Cost of Gutting/Renovating an Old House

Depends on what you want to do in relation to energy efficiency improvements or deep retrofit and what type of finishes you want. Also a house of that age may need structural work. If you have an idea of the spec you could get a QS to give you as estimation on costs that may help with choices you make or keep you on track

quote="DubLad69;116460566"]Hi,

We are looking to buy a house, we were going for a new build. But have found a house that is 85 years old, thats twice the size with a huge garden and privacy for much cheaper.

The house is 230sqm, and the house looks like it hasnt been updated since the 60's. Assuming that the piping and wiring in the house is done how much should we expect to spend to gut/renovate the entire house?

We are looking to do it as a project over the course of a year or two and we will have a significant amount of time to do lots of work for ourselves. We have carpenters and electricians in the family so should save a lot of money there. But assuming we are doing a lot of the DIYable jobs ourselves and paying full for the rest of the house. How much should we expect to pay to renovate a house that size/age?

Are we mad to get ourselves into that situation?[/quote]

50 grand

100 grand

400 grand


There is no stock answer. None. You'll have to ask someone qualified that has actually first seen the house and second knows what you want to achieve with your renovations.

It's an impossible question on the internet .

Very hard to say how much really.

We have renovated in stages, a few things I’d suggest.

Just bite the bullet and get your electrics and plumbing done day 1 before you move in. The dirt, dust and upheaval are torturous, and you just need to get them done and make your peace with it. A house that size to be rewired from scratch is probably going to be a minimum of €10k for a basic modern fit kit with sufficient sockets and simple pendants in rooms. It would probably need a minimum of 20 “man days” (apologies for the sexism). You might have an electrician in the family who will pop over on a Tuesday night and rewire a light fitting in exchange for a plate of dinner but to get that big a job done will be a huge undertaking for anyone. The plumbing is similar, and within reason the two could and should be fitted close together, as both require the house to be pulled apart and putting it together once and cleaning all the fupping dust is easier.

After that all I’ll say is it’s a massive massive undertaking. Full gut reno of a 230sqm house from scratch would be well well into 6 figures from a contractor, so even if you make savings doing it peace meal yourself, it’s going to be a huge huge project.

DubLad69 wrote: »

Extremely close. As in they actually would do it for free. But I'm planning for paying full price for everything just just be safe.

I know that there is no one size fits all cost for something like this, but we are preceding on the basis that there are no structural issues. Windows recently replaced and initially won't be putting to much into BER etc.

Even as I am saying all of this, I know that someone can't give me a price. Just looking for people's thoughts.

I renovated an old school into our home.
I didn't use a QS and did a lot of the work myself.

If I had to do it again I would involve a QS and Surveyor but I would do it again in a heartbeat. It's not for everyone though.

DubLad69 wrote: »

Being an old school house, was it a protected structure? Did that cause much additional stress/costs?

It was stripped back to four walls with new roof, new upstairs floor, new wiring and plumbing etc.

Location will be as big an issue on price as anything.

Did our gaff a few years back, smaller and lots of favours etc.

4 bed semi detached in Dublin, New electrics, plumbing, internal insulation, attic conversion, windows (pvc double glaze install), flooring etc. All in for 100k - lots of work on our part. Not sure what kind of guide this is as the brother in Mayo could do way more for less.

No extensions etc, and no major problems found

Pete_Lee wrote: »

There are so many variables here. We are in the process of renovating an old house (approx 160 years old). It's only about 60m2. 45m2 is the old part of the house which needed to be internally stripped back to the stone, lime washed, new floors etc. The 1960's cavity block extension needed to be internally slabbed, new floor, kitchen etc. We did the vast majority of the work ourselves (no experience in relevant fields) and we'll be all in for 20k.

BUT what we find acceptable and comfortable may not be comfortable for you. We are happy to embrace the age of the house and not hide it's crooked walls etc. We also know that allowing it's walls to breath is more important right now than covering them with insulation. The important thing is to decide what you would be happy with and base your estimations around that. We estimated 17k but as we were stripping out ceilings etc, we decided to rewire and get a lot of plumbing work done while everything was open hence the overspend.

If you do the vast majority yourself and have friends/family willing to help out and are happy with a not perfect type of finish - you could probably get in for 50k. From there the only way is up!

Hi what type of stone?
Any history of the house?

Pete_Lee wrote: »

Hi,

The house is built from Granite. There was some really beautiful stonework hidden behind all the plasterboard and cement.

We don't know the full history although it had been in the same family since at least 1901 (census records). We are semi-detached but the two houses overlap which makes me think they were originally built as one house before being split in two at some point.

It's great to keep these buildings and preserve them. You'd be surprised what stories locals would have.

Our home was a single storey thatched limestone school built around 1820 and closed in the 1950s. A second storey was built around 1870 so the upstairs could be used as a church.

I got a quote of 1M to renovate a similar sized and age house in Dublin, it would be much cheaper for us to knock and rebuild, but that would obviously defeat the point in your scenario.

As others have said, its going to be very difficult to maintain the features but also modernize the house, for example external insulation wont be possible for you, though also neither will internal, since you will lose any existing plasterwork.

Hi, can you give an approximation of quotes received? I'm also just starting out on te house hunt and would rather an older house for the larger site but massive variations in what i'm hearing for renovation costs. Your will be most up to date! Thanks.