cost of building extension to come down

Hi,
I'm hoping to do an extension on my house in the not too distant future and have been looking into costs etc.
The biggest cost seems to be the labour and a friend of mine has advised me to hold off for 18 months etc as there is already a down turn in the price per block / plastering prices etc sought by tradesmen and this will continue to fall due to the lack of work.

any thoughts on this?? - as current prices seem excessive - and as always Id think the market will dictate the price.

18 months is a long time and anything could happen between now and then. Its crystal ball stuff at the end of the day.

Hi there,

I here lately that in some parts of the country block layers are now charging 80c per block to lay as opposed to E1.40 that is some drop. I would have thought now was the time to build with the lull in the property market - 18 months seems a long time to wait - I know the prices of materials has gone up but labour is supposed to have gone down - the stats show that there were a lot of layoffs in January in the construction sector and builders are looking for work if we are to belive all the negative news!

My uncle is a blocklayer and has been for 25+ years. He hasnt laid a block in 3 months . he works with a team of 3 other blocklayers. I think there are alot of non-nationals that can do this work just as well but who might not be accredited to irish standards/or are not registered for PAYE/PRSI or pay insurance. If you are not too worried about this then you could possbily save yourself ALOT of money. From my experience (anecdotal) etc the experienced/skillful guys have alot of money made and can afford to sit it out for a while. He said to me that hes not going to start working for nothing now and would rather wait for it to pick up. He is doing a couple of his own projects like an extension on own house. Im sure there is alot of unemployed tradesmen etc out there and if you can pay cash and not stress too much about insurance etc then you should be fine. I would be too nervous to chance anyone who i didnt get recommended to me/know/hadnt insurance .

angela59 said:

Hi there,

I here lately that in some parts of the country block layers are now charging 80c per block to lay as opposed to E1.40 that is some drop. I would have thought now was the time to build with the lull in the property market - 18 months seems a long time to wait - I know the prices of materials has gone up but labour is supposed to have gone down - the stats show that there were a lot of layoffs in January in the construction sector and builders are looking for work if we are to belive all the negative news!

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Yes I am building in Galway and I am getting quotes from 1.30 to 90c per block. The guys at 1.30 know they are chancing their arm now but they were getting it a year ago.

labour prices are low at the moment but materials will only get dearer so i would start now