How long is a piece of string! rough cost to gut a house..

How long is a piece of string! rough cost to gut a house..

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ILoveMondeo

Original Poster:

9,614 posts

225 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
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Been to see a house to day, which was great, apart from the fact it's a complete and utter st hole! smile

Decent sized house, and a massive garden, space for a double garage, etc. etc..

It's beyond redecorating, and needs gutting completely, a moldy stinking heap, so assuming a small 4 bed place, approx 120sqm

Rip and replace the LOT, back to brick, doors, frames, wiring plumbing, boiler, kitchen, bathroom, windows, etc. etc..

Got to try and work out if it's even remotely viable before I start negotiations in further detail, and get builders involved.

I'm thinking

Windows + exterior doors 10k
kitchen 15k
bathroom 8k
rip out everything/replaster/repaint
boiler 4k
plumbing throughout ??
wiring throughout ??
Fireplace 2k
garage 15k

Can anyone help to roughly fill in the blanks?

I can see this nudging towards 75k upwards...

I've never taken on anything like this before so I'm pretty clueless... the closest I suppose was a neighbor who had a place about half this size gutted to the bricks, extended and put back together again for £50k






dazzalse

564 posts

178 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
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We are just finishing on a detached georgian house for the parents, 120 sq metres although its grade 2 listed, completely gutted top to bottom, 2 new bathrooms, new kitchen with Aga, all walls back to bare brick, complete rewire, new plumbing, new boiler etc we not completely finished but have spent 80k so far, that doesn't include new widows though as we have repaired what was there because of the listing officer

cossy400

3,153 posts

183 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
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Surely the stripping out you could do? anyone can knock plaster off.

Id see the various threads on here where people have done a rebuild (munchers etc)

There is a lot of ways to cut costs but you need to be hands on with it.

How much is it likely to cost to buy against what you think it ll be worth done.

We looked at a terraced and it wanted the upstairs gutting down stairs was fine ( lick of paint etc but nothing major)

It would nt come close to what we wanted to pay to make it worth while.

Good luck op.

magooagain

9,909 posts

169 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
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Allow £100,000 for a complete finish. If you come in under that then happy days. If you reckon £75,000 and come in over it by 10 or 15 grand you could have to live in it unfinished then its unhappy days.

Muncher

12,219 posts

248 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
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It all depends on what you want to put back in, do you want the nice internal doors that you like, or the ones that fit your budget? wink £500 per square meter is probably a reasonable figure for that kind of house if you want to live there.

Oi U

211 posts

145 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
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Currently have a bungalow being renovated, 104 sq m, complete job should come in at c£60 without the fireplace or new garage.

dxg

8,121 posts

259 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
I'm hoping to manage £45k for a 66m2 three bed, but I'm willing to live without a few things - like floor coverings - in the short term.

I'm not going quite all the way back to brick, but I will be drylining over plaster. I can do the kitchen for 5k (incl. flooring and appliances, with ikea's finest - and with me installing it) and I'm only allowing 3k for a shower room and a bathroom. I'm already cutting costs in my mind by doing things like using wall panels instead of tiling (but that's also to do with the structural problems that this house has).

I'll be dropping all ceilings and replacing and insulating the ground floor as well within that budget.

I'm also planning on leaving much of the fittings and fixings out of the contract - I'll do skirtings, decoration and the like. I'm also contemplating doing second fix electric and getting the first fix guy back to certify it, but I'm not so sure.

No garage, and I can only afford to replace the windows and doors that are at end of life. Everything will be "new build" spec (i.e. basic, but nice). I'm only splashing out on lighting and interior doors.

However, the aforementioned structural issues mean that I am not going to start this until I've got at least £25 to 30k in contingencies available.

Lot's of saving up to do yet.

Should also say, that I've got fees to add on top of that. I'll definitely need a structural engineer. I can do drawings, spec and activity schedule myself (I need to anyway to firm up my costing), but I'll need some architectural input to bring me back up to speed with current Building Regs. I'm trying to avoid planning if I can, but I may be altering the roof line - it depends on quite what I do when I'm fixing the movement in the roof (just one of the issues...)

The biggest gamble is the MVHR system. Now, I can spec one and route all the ductwork myself, but whether I'll get it right or not is another matter. I'll be doing my own SAP calcs, and I've just recently installed some energy and temperature monitoring kit to see what impact the retrofit will have. If I can get the SAP calcs to work, I *might* try to get passivhaus certification, but I'm not keen on yet more fees that won't increase the value of the house and might be pointless if I can't get my airtightness correct...

Edited by dxg on Saturday 26th July 18:25

Willeh85

760 posts

142 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
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I'm sure this will vary by area and amount of work undertaken. But to help you as a guide amount as to what you might have to spend I'm in the process of redoing mine that I bought in April, and all my prices include labour or VAT where appropriate. I've done as much preparation and gutting/removal as I possible could before getting people in to put it back together.

2 Bed 1970's semi detached bungalow, 1 living room, Kitchen, Bathroom, small hallway

Tools I needed to get me started that I didn't already have £150
All radiators, doors, skirting, plasterboard removed down to brick work. one week in evenings 6-8 each night me
Chimney breast removed in lounge and knocked through from kitchen. me and friend for beers, one day.
Kitchen and bathroom gutted. one weekends work by me on my own taking my sweet time.
2x 8 cubic yard skips @ 200 each - £400
20 foot steel beam and bracket to support chimney + fitting/welding from the supplier £600
New radiators, pipework, boiler, gas meter and water meter relocated £4500 + (bathroom about £1000 but haven't decided on bits for that yet so maybe more)
New raised flooring and joists in kitchen, lounge, hallway, skirting boards doors etc and plastering throughout £7000 (this includes doing other odd jobs not in my list. Plastering throughout was £3000 with materials)
New Front door £600
Rewire entire property and fittings including burglar alarm etc £2500
Budgeted £4000 for a new kitchen including all appliances new.
Decorating I cant budget because I have a friend who does it for beers and owed a favour


I've missed a couple of bits out that are either boring, or can't remember but all in by the time I've finished, had some extras and got it all nice it'll have cost me £21000 excluding new furniture.

I think I've had some good rates on a lot of things and also having friends help me with some things has saved me I think at least £2000. My builder guy managed to get me £600 off the price of the steal beam because he grew up with a guy who owns a fabrication yard (or whatever their called).

I'm also living with my parents whilst work is done and in no rush, so I've saved a bit as well by saying to my guys I'm in no rush fit me in around your work if you can do me this particular work for x amount.







BoRED S2upid

19,641 posts

239 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
So anything between 20 and 100k! It really is finger in the air and will depend on many factors a kitchen can be 5-25k likewise for bathrooms. How much work can you do yourself?

I gutted a 3 bed terrace for 10k but it was going to be rented to students so you can imagine f&f were basic B&Q got a lot of that 10k and I did a lot of work myself.

tleefox

1,110 posts

147 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
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DDg said:
I think your estimates are realistic and in line with what I've paid out over the last couple of years for a similar job in Surrey. Fill in the blanks - say £20k for plumbing (inc ufh downstairs, new rads upstairs), £12k for electrics and I don't think you'll too far out at the end of it. If it's a "do we go ahead or not" decision, maybe add a contingency of 20% on top before you decide.
£20k for plumbing and £12k for electrics? You must be refurbishing Buckingham Palace!

Muncher

12,219 posts

248 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
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I hit £11,565 for electrics on mine and paid for no labour at all, that's just materials.

ILoveMondeo

Original Poster:

9,614 posts

225 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the advice, doesn't seem like I wasn't a million miles off with my guesses.

Would love to DIY the whole thing but I will be paying two mortgages during the renovation so needs to be as short as possible. Doing 70 hour weeks doesn't leave a lot of free time so if only slow it down further by trying to clear some of it myself. I may well leave the garage / garden and DIY that when the house is finished.

That's a good question, how long a project like this would take? I'm thinking 6 months would be a safe bet, no building / weather reliant work, other than the windows, so should be able to progress reasonably well.

F&f would be middle of the road stuff, not the cheapest, but not solid oak doors!!!

We will likely be there 5-8 years, when work should have given me my first heart attack and I move to a cottage in north wales for the quiet life! wink

Next step, get the vendors to see sense about the price! "Wildly optimistic" seems to sum it up! It's marketed as being all up together and tidy, yet it has seen at least a couple of decades of complete neglect, there's a bomb crater/ex-pond about five feet deep in the back garden, full of rubbish. It stinks of cat piss. Every surface is filthy/damp/mouldy.

The look of horror on the couple that viewed it before us was great!

The estate agent was positively embarrassed! smile

Without the garage I'm probably looking at 75k minimum, fair to offer that off the asking price?









Muncher

12,219 posts

248 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
Depends whether the asking price was realistic or not!

dazwalsh

6,095 posts

140 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
It all depends on spec, i would budget at least 30k and then its only your own preferences which push it past a basic spec.


dazwalsh

6,095 posts

140 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
It all depends on spec, i would budget at least 30k and then its only your own preferences which push it past a basic spec.


ILoveMondeo

Original Poster:

9,614 posts

225 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
Muncher said:
Depends whether the asking price was realistic or not!
Definitely not! Would be if it were in good condition, or just needed a lick of paint and a new bathroom maybe.

It's on for oieo 300k, and would be worth maybe 320 I'm good condition.

Im thinking of chancing my arm at 225, the worst they can do is tell me to fk off! smile

I should add that the agent was quite candid about it and knew full well it was massively overpriced and in a st state.



Edited by ILoveMondeo on Saturday 26th July 20:13

dazwalsh

6,095 posts

140 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
At that sort of offer i think they would tell you to jog on.

dazwalsh

6,095 posts

140 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
At that sort of offer i think they would tell you to jog on.

ILoveMondeo

Original Poster:

9,614 posts

225 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
dazwalsh said:
At that sort of offer i think they would tell you to jog on.
Probably, but it's a starting point to get to 250, and they may just say yes.

Around here 300k gets a decent 3 bed semi with all the mod cons, 350 a new build 4 bed town house.

So bearing in mind it's a shagged out ex council property I don't think 225-250 is unrealistic, it's definitely harder to find someone willing to take on a project of that scale than it is to sell something nicely finished. Can't see there being too much competition.

Suppose it all comes down to the vendor and how much they are willing to take it how much they need to get!


tleefox

1,110 posts

147 months

Saturday 26th July 2014
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Granted - I could never personally bring myself to spend that though. House we live in now needed all new plumbing inc central heating which cost me £4.2k. That included new supplies to our loft conversion and a bigger than necessary boiler to allow for any future works.

Electrics - all new mains board and wiring with various add-ones was done for £3.7k.

We had the above done about 2 years ago and at no point have I thought that we should have done anything else - yes you can spend as much as you want, but you can do it for a lot less and be perfectly functional too.