Enlarging a hall by removing a study

bigbeary

I have a small hall and a small study beside it. I'm hoping to remove the walls of a study to make the hall bigger and lighter by giving access to the windows in the study

The study walls are not not load bearing. (I've had this validated by a structural engineer) One is 2m long and the other is 1.5m with a door in it

I need a couple of radiators moved from the study onto other walls and one double socket disconnected 

All in all, It'll be about 15 m of floor space and I've asked for the quote to include floor tiling costs although I'll buy them, and putting in a new over-boarded ceiling and plastering that.

The first quote I've got back is £8,000 + vat which seemed really high and I'm just curious if anybody has any insight on what it should be. I'm based in the Midlands

anonymous12124

£8000 is too high. My estimate would be £4k-£6k for that based on similar jobs my brother recently had done.

Removing the wall, they can get cheap labour to do that and with a skip you're looking at £600/£700. Some people save on skip money by going to the tip multiple times but I think that's impractical unless it's nearby. You don't need any structural work done so this really should be quick and cheap.

Moving the radiators and electrics is one thing that could take time depending on different factors, but given you can have a full re-wire of a house done for £4k and gas work for £3.5k, both recent prices paid in W Mids, then you should be looking at more than a few hundred for this. Builders always love to make even small things seem like a monumental challenge but they are not and this is a piece of cake for any competent contractor.

The plastering and finish should set up back between £400 + £500. Recently my brother had entire rooms (3.4m x 3.5m) including ceilings done for £400 each.

The flooring shouldn't be too expensive either given the size. I assume it's concrete so you should only need to touch up where there are some dents and fill in the gaps where the wall was. Once levelled and dry tiling labour for this space should be around £500-£600 - again this is based on a downstairs kitchen recently done. As for the tiles - I strongly suggest you go to somewhere like Tile Plus in Sandwell where you get last season's tiles for bargains.

It's a long post - but please please get more quotes and don't go for the cheapest. Go for the one that has the strongest feedback.

bigbeary

Thanks, I really appreciate your feedback. It's really helpful to have all the details too. I got somebody else who quoted 3 for the building work and another 1k for the flooring. The building sounded slightly low and were flooring slightly high, but I think 4K is okay, especially as it's a new build. 

bigbeary

I'll certainly look into the place in sandwell too, as tiles are more expensive than I thought to get something nice