renovation - big job!

mert2248

Hi everyone

Thinking of buying a house that needs some (a lot) of work. It’s 200 years old approx. Three storeys, 2100 sq ft in total. We know that we would have to:

· underpin
· fix drains – they are old clay ones in bad state of repair. could be other plumbing issues inside.
· rewire fully
· insulate
· restore (or replace if necessary) sash windows
· sand down and revarnish wood flooring throughout
· demolish a decaying extension at back – single storey, 200 sq ft approx.
· either get central heating up and running or replace with some new form of heating

Obviously we won’t do anything without getting a full structural survey, etc. But at this stage we were just wondering if anybody could suggest even the vaguest ballpark figures for any of the above.

Also really like to hear from anyone who’s undertaken a similar project, and the pitfalls you encountered.

Many thanks – very grateful for all replies.

joeyeire

how many sash windows are there?
do you have any knowledge of era or pictures of the style of windows?

tom thump

i just finished restoring one for clients reciently on south circular road and the cost was 95,000. basic restoration job. new roof, refurnb windows (10,000) new bathroom, heating, rewire, painting etc, turned out well. chimney re lining was priced at 4,000 oh yea front was re pointed and downstairs loo was added. no internal insulation but the roof was done!!

sydthebeat

spec'ed a similar job lately and costs to finish (ready to move in) will be in the region of €150k


the house wouldnt be all of 2100 sq ft either and is in laois.

my guess would be in the €200 - €250K region

underpinning is VERY expensive.. assume 700sq f footprint approx = 70 sq m.. underpinning can cost as much as €2000 per m.... so possibly €70K involved here.

Restoring or replacing sash with similar is also (relatively) very expensive

isaos

mert2248 wrote: »

Hi everyone

Thinking of buying a house that needs some (a lot) of work. It’s 200 years old approx. Three storeys, 2100 sq ft in total. We know that we would have to:

· underpin
· fix drains – they are old clay ones in bad state of repair. could be other plumbing issues inside.
· rewire fully
· insulate
· restore (or replace if necessary) sash windows
· sand down and revarnish wood flooring throughout
· demolish a decaying extension at back – single storey, 200 sq ft approx.
· either get central heating up and running or replace with some new form of heating

Obviously we won’t do anything without getting a full structural survey, etc. But at this stage we were just wondering if anybody could suggest even the vaguest ballpark figures for any of the above.

Also really like to hear from anyone who’s undertaken a similar project, and the pitfalls you encountered.

Many thanks – very grateful for all replies.

You definitely need to have the advices of a structural engineer who knows - and respect! - old houses. Among things that need to be watched:

1/ insulation - stonewalls, if it is the case, will require very different insulation than modern walls, check posts from BryanF, his advices are most helpful and can save you time, money and hassle with your builders

2/ An old extension from before 1964 is precious as it can be extended by a further 40m2 with no planning permission if at the back of the house and complies with general rules: but this only if you apply for a section 5 declaration before you do anything.

Old houses are essentially a labour of love... we are in the process of finishing a similar renovation, and I will put the figures together on Board.ie an the next 3 weeks (hopefully!) meaning that we will have moved in. Good luck!

mert2248

Thanks everyone! Really helpful replies. Joeyeire - not sure, shamefully enough. We're just at a really early stage of considering this. If we decide to go further I'll check. Isaos - really interested to read about how your project goes - look forward to that post. Had a look through BryanF's posts, and they are indeed really helpful. Sydthbeat, tom thump, thank you for the estimates. We probably couldn't afford to put in more than 100000 so we are thinking this one may not be for us.

One last question - I've seen a couple of posters suggest that generally speaking you can budget 100.00 per square foot for this kind of thing. Syd that would fit your estimate, pretty much. Would you all broadly agree with that?

isaos

Thanks Mert2248.
Our renovation is probably far smaller than yours, we should have all finished for around €30.000. Labour is costing around €230 per days (2 full time).

Our job includes the extension of an existing extension (total extension is now roughly 55m2), rewiring of the old house + extension, piping of bathroom + kitchen, changing a few slates, insulation of the attic and a few other things like getting rid of woodworms (€1,000.00).

Main issue was to get rid of the dampness in 2 walls, coming from a total lack of drainage around the house (done for around €2,000.00), from the chimneys and from a leak!

We are not going crazy on insulating the old house, more trying to preserve the natural breathing of the 3ft walls.
We were lucky enough to buy the house with a very good Stanley range / boiler in good state, heating nicely the whole house - which was in a whole not in a bad condition to start with.
More info when all done, hoping that no bad surprise will spoil the dream!