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Converting Bungalow to 1.5 Storey House

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  • 29-12-2017 4:22pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 10


    Hi.

    We are currently looking to renovate and extend our rural bungalow. It needs to be re-wired and re-plumbed and we would likely look to wrap it with external insulation.

    We had thought that the best option would be removing the current low-pitch roof and raising up the walls by a few rounds of bricks before putting a new roof on (possibly a pre-fab if they can be engineered to be lighter). We went to lots of architects and they all seemed to think this was possible with our budget (circa 250k to include windows doors and some landscaping). We selected an architect, went through the initial design phase and hired a QS to cost it up before submitting to planning. The cost came back at nearly 500k. We may not be keeping the architect as it has veered so far off the initial spec we are fairly disappointed/angry, but that is not the point of this post.

    We have thought of a simplified design and I'd appreciate any of the knowledge/inputs that exist on this board to estimate a cost. There have been similar threads previously but they are from a good few years back so maybe things have changed.

    Given a footprint of roughly 15m x 8m, what kind of ballpark estimate could be put on raising the wall height by 1m and putting a new roof on (which is to allow bedrooms/bathroom to exist upstairs)?

    Thanks in advance.


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 33,990 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    They price seems absolutely mad what's included, what sort of design? Internal spec? Seems a bit Dermot tbh. Have you thought about going direct to builder renovators most have there own qs.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10 onetimeonly


    The bungalow has a 40sqm extension to the side which built in the 90s (original was from early 70s), so the house including the new upstairs was quite large. There was a balcony included but it seemed simple enough. No particularly high-end finishes (kitchen would be at the CashAndCarry or Woodies end of the market).

    The new plan would look to just go upstairs on the original 120sqm with a simpler roof on a raised layer of blocks on that section.

    Yeah, we are thinking of going direct to builder-renovators but I was just checking in here to see if we were crazy to expect that from our budget even by that route.


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,990 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    Tbh it's hard to give any specific answers without seeing it. It seems very excessive I would put that down to design and finish usually


    But could be groundwork for additional functional story sewage works etc.

    I would go direct to builder quotes personally


  • Registered Users Posts: 10 onetimeonly


    listermint wrote: »
    Tbh it's hard to give any specific answers without seeing it. It seems very excessive I would put that down to design and finish usually


    But could be groundwork for additional functional story sewage works etc.

    I would go direct to builder quotes personally

    Ah yeah, that design is dead. You don't pare that back very easily.

    I was more looking to get an estimate on the simplified design idea. For example, in 2008 on this thread:
    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055262517
    muffler managed to do something similar (new roof for 18m x 9m bungalow) in Donegal for 75k (post #5).

    It seems to me that it shouldn't take much more than twice that to do the same thing 9 years later. I'll be talking to builders later this week about it but if anyone has experience or instinct on that kind of project, that'd be great for some initial guidance.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,516 ✭✭✭the_pen_turner


    personally I would sell and build from scratch.

    at 250k you could just build .
    you would end up with a better house .

    the blocks are a fairly cheap part of a build , you are basically changing everything else


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  • Registered Users Posts: 10 onetimeonly


    personally I would sell and build from scratch.

    at 250k you could just build .
    you would end up with a better house .

    the blocks are a fairly cheap part of a build , you are basically changing everything else

    Well, the site is great. We aren't likely to match it this close to the city. But yeah, complete demolish and re-build is certainly an option.

    There's also plenty of space for single-storey extensions but behind the house (which catches all the sunlight during the day) is the narrowest aspect of the property so eating into that seems like the last resort. Which may well be the only sensible resort soon enough.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,516 ✭✭✭the_pen_turner


    personally I would really look into building from scratch . knock if needed.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10 onetimeonly


    Maybe that's the best idea. What sort of cost would you estimate on going up, that knocking/rebuilding becomes the best option?


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