Renovating old Cottage 682 sq feet

Pa122 · 23-08-2009 02:36PM #1

Hi,

We are in the process of renovating an old domer cottage in the Kerry region.

The house itself is fairly small only 341 square feet on each floor.The house is over 200 years old.

The house will require complete gutting, including
new roof
new window
doors,
ceilings/floors
plumbing
wiring the works.

The walls are also very thick and I'm wondering is it better to knock each wall and rebuild for insulating purposes...?
Or is dry lining a good alternative. The only thing with dry lining is the house is small enough as it is.

Realistically would it be a better option to knock the entire house and start again..?
Would it be cheaper.

Also we havn't a big budget, prob in the 30K region as finances are tight at the moment.

We would like to make it bigger but we will leave any extension building for the future.

I'm handy enough with my hands and can tile , paint, slab etc.

I'm like to know if there is any body out there who has been in a similar situation..?

Our taste isn't expensive, so we're just looking for nice cosy cottage

Any advice on, knocking/renovating and also what you think price could be.

The property is in kerry so dont know if that would make it cheaper to renovate or not

Carpenter · 23-08-2009 03:21PM

Hi
I have done it on a house in Carlow and I can tell you it is a hard job is there any damp in the house if so you will have to stop that first send me a PM and I will give you my number and I will talk you through it

Builderfromhell · 23-08-2009 03:22PM

Knock and re-build best option because;
1. Can insulates and damp/radon seal properly.
2. Cheaper than renovating.

Dis-advantage;
1. You will need Planning permission to demolish an existing building.
2. You will need planning for New House.
3. Planners will most likely require new Septic tank in compliace with EPA requirements. This will necesitate a Site suitability test. If site does not pass then you won't be allowed to build.

Good luck.

muffler · 23-08-2009 04:21PM

Moved to Construction & Planning forum

Poor Uncle Tom · 23-08-2009 07:40PM

You need on-site advice, general items to consider:

House orientation,
house positioning,
dampness?
radon sump and barrier,
Insulations to floors, walls and roof,
damp proofing to walls,
wet and dry rot,
proportions of existing building to your needs,

Sigma Force · 23-08-2009 09:33PM

Perhaps get some advise from architect/builder/planning office etc.

However we have a small cottage that had a lean to kitchen and porch (added later on prob in 70s), I think we had to notify the planning office (can confirm that because I'm not sure) but we didn't need planning persmission to knock and re build because you can build onto a house a certain amount without PP.

It was cheaper to knock the kitchen and start again, making it bigger and managed to extend the bathroom (knocking down the back wall of the bathroom) and add a utility and WC without any pp.

If we wanted to build bigger we would of needed pp but the basic bricks and motor and roof etc. with nothing else did come in around the 30k mark but that wasn't including flooring elec etc. but did incl. radon barrier, windows etc.

Do shop around and get lots of quotes, if I had to do it all again I would of knocked the whole place and re built. Although it would of cost a little more and the old part of the house is very solid so for the older part of the house we just dry lined, there was no damp luckily the old part was better built than the new additions. Also plastered etc.

Whichever you do take your time with it and go through the options lots of times, if you do need pp it might help if you are able to get reclaimed tiles for the roof and match it up with the older part etc.

ulick-magee · 03-09-2009 09:14AM

hi,
we bought this place as it is in the pics on my web site,currently putting down new flooring.Have a look you might see some ideas for your own place.
www.houseclearers.com

No6 · 03-09-2009 11:10AM

Pa

Despite the house being small I think your budget is way too small. I recently refurbished a small stone grannary building to use as my office circa 360sq ft. I did most of the donkey work myself and it still cost over 20k. and that was with free plumbing (brother in law) and free plastering (bartering!!)

In regard to knocking your house and rebuilding it is not going to be cheaper, don't believe the builders. I recently compelted a project where the client wanted to extend an existing cottage, remove the roof and turn the house into a story & a half, all the builders siad knock, the prices came in at 160K, one builder priced what was designed and came in bang on budget at 100K

Renovating old Cottage 682 sq feet

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