I’ve asked a few architect friends what I should expect to pay to completely do up or extend non-period houses in Dublin (modernisation, new kitchen/bathrooms, floors, doors, windows, insulation - gut the place and go for the whole shooting gallery). I told them to assume I want the kind of quality finishes, floors, kitchens, bathrooms, etc that you would/should expect to get in the best houses and best locations, but without any Celtic Tiger pimping (no ceiling speakers or waterproof TV in the bathrooms, etc). The answer I got back was €90 per square foot for renovation or €140 per square foot for extension.
What do other posters think of these estimates? I don’t want to know what’s the cheapest build cost possible, as I’m not interested in that kind of thing, but if you’ve had recent architect-led quotes for a high-quality renovation/extension in Dublin, I’d like to hear.
(I’m aware of a previous discussion which boiled down to an argument over some pretty outlandish claims about how to cut costs and save money and who could do the cheapest building job (see viewtopic.php?f=10&t=39089) but that’s really not at all helpful to my question.)
at some point but things are changing so quickly right now, its not really feasible to put figures into print. They’d be outdated before the ink was dry!
Despite being 5 years old I suspect they’re not that far off at the moment. maybe 10%. A little higher than what your friends are quoting but my contingency budget is always larger than I expect.
Thanks. Even if building costs have fallen by 50% over the past five years, the guideline of €140 per square foot or €1500 per square metre seems accurate enough.
Interesting, because I’ve often seen posters here talking figures of close to €100 per square foot or even well below that for one-off jobs, whether new build, renovations or extensions. Seems (as one might expect) that some pinsters apply about as much reality testing to this as they do to property valuations!
Was going to keep my mouth shut here, but couldn’t resist…
The short answer is you can expect to pay what you’re willing to spend. The most expensive part of any renovation is the finishes. On the building side, you could beef up the insulation or double slab the stud walls which will add a few extra dollars, but high end makes no financial difference here really. It costs the same to run cables and pipes through a 3 bed semi in Fettercairn as it does in a 3 bed semi in Foxrock. However, it’s all personal taste when it comes to finishes. Some people are over the moon with a five grand Ikea kitchen, whereas others may choose to pay €50k for a bespoke, hand painted job. I worked on a pair of neighbouring houses some years back. One guy spent €18k on his stair handrail, a stainless steel/frosted glass affair. His neighbour spent €450 on timber spindles, which in my opinion better suited the house. They both got you safely up the stairs.
Best thing to do is decide how much you are willing to spend, separate the building costs from the finishes and get your building quotes ex 2nd fix. Then break down your remaining balance as you wish, making a small allowance for a carpenter/plumber/tiler in the finishes budget. A good chippie will hang a €700 door as quick as he will a €40 door. And always shop around when it comes to high end finishes. Hiring a transit and taking the ferry to the UK may not be your ideal weekend break, but it could save you thousands on sanitaryware and the like. Also, I’ve been told it costs less than you might think to get a van load of marble tiles brought over from Italy. And finally, when it comes to high spec, the bigger the showroom, the bigger the mark up.
Thanks. Even if building costs have fallen by 50% over the past five years, the guideline of €140 per square foot or €1500 per square metre seems accurate enough.
Interesting, because I’ve often seen posters here talking figures of close to €100 per square foot or even well below that for one-off jobs, whether new build, renovations or extensions. Seems (as one might expect) that some pinsters apply about as much reality testing to this as they do to property valuations!
People are always comparing quotes, so you can get a good feel for what stuff costs.
Their reference guides thread is completely out of date, but one of the recommendations is the Bruce Shaw handbook, which has rebuild costs and the latest version is 2011. bruceshaw.com/communicraft-c … k-2011.pdf
Good advice here.
What should be remembered also is that while labour costs and locally sourced concrete/stone type material prices are down from recent highs the bulk of domestic work uses a lot of imported materials and fittings - these have actually increased in price.
Thus the common expectation that one can automatically drop 30% from 2005/2008 building rates is not correct.
Anyway - estimating will only get you so far - out to market for bids and tell us all how you get on!
Not sure if i can really give a €/sq ft breakdown because of the way the work broke down, but i’ll give an overview.
We paid €50K recently for a kitchen extension and an attic conversion, plus a complete remodelling of the rest of what was a 900sq ft 3-bed townhouse in Stoneybatter. About 1,050 now.
Kitchen extension added only about 40sq ft (doesn’t sound a lot but it’s made a huge difference!) but we removed the flat false ceilng and installed two velux in the newly vaulted ceiling.
Attic conversion added about 140sq ft. We use it as a guest room - plenty of room for a double bed up there and plenty of storage space. Two velux in there too.
Gutted the rest of the house and re-did floors and walls. Got the place fully painted too, cos I’m too lazy to do it myself.
Some plumbing and rewiring work - moved lots of pipes in the bathroom to create more space and moved the bath. Completely retiled bathroom.
Anyway, it’s finished pretty well, but we didn’t go crazy. got the kitchen from Cash & Carry.
New windows and doors throughout. New alarm. New free-standing stove and granite fireplace.
So we added 180sq ft and spent 50K but those figures sort of oversimplify things, I guess, because like Paddy the Plasterer said, a lot of the spend is on finish.
Figure out the type of finish you want and then go and get a bill of quantities from your architect.
Price per square foot is just a means of getting money off people.
A BOQ will allow you to itemise everything and see exactly where the costs are and where you can save/cut back/push the boat out.
As Paddy the Plasterer said, the standard work will be the same, regardless of finish.
There is a golden rule in the construction industry in Ireland of charging ‘ignorance’ money to clients. If you don’t know what something costs, you are going to get fleeced.
If you go in talking about high quality finishes and not wanting the bargain basement, then you will doubly fleeced.
Know exactly what you want - floors, fittings, doors, etc and exactly what they cost.
Thanks all, especially The Burbs, Landlord, Paddy the Plasterer, jess, Tis Meself, popout_list & pugin (sounds like a surreal Oscars speech) for the high quality tips. Not ready to start work yet - still hovering around a few houses - but will revisit in a few months/years (depending on when I swoop) to let you know how I get on.
