Advice on cost to modernise/refurbish 4 bed semi

whatawaster

Hi all,

We are considering making an offer on a house at the moment. It's a 4-bed semi in a really nice estate, but the house is in poor condition in the interior. It's currently at €131K but there are a few bidders so I expect it to go up fast. We want to bid, but we want to know how high we could go, given that we know there will be significant work needed.

The house
105 square meters.
BER - F

Downstairs
1) Entrance Hall - 2.64 X 3.93
2) Living Room - 4.37 X 3.47
3) Dining Room - 3.88 X 3.07
4) Kitchen - 3.88 X 3.04
5) Bathroom - 0.90 X 1.64

Upstairs
1) Bedroom 1 - 3.54 X 3.22
2) En-suite - 0.8 X 2.31
3) Bedroom 2 - 3.81 X 3.22
4) Bedroom 3 - 3.46 X 2.9
5) Bedroom 4 - 2.33 X 2.9
6) Bathroom - 2.30 X 1.88

Garden
1) Garage - 18.5 msq


What we would like to do

Priority 1 - improve the BER rating/make the house more energy efficient. The agent who showed us the house wasn't the guy dealing with it so he didn't have all the answers we need (we will ring and get those on Monday) - but basically, he thinks it's an F rating, he thinks they are cavity walls and he thinks there is no insulation.
I'm thinking if we could get the wall cavities insulated and the attic insulated it should make a big difference?
There are double glazed windows, but we'd like to upgrade these, but maybe not in the short term.

Priority 2 - knock the wall between the kitchen and dining room to make it one room. Agent wasn't sure if it was a load bearing wall or not.

Priority 3 - Flooring. We are thinking of laminate flooring downstairs and carpet upstairs. Tiles for the bathrooms.

Priority 4 - Re-paint the place

Priority 5 - New kitchen. We will probably go with Ikea as these seem to be the cheapest? And then get a 3rd party to assemble and fit?

Priority 6 - Clear out the garden. It is overgrown (front and back) and has a shed we don't want as it would take up valuable space out the back and we have the garage anyway. For now, we just want a lawn front and back that is tidy, and we will do something else with it later.

How much?

Stop me if I'm being completely unrealistic

Insulation - €2,000 (I'm going by some of the quotes on Electric Ireland's website, which are even lower than this, for walls/attic insulation)

Flooring - downstairs laminate - €1000-€1500
Flooring - upstairs carpet - €1000 - €1500

Knocking the wall - ?????

Painting - €2,000-€3,000

Kitchen - €5,000

Garden - €1,000

Windows & Doors - there are 3 large windows at the front, 4 at the back and one small side window. Then a front and back door. €6-7K for these?

What am I forgetting?

I have no idea if the electrical wiring is ok/the plumbing. Obviously we need some sort of survey/report done before we go ahead with this - should we be looking at an engineer/surveyor/architect/builder?

If we are forgetting anything major please let me know.

I know this is really a "how long is a piece of string type question" but any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

scrgirl

Did you ever do this job? What did it cost you in the end? we are looking at a very similar project and haven't a clue about costings.

BryanF

scrgirl wrote: »

Did you ever do this job? What did it cost you in the end? we are looking at a very similar project and haven't a clue about costings.

They were speculating on property and asking what it might cost to do work.

If you are renovating, write out a detailed list of what you need and get it priced by 3 builders.

whatawaster

I posted on the thread titled "updating old house" or something like that (on phone so can't link) about a week or two ago.

Basically we bought the house in question and I've given a lot of the quotes we have received in the other thread

scrgirl

whatawaster wrote: »

I posted on the thread titled "updating old house" or something like that (on phone so can't link) about a week or two ago.

Basically we bought the house in question and I've given a lot of the quotes we have received in the other thread

Congrats on getting the house! SO you are in the middle of the renovation job now? How did you finance it if you dont mind me asking? Are the banks lending for renovations? AS in are they including the cost of works in the mortgage loan? Just found that thread, that sounds like a reasonable price for a big job. Thanks.

whatawaster

scrgirl wrote: »

Congrats on getting the house! SO you are in the middle of the renovation job now? How did you finance it if you dont mind me asking? Are the banks lending for renovations? AS in are they including the cost of works in the mortgage loan? Just found that thread, that sounds like a reasonable price for a big job. Thanks.

We got a mortgage for 90% of the cost of the house only.

We are financing the refurbishment through savings. Not sure if the bank will lend for such things.

BryanF

scrgirl wrote: »

Congrats on getting the house! SO you are in the middle of the renovation job now? How did you finance it if you dont mind me asking? Are the banks lending for renovations? AS in are they including the cost of works in the mortgage loan? Just found that thread, that sounds like a reasonable price for a big job. Thanks.

Aib will lend at 75% the value of the works subject to whether it adds value , and what kind of mood their in (whims & checks/balances etc)