£30K difference in quotes for single storey extension

chiross · 13 October 2016 at 5:32PM

Hi there,
We've just been getting quotes for a ground floor single storey kitchen extension and are really shocked to find that there is £30K difference between the two quotes we've received. Both builders have been used and recommended to us by people we know, we've used the more expensive one before and knew he was more pricey but i am just shocked at the disparity in price for what appears to be the same service.

So we are having a 3metre ground floor extension including bifold doors, two velux windows, a pitch roof, one very small internal wall knocked down and a small toilet installed under the stairs. Neither quote includes cost of kitchen, flooring, decoration etc, but does include plumbing, fitting, electrics etc. First quote was £39,540, second quote £68,142. I'm so confused!

Which one is more realistic? We live in Surrey so not a cheap area. Am worried if i go with the cheaper one they'll be hidden costs we'd not anticipated, perhaps? Any advice really appreciated!
Thank you.x

System · 13 October 2016 at 6:46PM

What level of drawn and written information have you given them?
And what exactly have they quoted for? Are both quotes itemised to show where the difference in pricing is?
With a solid set of contract information we usually expect tenders to be within 10-15% of each other, if they aren't then there a gaps in the information allowing for assumptions to be made.
The only way you can tighten down the prices is to give out more/better information to the people pricing it

krey · 14 October 2016 at 12:54AM

both quotes are way too much

if you were to organize everything yourself and hire just some labour and help with work you could get it done for right around £10k or less depending on how/where you source the materials.

chiross · 14 October 2016 at 11:32AM

Thank you. We've just given them information on size, type of roof we want, doors and windows. We are having some plans drawn up at the moment - do you think that maybe i need to go back to them with the plans to get a more accurate itemised quote?

krey · 14 October 2016 at 12:51PM

yes yes yes..that's the first thing you should have done.
after you have done that, you can research on the prices of the materials and see if they are reasonable or you could buy &supply the stuff for 2-3x less price as it's usually with bogus tradesman.
Also remember, we tradespeople have different suppliers than your B&Q, things at builder merchants are wayyyy cheaper with some haggling, I mean sometimes up to 2-3x for small items.
but yet everyone in their quotes includes the B&Q prices

get all the small details, and do your research, even with fully fitted kitchens and everything finished the £40k for kitchen extension is not a small amount and it must be truly luxurious when finished.

what's the approx size of the shell?

phill99 · 14 October 2016 at 12:56PM

You have a disparity in quotes as they aren't relying on the same information. You need a full plan schematics and a specification. If both builders don't have this, they will be making their own assumptions etc and you will get major differences.

Doozergirl · 15 October 2016 at 2:58PM

£10k. Yeah, okay. Is someone suggesting that the OP gets their hands dirty and spends the next six months building it alone and either forgoes a salary or any free time to speak of?

OP, we can't say which is the more sensible without knowing what the specification is. It's not fair on the builders to ask them to quote against each other without providing proper info, nor is is right for you to not know what you're buying.

seashore22 · 16 October 2016 at 12:44PM

The lower quote is just about ok, the higher one sounds ridiculous.

We've just had an extension built for about £30,000. The quote was for £27,000, but a few extras cropped up and we are awaiting the final bill. For this amount we had:

Old conservatory knocked down (this was much more difficult than anticipated)
New extension built, measuring approx 3m x 4m
Pitched roof with 4 large velux windows.
UPVC french doors and a large UPVC window.
Plumbing in a new radiator from existing central heating system.
Electrics (6 spotlights, 4 double sockets, dimmer switch and double switch, outside wall lights)

The obvious differences are the plumbing for a new loo and bifold windows. Are these aluminium bifolds? They are much more expensive than UPVC. How wide is the extension? Where do you live? All of these will have an impact on costs.

We are paying to have a carpet fitted and doing all the decorating ourselves.

Edit - Just seen that you are in Surrey. It is an expensive area, but the £68,000 is definitely too high.

seashore22 · 16 October 2016 at 12:54PM

Just to add that we have watched our builders work for 4 months on this project and no way would I attempt this myself, with a bit of paid labour. Both my husband and I have excellent diy skills, but building a house to building regulation standards is a specialist job and not to be undertaken lightly by an amateur.

phill99 · 16 October 2016 at 1:46PM

seashore22 wrote: »

Edit - Just seen that you are in Surrey. It is an expensive area, but the £68,000 is definitely too high.

How do you know that?

You have absolutely no idea of the specification.

And there lies the problem - neither does the OP as he hasn't issued one. That is why there are variations in price.

seashore22 · 16 October 2016 at 5:02PM

Fair enough. The op didn't mention any fancy pants design features so I assumed that it was a fairly basic structure. It would be helpful if the op would come back to clarify a few points.

£30K difference in quotes for single storey extension

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