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Kitchen/Dining Renovation

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  • 06-05-2015 4:22pm
    #1
    onetimeonly
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭


    Hi all.

    We've just bought a bungalow with a few interesting features that we'd like to remedy. The previous owners built an extension (around 40m^2) and split it into three rooms. We'd like to knock these partitions and create a nice big kitchen/dining area.

    The partitions are wood stud and may be load-bearing, we will get an engineer to advise us on the matter. One has a radiator and power sockets, the other does not.

    The other issue is that there is a tiny bathroom inside the kitchen which I am not a fan of. There are a number of ideas/plans we are trying to develop (including converting it to a utility room, we may get an Arch Technician to help us with these plans), but if we were to keep it as a bathroom, one of the possibilities would require blocking up an existing doorway and creating a new one elsewhere with a small partition wall creating a utility hallway. This new doorway would have to be cut through the original external wall (pre-extension) which may be an issue.

    So, finally, to the questions:

    1. I presume a Structural Engineer is the person we are looking for to decide on the load-bearing (or otherwise). Are there other people (engineer/technician) that can also perform this function well?

    2. How much would this cost (roughly speaking)?

    3. How much would an Architect Technician cost for some fairly basic plans/drawings?

    4. How much to knock walls (assuming load-bearing stud walls)?

    5. How much to block up old doorway?

    6. How much to cut new doorway (presumably concrete/steel lintel is required, hopefully the unknown engineer from question 1 can sign off on this too)?

    More questions there than I intended asking but any help on any of them would be useful. Rough guideline prices are fine, it is just to help us filter out the quotes that we will request.
    There will be other jobs done too (wiring, some plumbing, tiling) but these can, hopefully, be costed out separately even though there may be some overlap in work.

    Oh, and with that in mind...
    7. Would it be worth getting a Project Manager and or QS involved?

    Thanks!


Comments

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    #2
    BryanF
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 10,140 Mod ✭✭✭✭BryanF


    You haven't given a m2 area for demolition or alteration or new flooring etc

    Get an arch to do a layout and offer a rough opinion on cost, s/he can advise on engineer for load bearing wall removal. Only once all the facts are known and specified in detail will you get an acturate price for the works


  • Options
    #3
    onetimeonly
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭onetimeonly


    Thanks for the response BryanF. I can't believe I forgot the wall lengths.

    The wall with power and a rad is around 5.5m long with a standard door positioned about one third of its length. It is almost certainly load-bearing (TBC).

    The other wall is around 4m long with a door at one end. There is a good chance that it is not load-bearing (again TBC).

    There is no requirement for any RSJ to be hidden in a recess. There is currently only lino on all three floors so nothing has to be worried about on that front.


  • Options
    #4
    onetimeonly
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭onetimeonly


    onetimeonly wrote: »
    Hi all.

    We've just bought a bungalow with a few interesting features that we'd like to remedy. The previous owners built an extension (around 40m^2) and split it into three rooms. We'd like to knock these partitions and create a nice big kitchen/dining area.

    The partitions are wood stud and may be load-bearing, we will get an engineer to advise us on the matter. One has a radiator and power sockets, the other does not.

    The other issue is that there is a tiny bathroom inside the kitchen which I am not a fan of. There are a number of ideas/plans we are trying to develop (including converting it to a utility room, we may get an Arch Technician to help us with these plans), but if we were to keep it as a bathroom, one of the possibilities would require blocking up an existing doorway and creating a new one elsewhere with a small partition wall creating a utility hallway. This new doorway would have to be cut through the original external wall (pre-extension) which may be an issue.

    So, finally, to the questions:

    1. I presume a Structural Engineer is the person we are looking for to decide on the load-bearing (or otherwise). Are there other people (engineer/technician) that can also perform this function well?

    2. How much would this cost (roughly speaking)?

    3. How much would an Architect Technician cost for some fairly basic plans/drawings?

    4. How much to knock walls (assuming load-bearing stud walls)?

    5. How much to block up old doorway?

    6. How much to cut new doorway (presumably concrete/steel lintel is required, hopefully the unknown engineer from question 1 can sign off on this too)?

    More questions there than I intended asking but any help on any of them would be useful. Rough guideline prices are fine, it is just to help us filter out the quotes that we will request.
    There will be other jobs done too (wiring, some plumbing, tiling) but these can, hopefully, be costed out separately even though there may be some overlap in work.

    Oh, and with that in mind...
    7. Would it be worth getting a Project Manager and or QS involved?

    Thanks!

    Well, we've had a consulting engineer do the RSJ calcs and drawings and we are happy with them.

    We have been a bit surprised with the level of variation in the quotes for labour for some of the works (there have been a few jobs added to the OP since), the most expensive is more than 3x the cheapest. Anyway, we have to refine our spec a bit to make the quotes more comparable (each builder made suggestions about what they would prefer to do and quoted for that too) which is only fair to the builders.

    The aforementioned extension is built with 215mm cavity blocks and some 65mm dry-lining with a small gap in between and no apparent extra insulation. We would like to rectify this. We have someone coming out with a view to getting external insulation done but currently we are thinking that we would like to do as much re-wiring and re-plumbing as we can afford so that the basics will be sorted for the medium- to long-term. This would likely push out the external insulation for a couple of years.

    Any suggestions on internal insulation for this particular set-up?
    Any things to avoid at all costs?


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