The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Smallholding => Buildings & planning => Topic started by: Womble on April 18, 2022, 10:12:12 am

Title: Looking for really rough building costs
Post by: Womble on April 18, 2022, 10:12:12 am
Hi folks,

Some friends of ours are looking at converting a stone outbuilding into a house, and I said the good people of TAS might be able to help with some *really* rough costings.

I'm looking for broad brush statements here that we can build into a big picture estimate. For example:

"We installed a pellet boiler system for a four bedroom house in 2015, at a cost of £11K"
"The total bill for re-wiring our three bedroom house in 2018 was £10K"
"We just bought a front door which cost £1200 including fitting" - that sort of thing.

Off the top of my head, we're needing budget costs for:

To reiterate, this is really broad brush stuff, just to see if our friends are nuts to be even considering this. Thanks in advance!
Title: Re: Looking for really rough building costs
Post by: Steph Hen on April 18, 2022, 12:32:45 pm
Some friends of mine did an old single story shed into a dwelling. Three single bedrooms, plus master with en-suite. bathroom, large kitchen/living space. Think she said it cost £140k. This was Roof, redo some walls, masses of insulation, Septics, Windows, exterior doors, wiring, plumbing, concrete disabled car parking and access. Plaster board walls. Air source heat pump. They needed another 30k odd for the builders/joiners to do the finishing, internal doors, skirting boards, tiling, painting, flooring, But ran out of money so doing that themselves. Sorry none is your list, but may help your friends a tiny bit?
Title: Re: Looking for really rough building costs
Post by: Ghdp on April 19, 2022, 05:32:30 pm
mini water treatment plant with 9 person use capacity was £16k plus VAT I think.
Title: Re: Looking for really rough building costs
Post by: harmony on April 19, 2022, 09:06:15 pm
Building materials have risen in cost so unless someone has had recent work done your friends are likely to find themselves under budgeting. I would of thought getting quotes would be more realistic.
Title: Re: Looking for really rough building costs
Post by: Womble on April 19, 2022, 10:06:38 pm
That's absolutely true, Harmony. However,  right now we're looking for quick and dirty, without having to chase round specs and suppliers. Don't worry, there will be a healthy dose of contingency and chin scratching added for good measure.

Thanks for the comments so far - this is exactly the sort of thing I wanted.
Title: Re: Looking for really rough building costs
Post by: doganjo on April 20, 2022, 09:33:17 am
I built a large four bedroomed bungalow in Aberdeenshire in 2005 for £147000

The plot had been landlocked by our own tracks so we got it for £1600

We chopped our land into two pieces and the 10 acres of fields and a burn with the newbuild, along with the 2 fifths acre plot in garden went with the new house

Sold it in 2008 for £310000 - to horsey people

Now they've had it valued at £450000 to assess the divorce settlement  :innocent:

When I built the new house I rented a cottage 20 mins away(£160 a month but 17 years ago) - was a mistake - should have stayed on site in my wee holiday caravan and saved £1000 for the 6 months build.  It was cosier than the old cottage

I moved here 2 and a half years ago and renovated - didn't need planning, but got architect for retrospective on improvements to previous house - minimum was £750

Moving fences back to create visibility splay at junction (a condition of planning) New fence here about 300 metres - horizontal hit and miss sarking boards, cost £2500 2 and a half years ago

Approx. figures - New kitchen £7500, electric improvements and new consumer unit £2000,  bathroom £4000, ensuite £3500, flooring all through £4000,  loft insulation £600,  emptying septic tank £200, redecorating £1500, picket fence to separate a garden at the back door from the rest of the field £600, putting up hen run £250(already had the weldmesh and chicken wire, new furnishings £3500, storage shed £750, 4 new radiators £4000, service gas boiler £300, new locks £250, drain wet ground £3000(springs on land)

New windows SRJ windows (who give discounts for introductions) £8000 for 8 windows -  1 large, 4 medium 3 bathroom size, plus sliding patio doors

I'm sure there were other things because I spent about £50K altogether :'(  Mind has obliterated it!

Edit - oh I remember - a Stiltz lift from the garage to the third bedroom(study) to future proof it as i become older and more infirm - £13000
Title: Re: Looking for really rough building costs
Post by: twizzel on April 20, 2022, 06:43:02 pm
We are just completing a 21m2 extension on our kitchen. Rough costs… flat roof kit £1200, first fix electrics £1200 (extension and existing kitchen made good), windows £3500- 1 kitchen window, French doors and stable back door. Labour about £25/hr per builder. Structural engineer report was about £800. The kitchen is a big chunk of £££ which you could get cheaper but it’s our dream kitchen.


When we were looking at quotes, our builders said £1500 per square metre was about right, for everything from foundations right to finished interior. Including Labour. They won’t far off to be fair. I think the whole build excluding kitchen is about 30k.
Title: Re: Looking for really rough building costs
Post by: landroverroy on April 20, 2022, 06:57:08 pm
I've just got quotes for supply and fit a upvc front and back door.(Including frame.)  Cheapest
  quote was £1,500 for both. Most were a lot more.