Budgeting For Refurbishment - How Much?

[evoke]

Assuming a typical 3-bed semi needs complete refurbishment consisting of the following:

1. New bathroom

2. New kitchen

3. Exterior walls painted

4. Interior walls skimmed and painted

5. All woodwork replaced/painted

6. All ceilings skimmed and painted

7. New carpets

8. Garden and driveway tidied/landscaped

9. New light switches/electrical sockets

How much should I set aside for all of that? Would £20K cover it?

[marineville]

Assuming a typical 3-bed semi needs complete refurbishment consisting of the following:

1. New bathroom

2. New kitchen

3. Exterior walls painted

4. Interior walls skimmed and painted

5. All woodwork replaced/painted

6. All ceilings skimmed and painted

7. New carpets

8. Garden and driveway tidied/landscaped

9. New light switches/electrical sockets

How much should I set aside for all of that? Would £20K cover it?

unfortunately, there's nothing typical about refurbs... unless you're just talking about labour costs and, even then, it depends what part of the coutnry you're in... i've just project managed a bathroom refurb that cost 20k on its own! of course, it was in kensington... also doing a two bed refurb with skylight, kitchen, living room, some reskimming (not all by any means), bathroom refit... coming in at 40k. but 20k sounds like topps tiles and B&Q to me (not that there's anything wrong with that).

[Pauly_Boy]

Wow, I'd like to see that 20k bathroom!

Good original question though as when I buy a house I'll be doing it up, top to bottom whether it requires it or not!

[Normski]

A good friend has just employed a good local building firm to do similar level of refurb as you mentioned, including all ceiling replacement and second-fix plumbing and electrics. The quote is £19,000 with completion in 25 working days. This price does not include kitchen and bathroom, just installation.

[Chicken]

Assuming you aren't doing any of this yourself to save on labour costs. All would be for decent but not over the top fancy stuff - you could spend £100k on a kitchen if you wanted to. A lot depends on where the house is as well because day rates are a lot lower up north.

1. New bathroom £3-8k

2. New kitchen £6-12k

3. Exterior walls painted £300-£1k

4. Interior walls skimmed and painted £2-4k

5. All woodwork replaced/painted - dunno

6. All ceilings skimmed and painted - dunno

7. New carpets - £1-5k

8. Garden and driveway tidied/landscaped - £1k

9. New light switches/electrical sockets - not very much

You should be able to do a decent job within your budget quite easily.

[tim123]

Assuming you aren't doing any of this yourself to save on labour costs. All would be for decent but not over the top fancy stuff - you could spend £100k on a kitchen if you wanted to.

I don't believe for one minute that the sort of person who would buy a house with a 100K kitchen is the sort of person who would buy a house in need of a refub

tim

[crab paste]

Assuming you aren't doing any of this yourself to save on labour costs. All would be for decent but not over the top fancy stuff - you could spend £100k on a kitchen if you wanted to. A lot depends on where the house is as well because day rates are a lot lower up north.

1. New bathroom £3-8k

2. New kitchen £6-12k

3. Exterior walls painted £300-£1k

4. Interior walls skimmed and painted £2-4k

5. All woodwork replaced/painted - dunno

6. All ceilings skimmed and painted - dunno

7. New carpets - £1-5k

8. Garden and driveway tidied/landscaped - £1k

9. New light switches/electrical sockets - not very much

You should be able to do a decent job within your budget quite easily.

[/quote 3 to 8 k for a bathroom? A bathroom basically consists of a toilet, a sink, a bath/shower, some tiles and some flooring. So long as you dont go and plump for the cheapest crap out there you can put a bathroom in for much much less.

I renovated a victorian terrace with lots of character. I bought a toilet and sink from a reclaimers for £25. New siphon etc and it was better than the new ones. I bought a nice steel bath from jewsons for £100 that was surplus to another customers order. Bath/shower taps from an online retailer for £100. A shower screen for £160 and a lot of cheap but nice tiles for about £40. Granted I did all the work myself and it took a while but the end result was great.

As far as kitchens go- I bought mine in the january sales and had it delivered 4 months later when I needed it. Solid oak doors and good quality carcasses for £2400 inc integrated oven/hob and hood. Putting a kitchen in is really quite easy if you take your time. Its nice to get a fitter in to cut and joint the work tops and check you arnt making schoolboy errors.

Really unless you are pushed for time and/or crap at painting you should do that yourself. Its very quick and easy with good quality paints.

Carpets can be cheap if you know someone in the trade, but make sure you spend enough on the underlay as without it your carpets will feel crap, and if the floor has uneven boards will ware quickly.

Unless you are renovating a really nice house to sell to wealthy buyers then go for the cheaper option, time it correctly to correspond with the sales and you can do a great job well within your budget.

Having said that it might spiral horribly due to unforseen circumstances...

Edited October 29, 2010 by crab paste

[silver surfer]

There are plenty of web sites like this

http://checkyourprice.co.uk/building-installation-cost/index.php

that will give you a guide to estimates

[Frenchie73]

I would say that you need to plan a fund aside for other unexpected costs as well, because sometimes you discover other problems as you're trying to renovate something.

Get several quotes from different places, and try to stick to what you're planning to spend for each project.

It depends what you pick, what quality you go for, and if you need to get it fitted as well.

There's a low range and top range for everything.