Attic conversion cost

matzen

We're looking to get the attic converted to a habitable space in our 3 bedroom house. We're going for planning permission and had an engineer out to review. He mentioned that it would cost €50K + fees for the planning permission and engineer fees so probably near €57K. That took us by surprise as we expected it to be more around €35K. House is only 114 m² so not a massive attic.

I'm just interested in hearing about others people's experience with attic conversion prices. I've read through many posts here on conversions but none seem to mention a price as high as what we were quoted. Also, can someone recommend a reliable builder?

Gumbo

Sounds high for an attic conversion but it depends on the house configuration and exactly what spec you are going for.

Also to get habitable status then there’s a lot of work both structurally, fire safety and all the other regulations.

Private Joker

Fire safety could be a huge element of that cost. The building regs for a 3 storey dwelling are very onerous. The stairwell to the front door needs to have half hour fire protection , meaning all the doors leading on to it will need to be fire doors with closers and the ceiling on the 1st floor will also need to be half hour rated. The fire detection system will also need to be upgraded. I would extend out the back if you could , keep it under 40m2 and leave 25m2 of free space to the rear and you won't need planning. You should look to get a letter of exemption from the council if you go down that route

matzen

Tks for the replies. Still seems like a very high price and the fire doors aren't included in that price. I think we'll just get the planning permission for now as that lasts 5 yrs. Maybe prices will come down post hard-brexit

BryanF

Is this a bungalow ?

matzen

BryanF wrote: »

Is this a bungalow ?

No, just standard house.

seamus

The size of the house itself doesn't necessarily have any bearing on the cost of an attic conversion. Some houses are basically ready for it; a new stairs, a couple of veluxes and decoration. Other houses need considerable restructuring in order to make it habitable.

If you find anyone offering a conversion for €30k, then steer clear. They're not going to create you a legally habitable space.

BryanF

matzen wrote: »

No, just standard house.

Ok so ‘standard’ semi-d

Probably with prefab trusses, so potentially the majority of timber in the attic needs modification

matzen

BryanF wrote: »

Ok so ‘standard’ semi-d

Probably with prefab trusses, so potentially the majority of timber in the attic needs modification

Yeah, standard semi-detached. And yes, the majority of timer does need modification as they need to be taken out and enforced with larger blocks.

ScallionAyter

seamus wrote: »

If you find anyone offering a conversion for €30k, then steer clear. They're not going to create you a legally habitable space.

There's a crowd in Shankhill, Dublin who say their typical cost to convert an attic is 16k. It's on their webpage.


Should that raise alarm bells?

iamtony

ScallionAyter wrote: »

There's a crowd in Shankhill, Dublin who say their typical cost to convert an attic is 16k. It's on their webpage.


Should that raise alarm bells?

No I paid 14k about 3 years ago for a conversion which was inspected and certified as an extra room in the house. I'd guess the price has gone up a bit since but not by that much!

Gumbo

iamtony wrote: »

No I paid 14k about 3 years ago for a conversion which was inspected and certified as an extra room in the house. I'd guess the price has gone up a bit since but not by that much!

Certified as an extra bedroom?

iamtony

kceire wrote: »

Certified as an extra bedroom?

Well it's certified anyway a guy came out seperarely, paid for by the builder and said now you can list the house as 4 bedroom when selling. So yes I'm guessing he meant extra bedroom.

iamtony

I was asking on here before I got the job done and I got the same reply of €50k or something.

matzen

iamtony wrote: »

I was asking on here before I got the job done and I got the same reply of €50k or something.

Ok, guess that's the going rate these days. I wouldn't trust a job done for 14K or 16K

Villan11

Hi Matzen,
I'm in a similar boat, standard 3 bed semi-d and could do with an extra room, home office with sofa bed type thing.
I had been looking across the internet and was seeing quotes from 12-16k so 50k plus is a bit frightening to say the least.
What was your experience like with the engineer? Did he offer much advice? What was the fee for his inspection and report? I hope to do this as a phased project and do a some of the work myself. Ideally get builders to do the structural work staircase. Then I can do plumbing, electrics, floors, insulation, plastering etc. myself (calling in a lot of favors).

matzen

Villan11 wrote: »

Hi Matzen,
I'm in a similar boat, standard 3 bed semi-d and could do with an extra room, home office with sofa bed type thing.
I had been looking across the internet and was seeing quotes from 12-16k so 50k plus is a bit frightening to say the least.
What was your experience like with the engineer? Did he offer much advice? What was the fee for his inspection and report? I hope to do this as a phased project and do a some of the work myself. Ideally get builders to do the structural work staircase. Then I can do plumbing, electrics, floors, insulation, plastering etc. myself (calling in a lot of favors).

The engineer seems honest enough. He was recommended by neighbours who had their attic converted. Also, his office is right across the road from us so that's a plus. He offered loads of advice and was adamant that anything built for under 35K likely would not meet any future certification. There are people in our estate who got their attics converted without planning permission, and the engineer will not certify them after. From looking around, it can be a real hassle to sell a house with an attic conversion that hasn't been certified. Plus, if it's used as a habitable space and there's an accident, no insurance company would cover any damages - you'd potentially also be facing a civil suit. The engineer fee is abut 2500 euro.

THEFRIDGE

Find this hard to believe. I've a huge attic (28ft long with full standing height) and have got 2 quotes one for 17k and other for 19k excl Vat.
Both coming with certifications.
50k is mental. You'd build a massive extention for that.

matzen

THEFRIDGE wrote: »

Find this hard to believe. I've a huge attic (28ft long with full standing height) and have got 2 quotes one for 17k and other for 19k excl Vat.
Both coming with certifications.
50k is mental. You'd build a massive extention for that.

I think it depends on the work itself - how much they need to work on to convert it. Sounds like good quotes you got, especially if it's certified by an engineer.

thomasjad

How did you get on with this? Looking myself and the first quote I’ve gotten back is 42k...

matzen

thomasjad wrote: »

How did you get on with this? Looking myself and the first quote I’ve gotten back is 42k...

The planning permission application has delayed things so haven't had much time chasing quotes as we only got the final plans a couple of weeks ago. Where did you get a quote for 42k?

Have been speaking with a couple of real estate agents and it's a major plus if the conversion is done with planning as it can be hard to sell a house if the conversion has only been certified. Apparently you can't really use it as habitual space. Well, you can but no insurance company will cover any damage or injury.

Poor_old_gill

Lads some of these quotes seem nuts - I know several people who have had attic extensions put in for €17-22k in the last 2 or so years.

All work carried out and certified, etc so some of the figures being mentioned above are baffling.

I just recently had an extension put on and the quotes varied from 70k to 125k for quotes on the exact same set of drawings - so to anyone telling you that it will cost 40-50k for an attic extension - you need to tell them where to go.