2023 Retrofit Quote

My guesstimate is

ext insulation 35-40k

air to water pump - 16k

solar - 12k

mech ventilation - 4.5k

Windows/doors - 20k

attic insulation -3k

90k - grants (approx 17k) = 73k

so how are they coming up with 134k?

From you figures (which you would imagine are reasonable), their pricing strategy would appear to be to take the after grant price and double it plus swallow up the grant too.

When I enquired and got a quote last year i found:

1. The quote was outragous fro the One Stop Shops. IIRC the project management charge alone on my quote was 8k.
2. They just really put you in touch with a builder and process your grants up front.
3. It was totally inflexible if you wanted additional non-grant work done at the same time (i.e. extension).
4. I was offered the services directly from the company behind the OOS quote when I said I was not proceeding.

In summary, at time of enquiry it had not been thought through and it was really SEAI just transfering all the admin externally, and letting the providers quote as they please.

I will pay now for the works upfront, get the certificates, and submit myself. Additional effort maybe but I feel it gives me better control. Who's to say the OOS effort would be easier anyway!

My opinion is OOS is for people who do not have the money upfront to do the work and then claim afterwords. It is more targeted at people who want to upgrade but do not have the finances to cover the work upfront. The OOS scheme will allow you get the grants before the work commences so you only ever pay the difference.

78k for ext insulation looks extremely steep…would have thought 45k max…..

Just jumping in here as I recently had an assessment carried out after around 3 months of researching. The OSS that carried it out quoted a desktop estimate of €102k after grants (€19.1k worth of grants). Another OSS quoted based on the same report came back as €58k after grants (€22.4k worth of grants). How can this be? It’s all based on the same report!

it’s also worth noting the first one missed the fact the house has NO heating system, pipework or radiators, while I advised the second of this, they quoted accordingly and still lower.

Spoke to a different OSS who refused to quote as they wanted to carry the assessment out themselves (even though the reports are standardised purely for the purpose of each OSS being able to accept and quote) and another wanted €100 just for a desktop estimate because they didn’t carry out the assessment.

Another 2 still haven’t been in touch since I queried initially in early January and the rest apparently done cover my area yet even though it states on the SEAI website they do

It’s an absolute joke to be fair. And to compare with OP mine is a 240m2 dormer built 2005. (Only in it a year) that’s an outrageous variance in pricing. Needless to say I’ll be in touch with SEAI to try get some clarification on this.

Air tightness or more particularly, the lack of it.

OK, Well yes, more difficult for sure but not impossible. I think it depends on how deep a retrofit may be that will determine how difficult it would be to do. I've a (concrete block 2 leaves) dormer bungalow and I intend on doing a retrofit so I was wondering if there was something I hadnt considered. ,I've done a U value calculation and I wouldnt have enough rafter depth for insulation value I want. I'm thinking I either need aerogel material or possibly remove tiles/felt, beef up the rafter, integrate airtightlayer, insulate and fit a breathable membrane and tiles. Not sure yet where to get an appropriate structural engineer to ensure it will be structurally sound and to ensure a design plan is followed,or even how much it would cost,but Id plan to integrate airtightness if that work goes ahead. I've been told a doc called SR54 recommends cavity insulation if doing EWI,but calculating temps doesn't suggest there would be a risk,Id get it done for other reasons,potential for convection currents in the space.

Regarding EWI I'm thinking of getting certified to install a specific system,not sure how it works out to get grants if doing own house or initial jobs elsewhere,did a course in Ireland,it's very much imo attention to detail. Given the costs, I think it could be cost effective for a person to do if they have certain skills,or hire individual trades to do certain taks. Id do base coats over EWI, but Id prefer get a plasterer to do the finish.

One concern I have is insulated (over) cills don't seem to integrate into an EWI system/windows like existing cills. They appear to be butted up to Windows with expanding foam tape, I'm not convinced this will be effective for draining driven rain in the longterm, Id rather a replacement new/performance window fitted in a traditional manner on top of an insulated cill? Any opinions or links to insulated cills or fitment to permit drainage of water?

If anyone can point me to the right profession for structural roof design, please do.

regarding the OP, I understand there are different types of airtight membranes I plan to do my own,but some appear to diffuse water vapour back into a room rather than just repel it,but I think calculated EWI and MVHR would eliminate water vapour related problems, the structure materials would point to the type of insulation and airtightness.

in

concrete

What’s included in the quote..ext insulation, air to water pump, new windows?

Get a plasterer to insulate the walls and insulation guy to do the attic. Leave the grants to the eejits that convince themselves they saved 20k!

Yes, pump and new windows (€26k)!!

Initial reaction would be thats very high but unless you can give a rough breakdown of the costs, size of house etc its hard to tell.

Rough rule of thumb was 1500 a square metre for retrofit but that was a while ago so not sure has it gone up or down. I would expect it come down.

Can you provide a rough breakdown of the costs?

Is it via a one stop shop or an independent contractor?

Have you only one quote or multiple?