Internet Know How

Plastering labour estimated at £10000 and another £3000 for plasterboard. I have a couple of guys who work on about £220/day for 2 men and they are good. That being said, it only gives 45 days, so I could easily be underestimating that by £5k. I worked out that cost on what they did boarding every room and plastering walls/ceilings in my 400sqm house.

Kitchen is overpriced yeah, but just basing it on what I got for £50k on my own, which I could come in 10k less easily and get a lovely kitchen.

Depending on what type of windows I go for, then yeah I could easily double this. Its 450SQM ish above ground, the rest below, or I can go 520SQM ground up with no basement. Really, I want to have 200sqm footprint over all floors. My own property is about 400SQM and UPVC windows cost £10,000 plus fitting. Had silly prices of £40/window to fit, with some small transoms, so I had someone else come in and fit them in a week. Change UPVC to alluminium then I would propably be at that £25k cost. I will amend my windows to double on the plan anyway though as I am likely to be short on estimates here Not factored in waste....good point. Probably another £5k or so I guess

Not planning to pile, but post dig out will be a full concrete slab and walls. If I dont dig out, I will need to pile, and given I can clear the 1000 tonne of sand free, it makes sense to spend a few grand digging out with the machines. 2 weeks worth of machine and the hole will be there

No planning permission yet, just at the costing stage. I have done a high level cost breakdown and yeah the mortgage interest is going to be around 80k I reckon. Here are my high level costs...obviously misses out some items but its not that far off. If I am bringing in my own trades every step of the way rather than a main contractor I hope to do this for £1-1200/sqm. This does not include Architects fees or other surveys. People who come in with silly prices will not get on the job. For example...someone quoted me £18k, then another 21k to demolish. Got it for £12k which is more reasonable given there making easy 7k over 2 weeks on demolition. I Have a bricklayer £80/sqm for laying brick, £25/sqm for block. Once I start with my trade account openings too from the local suppliers I will be able to make good savings. Any main contractor will try and make £700/sqm on me which is about £400k, and more than I will make when I come to sell the place. It just makes sense for me to manage bringing in the trades. Demolish £12,000 Groundworks £50,000 House Brick (24000 qty) £15,000 House brick mortar £3,500 House Brick labour £32,000 Block (internal) 7000 block 700 sqm £10,000 Block mortar 3000 insulation (underfloor and cavity) 4000 skirt & Arc £3,500 Central Heating & Boiler 20,000 Underfloor heating supply and fit 4,000 Re-Wiring Inc Alarm 15,000 Windows & Doors (external) £15,000 Kitchen £50,000 5 x Ensuites furniture and fit 30000 Front Door 2000 Internal doors 4000 Roof trusses & labour 40000 Roof slate 10000 Roof materials lead, plast 4000 Roof labour 10000 Plasterboard 3000 Plastering 10000 Exterior landscaping 40000 front gates and railings 10000 Front wall 10000 Interior painting and decorating 8000 bannister 20000 Joiner Interior 30000 Coving 3000 coving fitting 3000 Total £474,000

I will bear that in mind, thanks! Never done ground up development but I have done full renovation on 400sqm properties

wow 2.5k thats really good on their fee

I did think it was expensive to be honest. Its based on 600SQM design. first plan: £13k building Reg detailed plan: £12k £3.5K monitoring and support over the build inc visits Should really be half of that all in, but maybe I am naive.

I have worked out over 200SQM that I could potentially dig out 1000 tonne of sand. A firm I know may take it away for free or maybe just charge me for the haulage element only. I guess you could say its a small budget because if I brought in a main contractor this build would not be feasible. Managing the trades myself, it can be done

Yeah I guess it is. I am already paying around £30k all in for his fees so I cant pay anymore.

Its not going to be easy, but the hard work will be worth it. I want to build 5 bed detached with basement. Can go up to 520SQM on site over 3 floors, which is a 200SQM footprint. If I add on a basement then just over 700SQM. The problem I have is trying to work out exactly how much I will spend. I have done a full renovation before on a 380sqm and it cost me about £380k, but I did pay 60k for outside wall and gates in that plus another £50k on the kitchen. This also included all the carpets and wallpaperings etc. I now just need to add on how much extra I would potentially pay for all the 4 walls, roof and groundworks. To be honest I am probably getting on for £550k easy. As its a sand foundation I need to pile, but I can get rid of the sand for free so I might as well excavate and put in a raft instead, and gain another 200SQM. I can concentrate on the main house with the funds and later finish the basement if funds available. Even if I never finish the basement and sell on the property, its an excellent hidden extra for the buyer to convert themselves. This will be a 1m plus property so im sure they will have the money to do so.

Ok I didnt realise my Architect may import and overlay his design onto it to ensure it fits correctly. Even still, if I laser level out the site wall to wall I cant see how we can go wrong given its fairly level and will be digging out for a basement

If I am digging out for a basement though, all the gradients would be self made on the way back up. Maybe I will get a quote off someone and if they can do it for like £250 all in then yeah. Otherwise, everyone who comes in with a pen seems to want to add a few zero's on the end. Being in a very nice area people think its the postcode lottery too so quotes go up

The existing house is not yet demolished which is a slight problem, however I can measure neighbour wall to wall with a laser level to get a more accurate view for the architect if needed. When the house has gone, I can get the groundworks guy to mark out with pegs, and then take another measure to align it up with the plans. The new house will sit exactly on the rear elevation boundary but frontal elevation will come foward 2 meters, and then extending the length of the plot width wise leaving a few meters either side for passage around the side of the property. Just seems like it could be a bit overkill to shell out another £700 here

sounds like money well saved if you knew how to do it yourself. I could learn I guess but I am trying to balance out those things I will do to save money and cut off where I just dont have the time.

new dwelling

I guess this is what the Architect is trying to avoid....when we start the build the house does not fit. Obviously his preference would be to have to the mm measurements to work from. I think the main consideration for my plot given it is flat, is ensuring the front elevation width and rear elevation widths are perfect. Front: 25meters Rear: 17 meters As you can tell from the figures, the front to back goes rather like a triangle shaped piece of land.

Ah right I see, so it could be a pre-condition from the council that they want to see more information before approving my application? Obviously I am just trying to save on spend here if not absolutely necessary

Hey everyone, My architect has recommended one of these surveys. I have already measured the site with a tape measure, so whilst this isnt exactly laser level, could I not just buy a laser level myself for about £50 if he wanted something a little more accurate? (ARCHITECT) Land Surveyor - A topographic land and level survey of the whole site will be required. We envisage the cost will be circa £500 + VAT and we can obtain quoted from surveyors we work with regularly. (ME) Is this needed to support planning? (ARCHITECT) There is nothing worse than completing a design and discovering that the site is slightly different in size or shape, it can lead to a lot of abortive work. Thanks Chris

Hey everyone, For new builds, did you always bring in an M&E engineer or did you just bring in a trade and talk them through what you want them to install? - I am building a 5 bed detached house around 500sqm. - I have previously managed all of this myself for a 400sqm conversion, but never done a ground up development and wondered if I should just bring in someone else to do this for me Thanks Chris

Hey, I am looking at starting a build early new year and the 200sqm footprint will start below ground. - Looking for someone in the merseyside / north west area who can dig out - Ground is 100% sand, so will be disposing of this for free with a local firm. - I will need someone to then lay the slab and walls below ground, and then form the ground floor level ready for the bricklayers to come in Can anyone recommend a decent firm? Have you done a basement dig previously and how was such a job priced / what did it cost to just get to ground level Thanks Chris

well yeah.....there are plenty of people offering finance but the main things I come across are.... 1.) you need 15 to 20% deposit of your own to start as money is paid in arrears 2.) What experience do you have 3.) Can tell you anything unless you have planning permission So, looks like I have to shell out £13k in planning 1st stage to get speaking to someone and get an application in. Problem is that I dont want to design a house so big I then cant obtain the funds to build it.

I have just read through the CMD 2015 for private client and I get what you are saying here. I will search the forum too on this further. I wont have 1 main contractor, but will bring in groundworks, then bricklayers, then all the other trades thereafter once the roof trusses are on

thanks for the feedback. They seem to have a maximum borrowing up to £650k which will be an issue for me as I already have a 300k mortgage on my plot and want to pay £500k extra for a build on top. I will certainly give them a call though to see if there is anything they can do for me