Conversion of outhouses into utility room and downstairs loo?

SarahLou

Hi there,

We are currently getting builders in to give us quotes for some work we would like done but (so far) the two quotes we've had have varied SO much I'm a bit baffled!!

Basically, we have a single story "extension" already built onto the side of our house (other houses in the street have done the same) but currently, ours can only be accessed from two doors outside and are (although connected to the house) aren't accessible from inside the house. They are divided into two via breeze blocks basically. One is storage shed essentially and the other is an outside toilet.

So our plans are to knock a door through from the bottom of our stairs in our hallway, into the "outbuilders", have the wall outside re-rendered as we'll no longer need the two doors outside so they'd be removed. Two new (small) frosted glass windows installed. A partitioning door between what would become a "utility room" essentially and the second half would be converted into a downstairs toilet. We already have all the plumbing in place obviously as there is currently an outside loo out there. So we'd be after it all plastered too. And a toilet and basin installed. Nothing posh, just basic. Left plastered, new windows, have been suggested to just have a "folding door" between the utility area and the toilet area. New ceiling put in (simple plastering job essentially). Both obviously include a hole knocked through from the hall and door installed.

One quote has come back £3000, another has come back at £6000. We're waiting for a few more at the minute.

Anyone ever had anything similar done?

nelly_2

Thats a really hard description to follow misses (you know it inside out and live there ) we cant see it.

Any chance of doing a rough before/after plan type picture?

rdpro

I've just had a quote for converting outhouse (old council style brick shed) into a utility room - here's the copy:

· Brick / block built outbuilding

Remove the existing roof (client to arrange disposal). Build a new tiled and felted roof.

Replace the door, door frame (in timber, client supplied) and window (in PVCu, client

supplied). Hack off the rendering externally and renew. Cart all waste (except roof) to a

client supplied skip on the driveway to the property.

Estimated cost: £1750.00


This didn't include the electrics or plumbing! With that lot, I'd expect about 3k for a full convert, 6k is excessive assuming no supporting walls are involved.

ukwoody

Ok, from a tradesman point of view here. People often ask why is quote A higher then quote B?

The basic answer breaks down into 3 areas.
1) The actual work required and the way of doing it. To get the same result can be done in several different ways and importantly quality.
2)The cost of materials. This is both the cost the tradesman will pay to his suppliers - and will all get slightly different terms depending on where we shop regularly. Along with the quality of the goods. There can be a vast difference in costs for what is essentially (or appears to be) the same item. A good eaxmaple of this is paint. 5ltrs of wilkinson matt white will be £5 but Dulux will be £15. The dulux is a better quality though, plus they have developement costs.
3)The labour cost to the tradesman, especially if he is hiring in men, and the mark-up he wishes to make at the end of the job.

As a general rule of thumb, get 3 quotes in. Please Dont waste tradesmens time getting 5/6/7 quotes in. You will get confused and it wastes time. The cheapest may work out to be the dearest in the long term, whilst the dearest may not be the best!

Woody

SarahLou

Thanks for all your replies