Renovation costs - no extension, just re-arranging

buzz55

Hi,

Due to a recent change in circumstance, I (along with my siblings) have become responsible for an old bungalow in the countryside, which has single glazed windows, an oil range (on its last legs) in the kitchen which is connected to back boiler to heat water & rads & an open fire in the sitting room. Very little (if any) insulation, and the house is now vacant apart from weekends.

As far as I know, the plumbing & electrics are sound.

We're considering making some changes to the house to try & make it more comfortable for when we do stay there. At the moment, its cold, damp & rather higgledy/piggledy.

If we were to do the following, roughly what sort of budget should we allow? Problem being, we all have our own houses which suck up our money, so this will have a very strict budget:

Replace 10 single glazed aluminium framed windows with double glazing

Replace current oil fired range with a smaller more compact oil fired stove & fill in surround

Knock 3 internal walls to change layout slightly, plus plastering/replastering of walls

Install a house alarm

This is all very vague I know, but its sort of hit us with the bad weather that something needs to be done, and fairly soon.

cheers





Thanks in advance

rayjdav

Do you plan doing this work yourself or getting a builder to do it? If builder, best thing to do is get it on paper and get 3 contractors to call and view it. Old houses have a nice habit of, once you remove plaster/wall/floor, throwing out a curve ball that usually leads to another thing etc etc €€€. I would get a local AT on board and survey and get best practice advise from him before you do anything.

Imho at this stage and your question re cost, not being smart but how long is a piece of string?

Carpenter

Hi
I did this 2 years ago if you want a look pm me

buzz55

Thanks for replies. I'd have to get a builder in, as I live 100 miles away from the house in question.
Best bet is probably to try & get an architect or builder to look at it & see what things need to be done most urgently.

I'm aware that it is a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question, that's what makes it more difficult!

ronanw

Buzz, wee word of advice if you end up getting builders you don't know/from your locality. I live in Co. Down and work in the construction industry. Up here you're getting at least half a dozen builders pricing every job and there's always one who is way under the rest of them in their tender. Quite a few people have gone with this cheaper builder and as soon as the builder gets a large payment (usually around the roof stage), they disappear off the face of the Earth and don't finish the job. Result: homeowner has to get somebody else in and it costs a fortune to finish the job and then many of the banks refuse to lend the homeowner the extra money and they're left in limbo.
People are gradually catching on and realising that if a price seems too good to be true, it usually is but some just still see the £/€ signs and get enticed in. Hopefully nobody like this in your part of the world but be aware!

rayjdav

buzz55 wrote: »

Best bet is probably to try & get an architect or builder to look at it & see what things need to be done most urgently.

No disrespect to builders but if it was me I'd get an AT or Architect, locally, who will advise you, not the other way around, ie builder advising you... What I mean is that there are a lot of builders who, when given the chance, will just add more "work" on to satisfy their accounts.. To clarify too, there are also a lot of reputible builders who are honest out there too.

Independant advise is always best from a qualified professional.

My 2 cents...

1chippy

you cant give rough prices without seeing the job. ten windows in one style could be four times the price in another. get a couple of builders quotes. iv seen a few architects who give one builders price to another and play games with the client and the builder so be careful. also make sure everyone is pricing the same spec on all items

brendankelly

A job in Roscommon where a lady living in Dublin ran the job. It is an old stone building. She used insulation new to the Irish market and I believe got a deal on it. She sourced all the windows, insulation, lime plaster etc herself and ended up doing the entire house instead of only the 2 rooms she had a budget for. She is very pleased with the insulation etc. There are 3 of the 5 rooms completed at this stage and I think you should visit this site to see the work in progress. I can PM the lady's contact details if you wish. She can tell you exactly how much it cost her.

paddy147

Oil is going to go through the ROOF this year.

get a multi fuel or wood burning stove instead,you will be glad you did when you dont have huge oil bills to pay.;)

House alarm can be anywhere from 400 eur up to 1400+ euro depending on various things like alarm type and alarm provider,size of house,number of doors,windows,wired or wire free,type of sensors,add ons like 24 hour monitoring and SMS functions..

Like others have said "string piece Long".