Ballpark for budgeting. Replace conservatory with extension.
Discussion
Murph7355 said:
If it were me, and there was nothing physically wrong with the conservatory, I think I'd just take the doors off and potentially do something with...
I am inclined to agree with you and think there's a lot of scope to improve with some simple changes.kurt535 said:
That's a useful link and I'll read it in detail. A glance suggests there's nothing unreasonable in there. I've spoken at length with the current occupant and they're on first names with the other 7 houses in the cul-de-sac.JackReacher said:
apologies for going off topic, but that oak parquet flooring is lovely. Debating whether to go for a parquet look with either engineered wood or Karndean in ours, or go for a more traditional plank wood style.
I had oak herringbone parquet with an ebony border around the edges, in a 10m x 3.5-4m room, on top of wet underfloor heating. The parquet cost was IIRC around £3k laid, sanded, and sealed. 5 years after, and it's showing the odd divot however the sealant is still intact so no need to resand and reseal for at least another 5 years. 
I'd agree that a couple of grand on flooring, plastering, decorating, adding a radiator and upgrading the roof materials would make most sense. We looked at a place with a kitchen open to a conservatory and the vendors had upgraded to a blue glass with insulting properties and it made a huge difference.
If funds allowed it I'd be tempted to extend full width with bifolds with a steel across the whole back wall to double the living space. Seems tight for a four bedder at present.
If funds allowed it I'd be tempted to extend full width with bifolds with a steel across the whole back wall to double the living space. Seems tight for a four bedder at present.
If this helps the OP make a decision, have a couple more shots of the new room that used to be a conservatory. It is definitely of more use now as it can be used in the winter, but completely opened up in the summer. Lady F shifted the dining table to the kitchen and put a sofa and chair In there instead. It's a useful space.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 24th February 23:47
Busa mav said:
kurt535 said:
Dr;
Max cost per sqm will be £1350.
Can you confirm you aren't building on a party wall?
so with there being about 8m2 , you think that the conservatory can be demolished and the extension can be built for under 11k ?Max cost per sqm will be £1350.
Can you confirm you aren't building on a party wall?
Seriously, OP, don't get your hopes up as that just isn't going to happen.
Hitch said:
I'd agree that a couple of grand on flooring, plastering, decorating, adding a radiator and upgrading the roof materials would make most sense. We looked at a place with a kitchen open to a conservatory and the vendors had upgraded to a blue glass with insulting properties and it made a huge difference.
If funds allowed it I'd be tempted to extend full width with bifolds with a steel across the whole back wall to double the living space. Seems tight for a four bedder at present.
The problem with trying to do a cheap half-job is that as soon as you remove the doors or take the central heating through the space needs to comply fully with building regs. Which it won't. You might make a useful room that doesn't over-heat the whole house in summer and freeze it in winter, but you also might run into a whole load of trouble when you try to sell the house.If funds allowed it I'd be tempted to extend full width with bifolds with a steel across the whole back wall to double the living space. Seems tight for a four bedder at present.
You'll also come a cropper if any of the work does need regs, such as putting a new beam in, because the BC Officer is going to pick up that the work means he now needs to look at a lot more stuff that isn't going to pass regs. And you can't really avoid regs on anything structural as without it the chances of being able to sell the house to someone with a mortgage is pretty slim.
You'd be better off reading a book, getting some calcs done and doing your own SIPs-style build to keep costs down and comply with regs I'd think.
paulrockliffe said:
The problem with trying to do a cheap half-job is that as soon as you remove the doors or take the central heating through the space needs to comply fully with building regs. Which it won't. You might make a useful room that doesn't over-heat the whole house in summer and freeze it in winter, but you also might run into a whole load of trouble when you try to sell the house.
You'll also come a cropper if any of the work does need regs, such as putting a new beam in, because the BC Officer is going to pick up that the work means he now needs to look at a lot more stuff that isn't going to pass regs. And you can't really avoid regs on anything structural as without it the chances of being able to sell the house to someone with a mortgage is pretty slim.
You'd be better off reading a book, getting some calcs done and doing your own SIPs-style build to keep costs down and comply with regs I'd think.
As you note, only an issue if you wish to sell it with an extra "room" rather than a conservatory.You'll also come a cropper if any of the work does need regs, such as putting a new beam in, because the BC Officer is going to pick up that the work means he now needs to look at a lot more stuff that isn't going to pass regs. And you can't really avoid regs on anything structural as without it the chances of being able to sell the house to someone with a mortgage is pretty slim.
You'd be better off reading a book, getting some calcs done and doing your own SIPs-style build to keep costs down and comply with regs I'd think.
If there's even the remotest chance of structural work being needed, regs or no regs you get someone to look at it
paulrockliffe said:
The problem with trying to do a cheap half-job is that as soon as you remove the doors or take the central heating through the space needs to comply fully with building regs. Which it won't. You might make a useful room that doesn't over-heat the whole house in summer and freeze it in winter, but you also might run into a whole load of trouble when you try to sell the house.
You'll also come a cropper if any of the work does need regs, such as putting a new beam in, because the BC Officer is going to pick up that the work means he now needs to look at a lot more stuff that isn't going to pass regs. And you can't really avoid regs on anything structural as without it the chances of being able to sell the house to someone with a mortgage is pretty slim.
You'd be better off reading a book, getting some calcs done and doing your own SIPs-style build to keep costs down and comply with regs I'd think.
....or you just put a set of doors back on when it comes time to sell!You'll also come a cropper if any of the work does need regs, such as putting a new beam in, because the BC Officer is going to pick up that the work means he now needs to look at a lot more stuff that isn't going to pass regs. And you can't really avoid regs on anything structural as without it the chances of being able to sell the house to someone with a mortgage is pretty slim.
You'd be better off reading a book, getting some calcs done and doing your own SIPs-style build to keep costs down and comply with regs I'd think.
kurt535 said:
Busa mav said:
kurt535 said:
Dr;
Max cost per sqm will be £1350.
Can you confirm you aren't building on a party wall?
so with there being about 8m2 , you think that the conservatory can be demolished and the extension can be built for under 11k ?Max cost per sqm will be £1350.
Can you confirm you aren't building on a party wall?
Seriously, OP, don't get your hopes up as that just isn't going to happen.
I’m led to believe that in the South, costs are in the region of £2.5k to £3.5k per square metre for a ground floor extension. I’d be happy to hear of recommendations of local builders on the Surrey/Hampshire border though.
I'm having a 4 x 9m extension built off the back of my Bungalow (Planning submitted today - Because i'm dog legging off the side of the property so doesn't fall within permitted development sadly as you can see it from the road) and that coming in at £1500 PCM (in Sussex) leaving me with a plastered room, lantern roof over part and bi-fold doors as well as opening up the back of the kitchen to make it a walk through kitchen/lounge/diner.
ChrisDT said:
I'm having a 4 x 9m extension built off the back of my Bungalow (Planning submitted today - Because i'm dog legging off the side of the property so doesn't fall within permitted development sadly as you can see it from the road) and that coming in at£1500 PCM (in Sussex) leaving me with a plastered room, lantern roof over part and bi-fold doors as well as opening up the back of the kitchen to make it a walk through kitchen/lounge/diner.
PCP or HP? bennyboysvuk said:
I’m led to believe that in the South, costs are in the region of £2.5k to £3.5k per square metre for a ground floor extension. I’d be happy to hear of recommendations of local builders on the Surrey/Hampshire border though.
I replaced an old conservatory with a 5x4.5m single storey extension on the back of my Victorian semi in the middle of Windsor around 18 months ago. Total cost was a little over £90k including VAT, which sounds outlandish at first, but you have to be careful about "cost per square metre" estimates for this sort of job.My total included moving the kitchen from the house into the extension, and thus reconfiguring and completely refinishing the back half of the ground floor (about 30m^2 more floor area), as well as completely new groundworks, drainage and foundations for the extension. It included oak floor for the whole new and refinished area; 2.7m high bifold doors; a large custom-sized window; large flat rooflight; some new French doors; a nice Nobilia kitchen with quartz worktops and new Neff appliances; some funky internal pocket doors; all decorating; and all the associated plumbing and electrical work. The total also included a new patio approximately the same size as the extension, and laying a new lawn to replace the destroyed garden.
If I considered just the building work on the new extension floor area alone, excluding things like the kitchen and patio and decorating, but including plastering, plumbing and electrics, then it was more like £55k including VAT for 23m^2; i.e. £2,400/m^2 inc VAT, or £2,000/m^2 plus VAT.
My cautionary note is not to forget all the other random things you might want to do at the same time. In our case it was the cost of optimising the layout of the house to take advantage of the extension, which caused a lot of knock-on work, plus all the inevitable scope creep when you think "hell, what's another thousand when we're spending this much?!"
Best of luck with the project!
pete said:
I replaced an old conservatory with a 5x4.5m single storey extension on the back of my Victorian semi in the middle of Windsor around 18 months ago. Total cost was a little over £90k including VAT, which sounds outlandish at first, but you have to be careful about "cost per square metre" estimates for this sort of job.
My total included moving the kitchen from the house into the extension, and thus reconfiguring and completely refinishing the back half of the ground floor (about 30m^2 more floor area), as well as completely new groundworks, drainage and foundations for the extension. It included oak floor for the whole new and refinished area; 2.7m high bifold doors; a large custom-sized window; large flat rooflight; some new French doors; a nice Nobilia kitchen with quartz worktops and new Neff appliances; some funky internal pocket doors; all decorating; and all the associated plumbing and electrical work. The total also included a new patio approximately the same size as the extension, and laying a new lawn to replace the destroyed garden.
If I considered just the building work on the new extension floor area alone, excluding things like the kitchen and patio and decorating, but including plastering, plumbing and electrics, then it was more like £55k including VAT for 23m^2; i.e. £2,400/m^2 inc VAT, or £2,000/m^2 plus VAT.
My cautionary note is not to forget all the other random things you might want to do at the same time. In our case it was the cost of optimising the layout of the house to take advantage of the extension, which caused a lot of knock-on work, plus all the inevitable scope creep when you think "hell, what's another thousand when we're spending this much?!"
Best of luck with the project!
Thanks for posting. I had a chat with another builder last night who reigned us in on a few niceties that we had in mind and we're close to your £55k incl VAT figure now, so it looks like we may well go ahead despite the shock of our first £104k quote.My total included moving the kitchen from the house into the extension, and thus reconfiguring and completely refinishing the back half of the ground floor (about 30m^2 more floor area), as well as completely new groundworks, drainage and foundations for the extension. It included oak floor for the whole new and refinished area; 2.7m high bifold doors; a large custom-sized window; large flat rooflight; some new French doors; a nice Nobilia kitchen with quartz worktops and new Neff appliances; some funky internal pocket doors; all decorating; and all the associated plumbing and electrical work. The total also included a new patio approximately the same size as the extension, and laying a new lawn to replace the destroyed garden.
If I considered just the building work on the new extension floor area alone, excluding things like the kitchen and patio and decorating, but including plastering, plumbing and electrics, then it was more like £55k including VAT for 23m^2; i.e. £2,400/m^2 inc VAT, or £2,000/m^2 plus VAT.
My cautionary note is not to forget all the other random things you might want to do at the same time. In our case it was the cost of optimising the layout of the house to take advantage of the extension, which caused a lot of knock-on work, plus all the inevitable scope creep when you think "hell, what's another thousand when we're spending this much?!"
Best of luck with the project!
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