Are my costings right?

[Steve]

Thinking about buying a 3 bed traditionally built semi in Rotherham which needs EVERYTHING doing to it. We do have a finite budget though, so I want some opinions.

Before I start listing my rough costings, I will do the donkey work and the house won't be lived in. I will chase walls out (going to buy a cheap SDS drill), lift boards, strip ceilings and fit radiators to the walls etc. I will leave digging foundations to someone with a digger though!


1.5m x 6m extension to rear of house and RSJ fitted to open up kitchen/diner and associated drainage works £10,000.

Full rewire incl consumer unit and more than average sockets, some USB outlets and some LED downlights in kitchen and bathroom: £2000

Plastering whole house and re-boarding all the ceilings £1500-2000. (Should I ask extension builder to arrange this?)

New heating system including decent combi boiler supplied and fitted, new pipework to 10 radiators and all new pipework to all tap positions, stop-ended (I will connect taps at later date when they arrive) £1500 (my Uncle will do this job cheaper for me over a weekend).


Based on these figures I might just have enough money! If any of the figures are miles out, let me know! I will be putting pictures of the work on here if it goes ahead! I just want to reassure the missus with money, I am sure we will regret not buying this house, its in a lovely area and is £30k less than a house on the same street that sold a month ago. I reckon we spend £20k on it (incl new bathroom and kitchen) and it'll be worth even more than that one!

 

[flameport]

Electrics and plumbing are far too low.
If you can find people to do it for those prices, you will be getting the smallest amount of lowest quality parts fitted as cheaply as possible.

 

[foxhole]

You said needs everything doing, see no mention of timber costs , new door etc? What's the roof like?

 

[Steve]

You said needs everything doing, see no mention of timber costs , new door etc? What's the roof like?

Everything Internally. The roof is fine, the verge and ridge look like they've been recently pointed, gutters and fascias are new white plastic. In terms of timber costs, architraves and skirting will be absorbed into sundry costs including decorating - I have not factored this in yet, but won't be part of the "big jobs" budget. Where doors are concerned, when the joiner comes to do the kitchen worktops (later date) I will also get him to do all the door hanging. There is a small lean-to front porch in good nick, but the internal door off the porch is an internal door, so may replace this with a cheap fully glazed PVC door at some point in the future.

flameport, as said, the plumbing will be done by my uncle, who I am willing to pay a going rate, but he has a record of not accepting payment from relatives for labour - if necessary I will send some money via my Auntie. So if we say a decent boiler and pipes @ £900-1k, I'd be buying and hanging the radiators myself, so thats £500 labour which I'd be effectively paying voluntarily. I've told r lass that I'd do all the pipework myself too but she's having none of it!

As for electrics, what should I expect to pay for a full rewire on a 3 bed semi where I have done the donkey work and made everything ready to run in? I want everything RCBO protected, no "heavy" circuits as we'll have mixer shower and gas hob, though it'll be nice to have the oven on its own circuit, and two spare cables run to the loft for possible future loft conversion, not wired up at this stage.

 

[flameport]

As for electrics, what should I expect to pay for a full rewire on a 3 bed semi where I have done the donkey work and made everything ready to run in?

If everything was done ready, then you might get it for £2000. But that's a very big if - having seen plenty of people's efforts at chasing walls, cutting out positions for socket boxes and the like, it's something that's very easy to get totally wrong.
Otherwise £3000 - £4000 for a typical installation, not forgetting items such as TV / satellite cabling, smoke alarms, outside lighting, doorbell and all the other things which people take for granted once they are installed.
Adding downlights, USB sockets and similar will increase the cost significantly.

The heating price is unrealistic, as a decent boiler will be £1000+ without anything else. Add to that pipework, radiators, valves, controls, etc. and the parts alone will be well over £1500 even if using cheap ones. A lot more for quality items.

In terms of timber costs, architraves and skirting will be absorbed into sundry costs including decorating

There is a real danger in considering anything as 'sundry costs', they can add up to substantial sums very quickly.
Internal finishes can easily be thousands of pounds, particularly when you consider the cost of carpets and other flooring.

 

[roboughton]

As for electrics, what should I expect to pay for a full rewire on a 3 bed semi where I have done the donkey work and made everything ready to run in?

If everything was done ready, then you might get it for £2000. But that's a very big if - having seen plenty of people's efforts at chasing walls, cutting out positions for socket boxes and the like, it's something that's very easy to get totally wrong.
Otherwise £3000 - £4000 for a typical installation, not forgetting items such as TV / satellite cabling, smoke alarms, outside lighting, doorbell and all the other things which people take for granted once they are installed.
Adding downlights, USB sockets and similar will increase the cost significantly.

The heating price is unrealistic, as a decent boiler will be £1000+ without anything else. Add to that pipework, radiators, valves, controls, etc. and the parts alone will be well over £1500 even if using cheap ones. A lot more for quality items.

In terms of timber costs, architraves and skirting will be absorbed into sundry costs including decorating

There is a real danger in considering anything as 'sundry costs', they can add up to substantial sums very quickly.
Internal finishes can easily be thousands of pounds, particularly when you consider the cost of carpets and other flooring.

I agree here, you can spend few hundred pounds just on pipe and fittings.

As for electrics go round draw a plan figure out roughly how much cable and sockets would be required and to what spec you ant them. This will help when getting quotes too. I can easily see £600 plus just in parts.