Total refurbishment of a 3 bed terraced house

[new_user]

(Hello. Some of this may well be covered elsewhere, please feel free to point me in the right direction)

I am planning on buying a 3 bed terraced house (about 750sq ft - 70sqm), it's in fairly poor shape and will most likely require a lot of work and expense. It has only an outdoor loo and no kitchen at present. i reckon worst case scenario we are looking at doing the following.

• Small 2 storey extension out back for kitchen with Bathroom upstairs.
• Central heating (none at present)- at least 1 radiator in all rooms
• Electrics - will need to be totally replaced.
• Floors - Some floorboards will need replacing/treating - possibly the whole lot will need to be redone. Potentially the joists might need to be replaced too.
• Plastering throughout (after all the electrics and stuff)
• Kitchen fittings and Bathroom fittings.

Our budget for the whole lot is up to about 90k or so. Reckon it's possible or not? If someone could help with a breakdown of what they think this stuff will cost approx. that would be fantastic. Are there any other potential costs/serious problems that we should look out for, we are very new to all this kind of thing. Dublin btw.

 

[Valhalla]

depending on the size of the extension and the quality of the kitchen, 90k should be plenty

 

[Furntech]

To do 3 bed semi d you would need the guts of 25K.
That is for Furniture, Kitchen, Carpets. A guide for a Starter home.
That is for a new house, painted and all the carpentry work done.

Thanks,
Richard

 

[X-Man]

for your info i recently purchased similiar property.you can cut costs' down dramatically if you shop around.

my house started from scratch.it was just bare walls when i was finished gutting it.we started with the walls bonded them all then skimmed.the electrics had to be done totally.......my friend did it for 850E but i did the chasing.my kitchen i purchased in MFI(newry) for 1500E and looks superb.doors all throughout the house (7 in total) locks etc cost 450E atlantic HC.15bags of bonding 20 bags of plaster=350E.

purchased all laminated flooring for large SR and 3 moderatley sized BR PLUS tiles for kitchen(floor\walls) and BR(flr\wls) for 850E.

i had a budget of 10K and i wasn't far of it until i got personal with the house.

also i bought 7doub-glazed PVC windows plus 1PVC b.door for 1600E.got them put in for 500E ask any wondow dealer and they will quote you 5-6K so i saved alot there.

as above post stated 25k will get you there but depends on how you spend your money

 

[new_user]

thanks for the help everyone. I'd appreciate any further advice that anyone has on any of this stuff (yep... I'm completely clueless)

My biggest fear is that the floor joists and all floors will need to be totally replaced (along with the stairs). may not be the case... but what if it was... what kind of money are we talking about there? ballpark.

 

[OhPinchy]

hey x-man,

Would you mind posting details of the supplier of your materials, particularly bonding, skimming and windows as these prices seem to be below the going rate, so unless its through personal contacts it would be of great use to other readers.

new_user - assuming you don't have any personal contacts and were planning on hiring a turnkey solution builder to sort out all aspects of the job, I'd imagine that you would be looking at over 70k and maybe up to 90k. Direct labour saves alot of cash, but if you don't have the necessary knowledge it can lead to massive overruns in time, and plenty of hassle for you.

Don't take x-man's prices as the going rate - if you get these prices then great, but you'd be very lucky to get an unknown registered electrician to rewire for under 3k for example.

 

[X-Man]

thanks for the help everyone. I'd appreciate any further advice that anyone has on any of this stuff (yep... I'm completely clueless)

My biggest fear is that the floor joists and all floors will need to be totally replaced (along with the stairs). may not be the case... but what if it was... what kind of money are we talking about there? ballpark.

so what if they are gone.one of my rooms i had to totally tare up.everything was infested! replaced new beams and lay down 2 sheet of plywood followed by underlay for flooring then laminated flooring on top.total price was 200E.its all only wood which can be replaced and is not expensive

don't be afraid just get the right person to do the work.

 

[X-Man]

hey x-man,

Would you mind posting details of the supplier of your materials, particularly bonding, skimming and windows as these prices seem to be below the going rate, so unless its through personal contacts it would be of great use to other readers.

new_user - assuming you don't have any personal contacts and were planning on hiring a turnkey solution builder to sort out all aspects of the job, I'd imagine that you would be looking at over 70k and maybe up to 90k. Direct labour saves alot of cash, but if you don't have the necessary knowledge it can lead to massive overruns in time, and plenty of hassle for you.

Don't take x-man's prices as the going rate - if you get these prices then great, but you'd be very lucky to get an unknown registered electrician to rewire for under 3k for example.

PM me and i will gladly forward you the details.i got my windows made by a co called munster rejects.this guy supplies the so called window experts with the goods..............so we can bypass the middleman.i still have all receipts for reference and i know exactly where my materials come from because i live in dundalk and use local suppliers.you can save a fortune if you look..........!!!!! i purchased 7window PVC's and 1PVC back door for 1600E.


in referrence to the spark.............the most time consuming part of rewiring in the tracking and any electrician will send in his "donkey" to do this work.........when hes finished then he rewires.i did the donkey work myself and got my friend whom is a qualified spark to do it for 850E.

 

[new_user]

Does anyone else have anything to say about this. I have thought about getting quotes for an all-in deal (incl project management) from our surveyors (thorntons). as I think in the long-run this could save us time (and time=money)

any thoughts?

 

[Deirdra]

new user, I agree that you should definately shop around for a general builder or a project manager for an all-in deal. I know the posters above gave lots of info, but I think it's true what Oh Pinchy said about not having enough knowledge to oversee / coordinate all the tradesman. If you find a good foreman / project manager it might also save you time and give you peace of mind.

 

[X-Man]

New User........apart from the extension you can do the rest for 10-15k max.(i did all apart fro heating+extension for 10k).

when pricing something get quotes from 4-5 diffeent people because this will give you an average price and you can play the game with them.

its rip off ireland because money and the value of money dosen't matter to us anymore..........we just take high prices for granted....not in my book

 

[extopia]

i got my windows made by a co called munster rejects.this guy supplies the so called window experts with the goods....

Are you sure it's not the other way around? Munster Rejects? Would have to say I'd think very carefully about buying from a company with a name this bad!

 

[Deirdra]

''when pricing something get quotes from 4-5 diffeent people because this will give you an average price and you can play the game with them''.

Sounds like great advice X-Man. In reality were you always able to get 4-5 quotes? For somethings like kitchens or windows I think it is quite competitive, but for other jobs like building, electrics, plumbing - I found it hard to get even 3 quotes. Is that just me?:

 

[ClubMan]

its rip off ireland because money and the value of money dosen't matter to us anymore..........we just take high prices for granted....not in my book

High prices does not necessarily mean rip-off.

 

[X-Man]

Are you sure it's not the other way around? Munster Rejects? Would have to say I'd think very carefully about buying from a company with a name this bad!

ex..........how would you feel if i told you that all window dealers get their window from him!!!!!! would you still buy and then give them the other few $$$$ you are saving.trust me they are 100% with no defects what so ever and i mean that.alot of my windows had to be made up and he did all.why pay a middleman when you can bypass them.

this to me is business and giving them the money is a rip-off.




Sounds like great advice X-Man. In reality were you always able to get 4-5 quotes? For somethings like kitchens or windows I think it is quite competitive, but for other jobs like building, electrics, plumbing - I found it hard to get even 3 quotes. Is that just me?:


Deirdre.....for my windows i went straight to the above because i knew he was the very best and by far the cheapest!! as for my kitchen i went for a flat-pack and i checked out atlantic and that was a no no.i finally got a great deal from MFI in Newry and they were excellent. for building,electrics and plumbing phone around.........the cost of making a phonecall is really low so you have no excuses.by phoning around you will get a rough idea on costs' so that you can play the game.

get someone out after phoning around and get a quote.if its not agreeing with you chase them and say you can get it done for X amount.


Originally Posted by X-Man
its rip off ireland because money and the value of money dosen't matter to us anymore..........we just take high prices for granted....not in my book
High prices does not necessarily mean rip-off.



Clubman..........why pay extra for something when you can get it far cheaper somewhere else.that to me is either stupidness or as i say a complete rip-off!!

 

[Deirdra]

CM, I totally agree with you about high prices not necessarily being a rip-off.

I think the 'bottom line' is the quality, durability or service that consumers get, it's not always about getting the lowest price. Generally you get what you pay for and what you choose depends on your needs and taste.

 

[X-Man]

Clubman..............i was in interested in buying a sportscar 2 weeks ago.i was pricing this particular car in ireland and i just wasn't satisfied about the price.personally i knew i could get it cheaper somewhere else.

resolution.........i looked in the autotrader uk and found hundreds of this car.i found one i fancied and flew over to lookk at it.i fell in love with it and the condition and price compared to the same models over here was crazy.

result..i now have a sports car which is immaculate and i saved alot of money.the VRT was alot cheaper than what i thought and i am very very happy with the car and savings i made.worked out i saved 2.5-3k on this particular car and that including the flight and ferry home

 

[X-Man]

CM, I totally agree with you about high prices not necessarily being a rip-off.

I think the 'bottom line' is the quality, durability or service that consumers get, it's not always about getting the lowest price. Generally you get what you pay for and what you choose depends on your needs and taste.

Deirdre...............how can you justify paying over 2E for a cup of coffee when in italy etc the same cup is less than half.how can you justify paying a plumber 70E per hour when you can get the same tradesman for half as i have done it.

i was in harvey normans last week looking for a two door american fridge.the cost was 1650E and they really pushed it onto me.i went 1mile down the road i got the exact same fridge for 1300E...............how how is that not a rip-off HOW?!!!

 

[Deirdra]

ex..........how would you feel if i told you that all window dealers get their window from him!!!!!! would you still buy and then give them the other few $$$$ you are saving.trust me they are 100% with no defects what so ever and i mean that.alot of my windows had to be made up and he did all.why pay a middleman when you can bypass them.

this to me is business and giving them the money is a rip-off.

for building,electrics and plumbing phone around.........the cost of making a phonecall is really low so you have no excuses.by phoning around you will get a rough idea on costs' so that you can play the game.

X Man, my point is that it is not difficult to get competitive prices for windows and kitchens but my experience was that it was almost impossible to get even 3 quotes for building, electrics, plumbing, not to mention getting 4/5 as you suggested. I called at least 15 builders and got 3 quotes! I don't think people are too mean or lazy to make phone calls. I'm not!

 

[X-Man]

ex..........how would you feel if i told you that all window dealers get their window from him!!!!!! would you still buy and then give them the other few $$$$ you are saving.trust me they are 100% with no defects what so ever and i mean that.alot of my windows had to be made up and he did all.why pay a middleman when you can bypass them.

this to me is business and giving them the money is a rip-off.


for building,electrics and plumbing phone around.........the cost of making a phonecall is really low so you have no excuses.by phoning around you will get a rough idea on costs' so that you can play the game.

X Man, my point is that it is not difficult to get competitive prices for windows and kitchens but my experience was that it was almost impossible to get even 3 quotes for building, electrics, plumbing, not to mention getting 4/5 as you suggested. I called at least 15 builders and got 3 quotes! I don't think people are too mean or lazy to make phone calls. I'm not!

deirdre sorry for appearing rude but please take no offense.my point is you do not have to keep things local for services.if you can't get a quote from someone then move on.they are timewasters which you don't want!