How much to finish off stripped house?

Moyglish

Hi all,

Hope this is the right forum for this query, if not, please feel free to move, mods.

My parents have viewed a house for sale and are very interested in purchasing it.

The house itself was built around 2005/2006, however it has been idle for approx. the past 2 years.

The previous owners have stripped it of pretty much everything, it needs:

New boiler
Stove (oil?)
All new radiators (approx. 10 - 12)
All new sanitary ware - again, all toilets, baths, sinks etc.. have been removed (There are 2 bathrooms, 1 ensuite)
New doors - all doors have been removed along with architrave.
Possibly around 10-12 doors needed.
Stairs - needs new carpet
Upstairs bedrooms need flooring
Fireplace missing mantle and bottom marble piece.
Whole house needs painting - interior and exterior
Curtains and/or blinds for approx. 17 windows and 4 velux
Exterior oil tank
Attic Stira


House size: approx 2,300 sq ft

All flooring downstairs is mainly solid wood, so that would probably be kept.

Kitchen & utility tiled floor would need replacing. The Kitchen is solid wood and miraculously hasn't been removed. The kitchen might be replaced for a newer style - will most definitely need hob, extractor fan, oven and white goods etc..

Bedrooms downstairs again have solid wood flooring and most likely would be kept. Ensuite would need to be re-tiled along with new sink, toilet & shower.

Downstairs bathroom possibly just needs new toilet - sink, shower and jacuzzi bath are installed - not sure if working though - and is nicely tiled.

Upstairs - 2 large bedrooms - nothing has ever been done with these so would need flooring, doors etc..

Upstairs bathroom is nicely tiled, but again, no toilet, bath or sink.

All pipes / plumping and wiring are in place - but all fixtures removed i.e boiler, stove, rads etc..

The electricity has likely been disconnected for the past 2 years or so, so more than likely that will need to be re-connected at a fee of about €1800 or thereabouts.

Other minor things I can think of right now would be that the indoor window sills are currently wooden (white uPVC windows) and look a bit neglected, so they could do with some white uPVC sill covers, also it's likely that all keys for the windows are mislaid and these would need replacing also.

That's all I can think of right now anyhow.

Could anyone who's recently undertaken a job like this or those in the know please help with a breakdown of costs for the above?

Of course, I do understand how long is a piece of string etc..

Would I be right in thinking that €20,000 should go a long way in rectifying all of the above? (Excluding price of new kitchen as while it would be nice to change the one in situ is perfectly fine so not taking that cost into account)

Any feedback would be greatly welcomed,

Thanks all!

Moyglish

Hi again all,

So after a bit of thought and research it would appear that my original ballpark figure of €20,000 is on the low side, and I'm now thinking that around €30,000 would be a more realistic figure for the amount of work that needs to be done.

However, having never had to complete a builders finish property or ever do any major renovations I'm a bit of a greenhorn in all of this and the costs involved.

Here are some prices I've come up with - do these sound about right or way off the mark?

New boiler - around €2500?
Boiler controls - €800?

Stove - €1500?
All new radiators (approx. 12) - €1800?

All new sanitary ware - again, all toilets, baths, sinks etc.. have been removed (There are 2 bathrooms, 1 ensuite) - €3000

New doors - all doors have been removed along with architrave.
around 13 doors needed. - €1000
Architrave and skirting - €800?

Stairs & landing - needs carpet - €500
Upstairs bedrooms need flooring (laminates) - €1200
2 large bedrooms upstairs (17.4 X 17.7 and 19.3 X 20.1)

Fireplace missing mantle and bottom marble piece. - €500

Whole house needs painting - interior and exterior - €1500 - have a friend who can do this

Curtains and/or blinds for approx. 17 windows and 4 velux - €1500

Exterior oil tank - €450

Attic Stira - €500

Tiling - kitchen and one ensuite needs to be re-tiled - €1000?
New kitchen - approx. €5500 (nothing too fancy obviously! Cash & Carry or B&Q job)
White goods - €2000

Furnishings - €3000

Total approx: €29000

I'm not too sure on labour costs involved for the plumbing - fitting of boiler and controls, zoned heating, stove, installation of rads, toilets baths and showers etc.. €3000?? All the pipes etc are already in place, but toilets, rads etc.. have been removed.

Are these figures in around the ballpark or am I way off?

House size: approx 2,500 sq ft

If anyone has recently finished a new build or has undertaken major renovations I'd love to hear from you

Do these figures seem realistic?

We'd be doing things on a budget - think right price tiles & carpet, B&Q, Cash & Carry kitchens etc.. and shopping around for discounts and deals, possibly getting ex-display etc... So not looking for a top of the range luxurious finish, but something pretty standard and comfortable.

We've put a low bid on the house, however in order to seal the deal in all likelihood we'll need to up our offer by another 20k to secure the house. We'd really like to see if we're on the right track regarding the price of finishing off the house to make it habitable again before raising our offer.

Any input or feedback at all would be gratefully appreciated

Thanks!

Calahonda52

Have you had the wiring tested?
I assume it been disconnected, so you will need reconnection fees and this will require certification I think before reconnection?
Is the meter gone too.
What sewage system is supposedly in place?
have you checked the plumbing?
Is the hot water cylinder in hot press gone as well?

You list makes NO mention of any work to make the house airtight and well insulated?
making it "habitable" is not the required standard for your parents

I think its a nightmare

Moyglish

Hi Calahonda52,

Many thanks for replying. Appreciate you weighing in on this, it's great to get an outsiders perspective on things and have them raise potential issues we hadn't already thought of.

I rang the ESB and it seems it will cost €75 to reconnect (or €1800 if it's been off for 2+ years) plus will need a RECI electrician to certify it - thinking that might cost about €250?

As for the meter - not sure if that's still in place - presume it is however.

Sewage system - house has private well and septic tank.
There's no power/water in the house so can't check taps etc..
There may be an issue with water and sewage system, so that's something else that needs to be looked into.

Haven't checked the plumbing - presume all should be OK though as the house is not that old.

Hot water cylinder in hot press - yup, that's gone too. Forgot to list that earlier.

Re: insulation - the house is only 10 years old and in good nick otherwise - no signs of dampness or mould anywhere. We would be planning on getting extra insulation in the attic and the walls pumped - however I think that the SEAI grants available may cover the cost of that work, so that's why I haven't made any mention of insulation costs.

Hopefully would also be able to make use of the SEAI grants towards the costs of the new boiler, controls and stove.

Perhaps "habitable" wasn't the right word to use in the context
We definitely want to make this a cosy and comfortable, warm home.

We would be looking to get energy efficient boiler, zoned heating, good level of insulation etc...

The house was lived in since it was built around 2006 until about 18 months ago, so it's not a very old house by any means. It's mainly just replacing of fixtures and fittings that need doing along with some redecoration. House is otherwise good condition.

It currently has a D1 BER rating (which I gather is about the average rating for a detached house of about 2,500sq ft and of that age) - would be hoping to get this up to a C1 or C1 possibly.

redbel05

I am in the process of doing up an old house myself and got some really nice stuff off adverts, a local auction house and a few other places. It really depends on what area you are in and how much time you can put into looking for things. Things like the boiler stove, and electrical goods I would probably buy new though, as I have heard of people having problems with these bought secondhand. Items like doors, sanitary ware, the fireplace mantle/hearth, stira, and many of the furnishings can be got nearly new at a fraction of the prices you have listed. If you look on adverts you can see things like 2x toilets and 2x sinks for €120 and stira for between €80 and €200.

I've been pricing things like laminate flooring myself and as far as I can see the ones in my budget are between €7.99 per square yard and €18 per square yard. I put the cheaper of the ones I bought in the bedrooms as there'll be less traffic there. I got a tradesman to lay the sitting room floor for me, but seeing how easy it was to do I did the bedrooms myself to quite a nice finish and saved a few bob there. I did all the indoors and ground level outside painting myself too, but you've already said you are getting your friend Its the labour costs that really eat up the budget I have found.

As for the carpeting of the stairs, I was able to get a very high quality carpet very cheaply. Carpet shops can be left with rolls of long narrow off-cuts which they will sell for a very small amount (we were able to get a really nice wool carpet for our quite large stairs and landing for €170, fitted ourselves).

Hope this has been of some help!

Miname

I'd say your about 15-20k out but then again that's only a guess without seeing the house. A normal door, frame, arc , locks and handles all fitted for example will be about the 400 mark. The obvious things in a house are easy project it's the couple of hundreds here and there on everything from extra trims and adhesives with tiling, to new fuse boards or new pipes for rads and things that will eat you up. If you think it needs thirty and I'd say it does by your list then I'm only going to highlight that it'll probably take fifty. Too many people go out and get quotes for jobs and leave no itinerary for the unforeseen. New builds without client changes can be estimated fairly accurately but renovation works always throw up problems.