Renovation costs

[roxy]

I hope that this question does not make me seem too foolish, but is there a standard system for working out the renovation cost of a property? I am thinking in terms of a barn or property with a lot to do, but short of doubling the cost of the property or going off to B & Q to cost up all the items  how do I work out the cost of renovation? I know that you can spend any any amout on fittings etc. but is there a basic rule of thumb per sq meter? Thanks  

[Cassis]

There was a very full and comprehensive thread on this subject last year - I remember it well!

It depends on the state of the property to begin with - roof, floors, walls, windows, electrics, etc.  Read this thread and tell me if the huge range of estimates doesn't blow your head off!

Pricing renovations

[Jacqui Too]

Hi Roxy

Its not foolish to want to know how much things will cost, I never buy anything without asking ‘c’est combien’ and renovation is no different, but the answer is another thing! We (me and OH well more OH) run a small successful building contractors in the UK and price up renovations, extensions and new builds all the time, extensions and new builds can be roughly guesstimated on a square ft/metre basis but renovation is totally different as it depend on what needs doing and what you want to do. My advise would be either get an architect to draw up some plans, he will also help you to decide what you want, or if the job is to small to warrant employing an architect then find yourself a reliable/trustworthy builder to go through your ideas and give you a written quote bearing in mind that you should have a good contingency sum for unforeseen items included in your calcs

Hope this helps Good luck finding a builder!

Chipie

 

[Val_2]

This is only a rough idea and probably not typical as we are professionals and have to do the whole works correctly but last year we completely turned an old carriage house into a two bed,two bathroom holiday gîte for a customer. This was literally starting out with just four typical solid Breton stone walls and two door openings but no windows, no upstairs and no proper roof. Without digging out the old invoices and adding it up the client spent well over 70,000€ just on our works which included the electricity and plumbing and tiling,sanitary wear and electrical fittings, a third door opening,two new window openings and two roof veluxes. A complete new roof with work to the stone to heighten the walls, installing a chimney flue,a ready made staircase and various other items such as joinery. They then had to decorate,install a kitchen and make good to the outside grounds and pay for a septic tank installation. So as you can see, its not cheap these days although you can benefit by SOME of the works at the lower rate of 5,5% TVA but not all of it. There were many hidden problems too especially to do with the damp which we cured but were unforseen and naturally we invoiced them because it involved more work and materials. Taking this as a rough guide on top of the purchase price and it might be better to buy ready to live in or build from new.

[Monika]

We paid 90'000 Euros for very similar work Val 2 has mentioned, we needed to rebuild one side of the house and have a small extension added and have a completely new roof with 3 Apexes.

[sheldonrobbo]

hi roxy

 

with french properties there are too many variables....so i'm afraid to say there is no general rule of thumb.....only other word of advice is , always have a contingency budget available for those nasty little surprises.

 

good luck