Dormer Bungle Renovation

[Tims]

Hi All

 

I'm finally coming to the end of extending and insulating my dormer bungalow in Leeds's green belt. It's been a journey where I've done everything from design (with the help of a structural engineer friend), planning application (a nightmare in green belt with a previously extended property like ours), full build. plumb and decorate the only bit I haven't done is the bit I was most qualified to do (the electrics). I'm on the last push to finish the main (new) living area and finish the install and commissioning of our MVHR before I start work in January and try to find reliable contractors to finish the renovation and remaining leak plugging of the existing property. I've used the forum as lurker a bit in the past and expect that I'm going to have my own questions on this in the near future though I'm starting to wish that airtightness and MVHR where terms I didn't hear when I started this journey 😅. 

 

 

[Tims]

slight Freudian slip in the title 🤣🤣🤣

[Kelvin]

Looks good. Well done and well bungled. 

[bgmill]

Looks great, would be interested to know what your total cost so far was considering you did the majority of the labour yourself.

[markc]

Well done and welcome

[Tims]

Th costs are still quite high as I've not scrimped on bigger ticket items where I could have saved such as putting Aluminium windows in, Aluminium Facias etc. There's also a  pizza oven, a kitchen move so that we could stay living in the house, a couple of retaining walls and unforeseen time and costs of fixing the bodges from the joiner who lived here before us and did the original conversion of the house from a box to a stone dormer over 10 years whilst he was working. So he had some excuse for some of the blatant bodges/corners he cut it was just a pain for me and a dilemma of do I put it right or risk it collapsing etc. I also had a mate labour for me for a few months when we did the roof the heavier bits and a man with digger to do the drains when I learnt that it was a false economy hiring a digger and digging my own foundations with a poor lad who'd had to cut his round the world cycling trip short due to covid barrowing all the waste to the front of the house due to access issues 🤣 a bit of shock after 5 years bumming around on bike but least he was fit 🤣. I've got a spread sheet of every cost by loose task if anyone's interested

 

 

Materials	£65,735.30
Contractors	£4,947.50
Labour	£8,470.00
Tools	£4,888.92
Hire	£1,894.68
Sundries	£8,598.70
Training	£1,200.00
Sales	-£299.52
Total	£95,435.58

[jayc89]

12 minutes ago, Tims said:

Th costs are still quite high as I've not scrimped on bigger ticket items where I could have saved such as putting Aluminium windows in, Aluminium Facias etc. There's also a  pizza oven, a kitchen move so that we could stay living in the house, a couple of retaining walls and unforeseen time and costs of fixing the bodges from the joiner who lived here before us and did the original conversion of the house from a box to a stone dormer over 10 years whilst he was working. So he had some excuse for some of the blatant bodges/corners he cut it was just a pain for me and a dilemma of do I put it right or risk it collapsing etc. I also had a mate labour for me for a few months when we did the roof the heavier bits and a man with digger to do the drains when I learnt that it was a false economy hiring a digger and digging my own foundations with a poor lad who'd had to cut his round the world cycling trip short due to covid barrowing all the waste to the front of the house due to access issues 🤣 a bit of shock after 5 years bumming around on bike but least he was fit 🤣. I've got a spread sheet of every cost by loose task if anyone's interested

 

 

Materials	£65,735.30
Contractors	£4,947.50
Labour	£8,470.00
Tools	£4,888.92
Hire	£1,894.68
Sundries	£8,598.70
Training	£1,200.00
Sales	-£299.52
Total	£95,435.58

 

Interesting comment about groundwork. I planned to do exactly that (hire a digger/dumper and do mine myself). Do you have any calcs you used to decide getting someone in to do it was cheaper?

[Tims]

Foundations will be very site dependant, our issue was time versus cost, we have heavy clay soil mixed in with glacial tilt and no access for a grab waggon. I also had old foundations to remove which in the wet clay had set like granite it took me 2 days to get these out with a hired braker and I think it would have taken my man with a digger 2 hours with his chipper attachment. We had a mix of really warm weather and then heavy rain so no fun and in efficient to barrow the clay to a raised front garden for the grab waggon but that's what we did. What took us 3 weeks would have taken the man with a digger and his lad a week or less and he'd have moved all of the waste with his trailer at the same cost or there abouts. You live and learn, if it had been an easier site I could have had it done in a week and it would have been cheaper for me to do it myself.   Task Material Costs Hire Labour Contractors Tools Training Sundries Task Total Foundations 1895.586 1260.01 714 0 0 0 595.28 4464.88   Mini Digger 1.5t 3.2 weeks 308.688 987.8 Foundations Labourer 3 days 88 264 Foundations labourer  2 days 90 180 Foundations labourer 3 days 90 270 Foundations Concrete Pour and pump 1 12.34m squared   1654.56 Foundations

[Tims]

Foundations will be very site dependant, our issue was time versus cost, we have heavy clay soil mixed in with glacial tilt and no access for a grab waggon. I also had old foundations to remove which in the wet clay had set like granite it took me 2 days to get these out with a hired braker and I think it would have taken my man with a digger 2 hours with his chipper attachment. We had a mix of really warm weather and then heavy rain so no fun and in efficient to barrow the clay to a raised front garden for the grab waggon but that's what we did. What took us 3 weeks would have taken the man with a digger and his lad a week or less and he'd have moved all of the waste with his trailer at the same cost or there abouts. You live and learn, if it had been an easier site I could have had it done in a week and it would have been cheaper for me to do it myself.   Task Material Costs Hire Labour Contractors Tools Training Sundries Task Total Foundations 1895.586 1260.01 714 0 0 0 595.28 4464.88   Mini Digger 1.5t 3.2 weeks 308.688 987.8 Foundations Labourer 3 days 88 264 Foundations labourer  2 days 90 180 Foundations labourer 3 days 90 270 Foundations Concrete Pour and pump 1 12.34m squared   1654.56 Foundations

[Tims]

There's also airsealing, MVHR and shed load of PIR for the existing house hidden away in my costs