Is this renovation budget reasonable?

Used to sell kitchens and a very rough rule was the cost to fit (including removal) was roughly the same amount as the cost of the kitchen. Bearing in mind the fitting we charged was more expensive than a local trader might be so if you want to spend £6k on a kitchen a ball park total cost would be about £12k. Obviously theres lots of ifs and buts (moving electrics, pipework etc).

I had a non structual wall removed for £200 by a trade friend. My neighbour paid about £1000 -£1500 for a structual wall to be removed and secured again by a friend in the trade.

Remove floors, do yourself (im assuming you mean floor covering and not floor boards so things like carpet, laminate tiles etc). Its just physical work with not much skill needed. You can save money there.

Rewiring, get done before your kitchen as your kitchen will need to be part P! compliant (of building regs) which means having its own consumer unit. Let your electrician know about planned works.

It depends on the viability of the cupboard becoming a toilet. Getting a soil pipe to it might be an issue which might mean lots of ground works and thus expense. Theres a good chance moving a boiler might be expensive, again it depends on how easy it might be.

plastering again varies to the level of plastering required, if its a reskim a whole house could be done for £3-5k. If its going back to brick youd be looking more probably £6k+

Painting, about £50 a room. The prep work tends to dictate the finish so spend more time getting the walls right than painting (if youre replastering shouldnt be much issue) easily DIY. Dont know decorator costs.

Kitchen install as above.


I wouldnt say its impossible for £30k but you could also spend a good portion of that on just the kitchen if you let yourself run away with things.

Prioritise work, concentrate on the structure. So electrics, plumbing, plastering etc first. Once youve got the 'hard' work done it should help prioritising the budget for the rest of the works.

Also getting the messy stuff out of the way means you shouldnt have to go back on yourself. Also be thinking to the future. Adding something like ethernet cables in to your electrics is an expensive addition, if your having a rewire, it shouldnt add that much cost to the job but when it comes to sell or practically for you as a family it might be a nice bonus. The same with things like integrated fire alarms, house alarms etc.

Try not to rush in to it. I rushed in to sorting out my utility room, looks mint but now id prefer it if id made it a dining room. I planned and fitted a pretty epic looking bathroom suite. Had a baby and all the glass panels seem impractical now. try and spend time living in the house to see how you think its best being used.

Have fun!

Weve (im certainly) only suggesting rough costs.

No you shouldnt need to pay for it again. The majority of work in a kitchen though doesnt normally consist of electrics and plaster work. Both are only really a days work at most when fitting a kitchen and youll usually be told about a week to replace a kitchen. So youve got 5 other days worth of costs that make up the bulk of fitting a kitchen.

If you can make savings im not suggesting avoiding them. Nor would i suggest paying for things you dont need. At the moment we're going off you wanting a new kitchen and have seen one for £6k. Its difficult to estimate fitting costs from that.

Replace waste piping.
Replace water inlets.
Lots of leveling.
Fit worktops.
Mitre worktops.
Lots of sealing.
Snagging.
As well as the other stuff thats been monetioned.

You dont pay for tasks though. You pay for someone. So whilst your paying for the tasks others things youre paying for include: Liability insurance, gaps in work, marketing, rates, vehicle expenses, their childs swimming classes etc.

I like my DIY for those reasons. My bathroom cost £2.5k. Had it been fitted by someone else that price would be nearer £7.5k. Time is cheap to me and i had the confidence in my skills to do it so i couldnt see value in it. If time was expensive or i didnt have the skills im restricted to paying the going rates.