (£30k ish),

I think for £30K I would be expecting luxury spec, but probably just shows how long it is since we had a new kitchen !

gzoom

stuart45 said:

Which comments are utterly ridiculous? Being in the trade myself since leaving school I have seen standards drop in some areas,

All I'm saying is for 99% of us planning to do building works the idea you can pick up tools and DIY it simply a fantasy. Even if you gave me access to all the tools, paid me £1million I wouldn't be able to do 1% of what the trades have done. I know where my skill set is, and its 100% NOT anything to do with building work .

If you are in the trades than its clearly different.

gzoom

JusinScot said:

I'm looking for something simple. No bathroom, no kitchen. Two storey 7m x 5m, one lounge at the bottom, 2 bedrooms at the top. As

35sqm floor space, 2 floors, say 65sqm of interior space, £2000/Square meter will give you £130k, if you are not needing any kitchen/bathroom stuff. I would budget to £150k for those 'unknown' issues that always crop up.