Loft Conversion....advice?

[Thermo]

like i said when theyre charging 5500 to put in a bathroom suite and plumb it in you can see how their maths adds up!

 

[mandyp]

Thanks for all the tips.....bit of a minefield isn't it!

Will bear all your suggestions in mind if we proceed with this, still trying to calclulate that we can actually afford it! It'd give us a big bedroom and ensiute so it's very tempting!!!

 

[magico]

why not just get a builder in to do the shell and you do the rest m8......i had my 2 bed terrace done last year........cost nearly 7 grand.i have a study and a bedroom with en-suite.cheaper to do the bathroom and stuff yourself or using people you know rather than the big companies

 

[Thermo]

mandyp if it helps, weve just had the quotes in for having ours done, as follows:-

1: general builder, who it was beyond and out of his nornmal scope..20K just for labour!
2:- specialist loft company, took one look at thedrawings 27k, and only because he had a spare slot, otherwise 30k. when i said i would take care of plumbing, electrics, plasterboarding plastering and insulation he was prepared to knock 3k off!
3:- roofer who now does loft conversions, took drawings away and prced it all up - 18K up to a first fix so i can do the rest as above

guess which one i went for! sort of proves my point about specialist companies!

 

[mandyp]

Well, quite a big difference!

We've not had anyone out as yet, but there are bits and pieces we'd prefer to do ourselves. The difficulty with that is, which bit to get done first! Presumably the plumbing and electrics, followed by walls/velux windows etc...

I'm always concerned when we get prices for work that the cheapest isn't always best!

The joiner that did work on our house has said that he'll give us a price for the joinery, so I think maybe we should just get a bunch of different people to do the bits we don't want (or can't!) do ourselves.

Thanks!

 

[livewiress]

I thought i should say that when we did our loft conversion we used a local architect at 1st and were going to use a local builder. As time went on the architect got the calculations wrong and couldn't give me good advice on what i could pass on planning. I then went to a well known national company and they told me i would not require planning at all and that i could do an LDC as long as i did a part gable up as to a full gable. It was reassuring to know that they have been in business for 30yrs and are still there. I have 4 yrs left for guarantee but not had a problem since. Local builders could never do that whos to say what companys will be here 5 yrs after your job is finished. But your local authority do know who they see most and my local BI loved the company we chose which was reassuring.

 

[aldoguido]

livewiress:

I'd like to know which company did your loft Conversion;
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