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Chancers

derek kelly

The Deli lama
Club Sponsor
Just had a quote for the extension, the builder has only seen the plans in an email & he’s not viewed the property, the architect who drew the plans told us we are looking around £25,000, this guy has quoted £36,000 + vat, wasn’t going to give him the job anyway as he keeps spelling my name wrong.
 

johnboy

rather fond of a cream bun
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A former neighbour was a builder, he openly admitted if he didn't want the job he priced it ridiculously high that way he wouldn't get it but if the customer accepted the quote he would be quids in.
 

slim63

Never surrender
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A former neighbour was a builder, he openly admitted if he didn't want the job he priced it ridiculously high that way he wouldn't get it but if the customer accepted the quote he would be quids in.
Always been the way, if you have loads of work and all you lads are busy you quote high as it covers the cost of subbies, if don't have much work you quote lower as you want the job and need to keep the lads in employment, Its a constant balancing act

The other thing worth noting is that you never know what you will find once you break into the structure of a house, even breaking ground for new footings can be fraught with problems, a good builder uses his experience to judge what problems there may be (and there are ALWAYS some) His price has to cover a proportion of any costs that may be incurred by problems, if there are very few on one particular build you can bet there will be a load on the next one

As for architect's I have had more intelligent shits when it comes to how buildings are actually put together derek kelly in 30 odd years of building work I have never seen a set of plans that are right or workable without major input from the builder eg roof angles that wont work as they ridge would cover a window, stairs that wont meet building regs due to angle or available head height, the list goes on ........... and on ............. and on
 

andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
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Just had a quote for the extension, the builder has only seen the plans in an email & he’s not viewed the property, the architect who drew the plans told us we are looking around £25,000, this guy has quoted £36,000 + vat, wasn’t going to give him the job anyway as he keeps spelling my name wrong.
Based on my experience Personally I wouldn’t take too much notice of how much the architect thinks it will cost.

As mentioned above, costs for anything above ground level are pretty easy to calculate, below ground level is generally where the surprises that translate into pound notes occur.

Hope that helps Diruck Keelaye.
 

derek kelly

The Deli lama
Club Sponsor
One advantage is we can get a large digger on site & keep it secure, disadvantage is the extension will be going over the top of drains so new access will be required.
 

Pow-Lo

Make civil the mind, make savage the body.
Club Sponsor
One advantage is we can get a large digger on site & keep it secure, disadvantage is the extension will be going over the top of drains so new access will be required.
Why didn't you just buy a bigger house in the first place? :thinking:
 

Pow-Lo

Make civil the mind, make savage the body.
Club Sponsor
Because the price we paid allows us to do this as we want it
Prolly would have worked out cheaper to buy a bigger house. If extending or improving, you don't always get back what you paid.
 

derek kelly

The Deli lama
Club Sponsor
Prolly would have worked out cheaper to buy a bigger house. If extending or improving, you don't always get back what you paid.
There was nothing that fitted what we want, with this house we can extend & still have a bog garden
 

JayTee

Si vis pacem para bellum
Club Sponsor
Ee, outside bog, there’s an idea
Funny story. Back in the late 50s our house was compulsory purchased due to town redevelopment, the bog was outside across the yard complete with newspaper cut into sheets with string through it. A mate and his family had just moved to a brand new council estate the other side of town. On visiting said oppo I was so impressed with the house that when I got home I enthused to my Dad about the fact it had an indoor bathroom and toilet, his face wrinkled with disgust and with a voice heavy with disdain said “But boy, just think of the smell in the house, I don’t think yer mum would like that one bit”.
How times have changed heh? Guess an outside cludger could be classed as retro chic now ;).
 

derek kelly

The Deli lama
Club Sponsor
Similar to when prisons got in cell sanitation, bearing in mind some prisoners shared a cell & used the same pot to piss & shit in, then cells were fitted with toilets & sinks, prisoners complained about having to eat their meals next to a toilet
 
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