Cost of large extension to very old thatched cottage

JohnnyCab

Have inherited a large thatched house in the south of Ireland. Myself and family hope to sell our house in Dublin which is happily now out of negative equity and use the proceeds to fund renovations and a large extension to the back. I am looking for advice on costings etc.

The house is approximately 350 years old and is a protected structure. It is a long fairly low thatched house, about 60 feet (18m) wide, with a central front door and brick chimney. It is located in the centre of an isolated farm and there are no neighbours for miles. The inside was substantially renovated in the 80s so there are no real features left to preserve in the interior, and it was rewired about five years ago. There is an 80s extension to the back which runs about two thirds of the width. The extension was piecemeal and is not in great condition.

We propose knocking the 80s extension and replacing it with a full length extension running the entire width of the house. This would have to connect to the old part of the house via some sort of corridor, also running the full length of the house, and cannot be visible from the front as planners would not allow this. We have been told that planning should not be a big issue as it is so isolated, as long as the new extension is not visible from the front. The new extension (not counting its connecting corridor) would ideally be 60ft x 25ft or 1500sq ft.

We would therefore need the existing extension knocked, new foundations, construction and roofing of the new extension, plus wiring and plumbing for three bathrooms. The new part is to contain a dining room, kitchen, utility, one large bedroom and three bathrooms. We will probably need a new septic tank and also a new heating system, we are considering a heat pump.

The old part will need to be replastered inside in at least some rooms and redecorated, and there is a possibility that the old roof ridge will need to be reinforced. We are not making any other structural changes to the old part as it would not be permitted.

Any thoughts or advice are welcome!

JohnnyCab

Well, we are still looking into this but it seems that it might be more expensive than I originally thought. If anyone has experience of connecting a woodframe extension to an older protected structure I would love to hear about it. Also, if anyone has any ideas about the costs of thatching these days? Can't seem to find out much about it.

Calahonda52

XYou have inherited a protected liability and you seem to be constrained in what you can do with it.
Are there any Local Authority upkeep/maintenance requirements on it as a protected liability.

Can you claim inability to maintain?
Hardly if you are going to shell out 150k or so on an extension.

The '80 refurb was probably not done using the right materials so the need to re-plaster is an indication of this.
You need to think about lime based materials and not gypsum.

Re the cost of thatching take a load of fotos and send it to these guys: -snip-

Just build a new house attached to the old one and use the old one as a garage for storing stuff such as bikes, fuel, maybe the utility room and a bar with snooker table.

JohnnyCab

Thanks for your reply.

The interior of the old structure is actually not all that bad, we are going to use it as the main living area - the old structure is the centrepiece of a large courtyard and is also actually very picturesque. We are lucky in that although we are not allowed to change the interior of the structure, it was substantially changed before it got protected, which was about five years ago. This means that we don't really need to change much of the interior anyway - it is already suitable for our needs.

There are legal upkeep requirements, but to be honest this house has been in my family for 300 years and we would never allow it to get into disrepair anyway. The exterior is in quite good condition, all it needs is a whitewash - plaster, windows etc are all good. We won't be able to get any grants for it unfortunately.

Our plan is to add a complete new structure at the back, not visible from the front, which will contain the kitchen, dining room and bathrooms, with bedrooms in the old part.

Could you PM the thatcher's details to me? It would be greatly appreciated.