When we were designing the house, we made a list of what we wanted in the house, and then designed the house around these rooms, i never planned to build a 3200 sq foot house as the rooms are average size, but we put in a good size utility, downstairs shower room, closet rooms for holding buggies/vacuum cleaners etc, walk in robes for ourselves, a large walk in hot press and a TV room for the kids down the line plus a mini sunroom...its the extra rooms that adds the space
Build Costs going down?
- Thread starter sman
- Start date
I'm renovating a 1000 sq ft 1940s house in Dublin, adding a standard 400sq ft kitchen extension and converting the attic. I've been quoted €185k, which I thought too high. (It does need heating and windows though).
How much better than that can I expect to do? I'm not looking for anything particularly high-spec.
How much better than that can I expect to do? I'm not looking for anything particularly high-spec.
Does this include renovating the original house? A complete renovation can exceed the cost of a new build. Allowing about 25k for the attic leaves 160k for the other 1400 sq. feet. That amounts to €114 per square foot, which is cheap for the Dublin area.
It all depends on what's included, and how extensive the renovation.
It all depends on what's included, and how extensive the renovation.
J
joejoe
Guest
Personally think you can do much, much better than this. I have a client who is a builder in the West who has undertaken jobs in Dublin because people there couldnt get a decent quote during the boom. But I would have expected prices to go down because the work has decreased. Have you thought about extending your net wider than the pale for quotes?
Ceist Beag
Registered User
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We got something very similar done 2 years ago (not including kitchen fitout but including new doors, windows, replastering inside and outside, plumbing where needed, rewiring where needed, and a similar extension but without the attic conversion) for around the 80K mark (we got different people for the wiring and plumbing ourselves) - so as Vanilla said, shop around and you should be able to do better - that said we're not in Dublin so not a like for like comparison exactly.
need2build
Registered User
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i don't think this is a very unreasonable quote really although is maybe slightly higher than bottom book - if you say the 40sqm ext @ 2k per sqm you are talking 80k and as previous posters said 100sqm of renovation @ 1000euro per sqm is a fairly practical figure given the nature of the work
again a lot depends on spec and site conditions.......i am managing similar job in dublin south with more exisiting floor area but same extension and conversion and i reckon to bring it in around (below!) 150k mark with direct labour and plenty of shopping around
in this type of project in an urban area there are many factors that increase costs - working space, access, storage, security etc are all considerations for a builder compared to working in a green field environment
i have heard quotes nearly double that for similar projects a year ago, now that was unreasonable!
that seems like a huge amount to pay, a 1000 square foot house can’t have too many windows, I recently got quotes to replace windows in a 1200 square foot house in Dublin and figures came in between 7.5k-9.5k (best quotes by far were templeogue and regency windows) regarding the extension and renovation I’d certainly seek quotes from builders outside the pale or Polish builder companies as their figures seem far far less than quotes by Dublin based builders.
Another example I heard recently was a neighbour who wanted a non load bearing wall knocked between 2 rooms, local builders quote was 2.75k whereas she got a newly qualified carpenter to do the job and put up a new door frame and paid less than €500. So in todays climate it certainly pays to shop around and haggle as much as possible, in the last number of years there was a very fine line between cheap prices and poor quality workmanship, whereas today some builders/tradesmen are appreciating that they cant quote the fees they were doing 12+ months ago and are reducing their fees accordingly.
Indeed, but if it's built well that won't be an issue. Building well is not something the irish know alot about however,
D
DecT
Guest
Hi All
We just received planning permission in galway after 2 yrs of trying and now we do not want to waste time on getting started. We are thinking of going down the route of a contaractor as we want to get moved in as soon as possible. Can anyone recommend some good building contractors in galway please? or if this is going to work out too expensive we are also going to look into a project manager to manage the build for us as neither of us know much about the building trade and also would like to minimise the stress of it all.
So recommendations on building contractors and project managers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
We just received planning permission in galway after 2 yrs of trying and now we do not want to waste time on getting started. We are thinking of going down the route of a contaractor as we want to get moved in as soon as possible. Can anyone recommend some good building contractors in galway please? or if this is going to work out too expensive we are also going to look into a project manager to manage the build for us as neither of us know much about the building trade and also would like to minimise the stress of it all.
So recommendations on building contractors and project managers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I heard over the weekend that some large building contractors (commercial/apartment blocks/hotels etc) who have not touched one-off houses or even estates in the past are now willing to match quotes for one off houses. Apparently they are looking to have the option to send some tradesmen out on a house during quite times. Only a rumour but interesting if its true.... (not sure how this would work with matching quotes - how would they know the quote is honest. Maybe they have just started to give competetive quotes as they should have the economies of scale to undercut smaller builders)
Dreamhouse
Registered User
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5K for QS is a daylight rippoff. Software package of easypricepro is under 2K. QS including labour hours, material printouts in less than hour.
Dreamhouse
Registered User
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Dreamhouse
Registered User
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- 26
2 good Brickies+1 labourer does max 600 solids a day. 600 x 0.40 = 240, 240/3=80EUR/man per day? Something not right there...
T
Tishy
Guest
I am being quoted by 4 builders now €75 sq/ft for a builders finish for 2550 sqft house.
At the spec I have requested its coming in at €90 sq/ft.
Additional spec is:
ICF with windows seals, concrete & pump included
Stonework for a full frontage of house
Solar with 500 l tank
UFH
Concrete 1st floor
Concrete stairs
Energy efficient windows
Extra sound proofing for 1 room (music studio with large guitar amp)
Same spec last year was being quoted between €110 and €140 per sq/ft
At the spec I have requested its coming in at €90 sq/ft.
Additional spec is:
ICF with windows seals, concrete & pump included
Stonework for a full frontage of house
Solar with 500 l tank
UFH
Concrete 1st floor
Concrete stairs
Energy efficient windows
Extra sound proofing for 1 room (music studio with large guitar amp)
Same spec last year was being quoted between €110 and €140 per sq/ft
Interesting.Which part of the country are you building in?