Rough estimate to renovate a 2-bed terrace in Wexford?

C3PO

Looking at purchasing a 70m2 2-bed terraced house in Wexford. Assuming that it is structurally sound (which it appears to be), approximately how much would it cost to rewire, new central heating, windows and doors, decent laminate floors and a complete redecoration. I know that's a "how long is a piece of string" question but just trying to gauge whether there is any sense in buying a house that needs work rather than one with the work done (of which there are very few!)

Carfacemandog

I can't help you on the overall cost (and actually have been checking for pretty much the exact same) but take a look at this: https://www.gov.ie/en/service/f8f1b-vacant-property-refurbishment-grant/

I spoke to the officer in my area and one snag is that nobody can live in the house prior to the works being completed (they pay you back after the fact), and it must be unoccupied for two years or more at the time of your application. We are seriously interest in where one the owner passed away in 10+ years back which hasn't been occupied in 4-5+, but if we get it this will set up back a good while in terms of actually moving in. We're looking at going through all of it on plumbing and wiring if we do - get the most boring, unrewarding one out of the way asap.

There are also SEAI grants that could cover some of your items there, but from what I am seeing you should avoid the 'one stop shop' option like the plague as it can come out more expensive than even without the grants as there are only a handful of companies allowed to do these so they yoink the prices up. A lot of the items (attic insulation, floor insulation, boiler, dryline internal or 'wrap' external insulation) do have grants though: https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/

Guesstimates off what I have been reading or told (keep in mind the one we are looking at is 90sq m in south Dublin):

1. Wiring: €10,000
2. Plumbing: €25,000
3. Additional work related to the above two (floor/wall/etc removal and so on): not a breeze
4. New boiler: €6,500 for gas, €18-24k for air-to-water (though you'd really want the house very airtight for this to be worth it). You can get a €6,500 SEAI grant for the A2W.
5. Windows/doors: €14-17k(ish) for 7 windows and 2 doors.
6. Flooring: your mileage may vary, you can get below €20/sq m but I don't know about labour costs. There are a lot of youtube DIY videos for this, we are toying with the idea of trying a box bedroom if quotes prove expensive, to see how we manage.
7. Wall insulation: very important on these older houses apparently but also costly though at mid terrace you might save a good bit on this. Complete guess at about 10k for interior and 20k for exterior, though there are SEAI grants of €2k and €3.5k respectively for midterrace houses here.
8. Redecoration: completely depends what you want done.
9. Attic insulation is also worth a look, and should only wind up in the €1k region after the SEAI grant back. The mother got it done in hers last year and it's made a huge difference.
10. Keep an eye on the floors, apparently there may be major insulation work involving concrete on some much older houses that would need doing. I don't know too much here though, in honesty.

So wiring/plumbing/windows+doors/gas boiler/interior insulation/attic insulation €70,000k or thereabouts, though you could get around half of that back in grants if you qualify for vacant home.

If you are able to do air to water that would be about €10k more after the SEAI grant but again can turn out poorly without being very well insulated. I have seen it mentioned a few times that pairing this with underfloor heating (which is a good bit less than I thought it would be, apparently €30ish per sq m) is a good idea since it runs on lower temperatures than gas but is more consistent, so covering a wider surface area than with rads seems to make it more effective. Also, in a smaller sized home freeing up the space from having the radiators gone can help a tonne not just with the bit of extra space but also the room's versatility.

Timing is also important to a) get the most out of your grants but also to b) roll jobs into each other (e.g. what order to do windows/wiring/plumbing/wall insulation/etc in). There's no point paying for the walls to be ripped down and put back up on one job only for it to have to be done all over again on another.

Just another disclaimer that I have zero expertise in this whatsoever, I'm just a little further down the same path as you!

manniot2

Could I please ask a follow up question on the vacant property grant? If a property has been vacant for 1 year, I buy it, don’t move in but spend the next year doing it up, would I get the grant as the property is then vacant 2 years? Thanks

southofthelee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120364590#Comment_120364590

Plumbing €25,000 (exclusive of boiler @ €6,500) sounds way over the top...?