Extension - are we dreaming

K

kfc1

Guest
We are hoping to add on a 400 sq foot extension to our house. Am only really starting to work on fiqures now, but we are probably going to go the direct labour route. I have a fiqure of 20,000 EURO in my head - is this anyway realistic? We are in north county Wicklow. I know this is quite vague but does anyone have any opinion on this fiqure (obviously not to include any interior fixtures & fittings)
Thanks
 
kfc1 said:
We are hoping to add on a 400 sq foot extension to our house. Am only really starting to work on fiqures now, but we are probably going to go the direct labour route. I have a fiqure of 20,000 EURO in my head - is this anyway realistic? We are in north county Wicklow. I know this is quite vague but does anyone have any opinion on this fiqure (obviously not to include any interior fixtures & fittings)
Thanks
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from recent experience i'd imagine plumbing & electrics would cost about 10k on a 400sqf extension, but that may depend if you are adding kitchen/bathroom.
then you'll have groundswork bricklayer & plasterer
after than windows, roof
quality of insulation in mind would also have a substantial bearing on overall cost.
 
kfc1 said:
We are hoping to add on a 400 sq foot extension to our house. Am only really starting to work on fiqures now, but we are probably going to go the direct labour route. I have a fiqure of 20,000 EURO in my head - is this anyway realistic? We are in north county Wicklow. I know this is quite vague but does anyone have any opinion on this fiqure (obviously not to include any interior fixtures & fittings)
Thanks
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I would have thought approx. €40,000 , €100/square metre. It depends on what the extension is to be used for. Perhaps give some further information.
 
you could ,but depends on what you going to use it for ? i did my own about half the size you are looking at for about 10-12000 ,now i am in the trade but i still had to get a plumber, a sparks , a groundworker etc , i would say you could do it for between 20-25000 again depending on what you are to use it for. what part of wicklow are you .
 
There is no way you could build anything decent for that money. Spent 50,000 on ours, even at that we had to cut some corners.
 
UPDATE
Thanks to all who replied - just thought I'd post a quick update. Builders have completed and pulled out today, 5 weeks from start to finish, extension ended up being 330 sq feet, price 25,000 (cash) this included adding a window & new rad in the old kitchen, blocking up window & doorway so we could put double doors in a diffent location and installing new fitted kitchen in new extension. We are absolutely delighted with how things have gone and are yet to find fault with anything.

Sparkee - think your being well ripped off if you think 20 grand will only get you a shed!! Try shopping around a bit :rolleyes:
 
kfc1,
Can you confirm that the cash price you paid included or excluded VAT?
Is your builder a registered builder with insurance?
Did the subcontractors pay tax on their payments?
Did the employees pay PRSI or was there PRSi paid on their behalf?
Did they all disappear one morning to sign on?
If you do find fault do you know how to get in touch with your builder to sort these issues out?
What warranty or guarantee did you get?
Do you have a certificate of compliance with the Building regulations?

I am glad you are happy with the result you got, but it is yet to be seen who is being ripped off.
 
kfc1 said:
....Sparkee - think your being well ripped off if you think 20 grand will only get you a shed!! Try shopping around a bit :rolleyes:
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You get what you pay for. Truly. For 20k, I'll wager it's a low spec.

Sconhome said:
kfc1,
Can you confirm that the cash price you paid included or excluded VAT?
Is your builder a registered builder with insurance?
Did the subcontractors pay tax on their payments?
Did the employees pay PRSI or was there PRSi paid on their behalf?
Did they all disappear one morning to sign on?
If you do find fault do you know how to get in touch with your builder to sort these issues out?
What warranty or guarantee did you get?
Do you have a certificate of compliance with the Building regulations?

I am glad you are happy with the result you got, but it is yet to be seen who is being ripped off.
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...all rhetorical, I'm sure, as I think we know ourselves from the price !!
 
galwaytt said:
You get what you pay for. Truly. For 20k, I'll wager it's a low spec.

Nice to see that the typical begrudgery in this country is still alive and well!
As per my previous post we paid 25k (not 20k), oh is electrician and wired it himselfself so this probably kept price down, we both have several family members in building trade who all commented on high standard of workmanship.
Yes the foreman is a registered builder, the crew were not irish and quite frankly its not my concern whether they pay tax or not & no, they did not all disspear one morning to sign on.
I posted here to ask for idea of prices, some replies were helpful, some not. I posted an update so other people would be able to see the value that can be got and not to go with the first ridiculous price quoted.
As said in op, we were originally going to go direct labour route so I would imagine Sconhome, that I would not be able to answer all your questions to your satisfaction then either. I have a feeling you would not be satisfied unless I told you extension had no roof or that we paid 50k. However, this is not the case. We are extremely happy with all work carried out as are others whave had work done by same crew.
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Sconhome said:
I am glad you are happy with the result you got
Click to expand...

Where is the begrudgery in my reply? I simply asked some clarifying questions to allow other posters & readers to properly qualify any work that they are considering.

At €75 per ft sq you got a good rate even if your husband did the electrical work. Allow approximately €1500 - €2000 for the wiring spec to provide for wiring to a new kitchen, sockets, TV etc.

So well done, you got good value.

There is no reason why you would have to satisfy any of my questions whether you went direct labour or not. You may have in fact saved a bit more going direct labour, but most likely this would cost you a lot in terms of your own time and sanity, to be quite frank.

I reiterate, well done on getting the value, I would never begrudge good luck for anyone.
 
kfc1 said:
Nice to see that the typical begrudgery in this country is still alive and well!
Click to expand...

It's not begrudgery, it's about making sure we're comparing apples with apples.

And you're also confusing my comment on spec, with workmanship. There is no connection between the two. If you build a basic specification (and I have no issue with that), you should still expect top workmanship. In many cases, a lower spec, finished well, is better than a higher spec, finished poorly.

I am glad that you are happy with what you got - that is the idea, after all. And neither am I against non-Irish builders - half our crew is non-Irish, and they work very well. Again, Sconhome is trying to determine whether the costs of running a business are reflected in the price you paid, or whether it's a 'cash job'. Being 'registered' tells us neither.

And, I understand you don't care. But if someone decides to do whatever-you-do-for-a-living for cash, and takes your job/put you out of business, then I can guarantee you that you will. And you should extend that courtesy to those of us that do.

All that said, if you everything is, truly, perfect, and legit etc etc, and say the guy did it just to have something to do, rather than be idle (at/below cost), and the price you paid reflects that - you have done well, no question about it.
 
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