- Skip turned up (provided by Ace Bates Skip Hire)
- Met with my new solicitor - Joseph Greyston of McCann & Greyston
- Architect turned up - Alan Bennett
The Skip
The skip was filled within an hour meaning that the quantity of stuff that needs to be removed may make it an economic challenge to continue to use skips. The flip side, of course, is that it is an economic challenge to remove the stuff using trailers as the cost of petrol/diesel is so high these days. The clearance will be more expensive than original estimated.
In a way, this is a good thing. It's best to see how costs can escalate so easily at this stage of the project!
The Solicitor
The solicitor was great - what a gentleman. My one hour chat covering conveyancing, second mortgages, stamp duty and wills was relatively painless compared to my expectations!
The Architect
Having informed discussions with professionals is always a bit of an eye-opener I reckon. For example, I have in my mind and budget of 'X' and the architect reckons 'X + X/2' is more realistic. I have in my mind a moving in date of June 2010 and the architect reckons September 2010.
I'm in no position to say that he is wrong or even to believe that I can prove him wrong. After all, he is the professional who does this kind of thing day-in/day-out and, as with the cost of skip hire, it is better to have an understanding of these issues now rather than be surprised further down the line.
However, the budget I have in mind was based on a couple of factors:
- Costings I had pulled together for each detailed alteration plus buffer
- A budget which would allow us to remain mortgage free after the sale of our current home
My thinking went along these lines:
£45K - Extension work (basic build)
£15K - New Kitchen
£10K - Roof works
£10K - Sliding doors in extension
£10K - Flooring
£10K - Driveway
£10K - Bathrooms (x3)
£10K - Windows
£7.5K - Re-wiring
£6K - Minor Works (blocking up walls, lengthening windows, CAT6 cabling, etc)
£5K - Underfloor heating
£5K - High Pressure Water System
£5K - Replumb
£5K - Solar Panels
£4K - Stairs
£3K - Doors (Internal & Skirting)
£1.5K - Doors (External)
That all comes in at about £160K! I'm sure there are savings that can be made in there but I'm also sure that I've probably under-budgeted in some places. I'm not a quantity-surveyor after all and some of the above can be classified as "nice-to-have" rather than absolute necessities.
The long and short of it is that, in a very short space of time, I should have a realistic idea of how much all of this is going to cost. It would seem that I won't be in any position to retire in the foreseeable future!
No comments:
Post a Comment