Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 31, 2011 8:45 am Hi All, Need a little guidance over the quotes we're getting for an extension. I've attached an image showing the before and after floorplans. Basically, we're just pushing out the back of the house by a couple of meters. The house is double brick with a half meter cavity under. We need to keep the cost down - we're happy to go timber frame, flat roof etc. Now here comes the rub. We're being quoted 150k-200k !!! That seems very expensive. Getting this job done back home would cost about 50k I'm sure. Are we getting fleeced because we're in Sydney or is the cost really that high? I'd really appreciate some guidance on this. http://imgur.com/FALGA FeeFiFoFum Re: Cost of a simple extension 2Jan 31, 2011 2:41 pm A couple of points before I get started. Your new plan has no Laundry. Also Where is "Back Home"? Now the really bad news The costs of building/extending have increased dramatically Moving a kitchen or bathroom will be one of the most expensive things you look at doing. Laundry is up there but not as bad From experience the quotes we got we Extend = $2500-2800m2 or $23-26k per square. This did not include a garage, new appliances(kitchen), fitting to match new ones they would match existing when quoted(kitchen, bathroom, laundry)excavation that was required, relocation of heating, rent or floor coverings not in wet areas (we get tiles in Bathroom and Laundry, not kitchen as they said we may choose timber) Knock down re build = $1076m2 or $10k per square. How much room are you looking at adding and what have they included in the quote? Like I said, our extension quote did not come with much. we were going to re locate a laundry and completely re design the kitchen layout, but the rebuild is much better value IMO. A couple of reasons are building materials cost a lot more than 20yr ago, OH&S regulations drive up the cost of permits and site requirements and unions drive up the cost of labor. Fire ratings, building regs, council laws all play a part. The cost of living doesn't hep either. Re: Cost of a simple extension 3Jan 31, 2011 3:16 pm Although I am also in Melbourne, the costs do not seem unreasonable to me either, particularly if at the lower end of the quoted scale. Chrisandkates rates are similar to what we have just paid for our builder and items like the kitchen, tiles, paving, light fittings, etc etc etc that we have paid for ourselves. Re: Cost of a simple extension 4Jan 31, 2011 5:24 pm Hi all, Damn I replied but my post got lost. Do my best to retype. Laundry will be in the kitchen. Not sure why moving the bathroom into the laundry would be particularly expensive - there is ample space under the floors to get in and do pipework. We're looking at adding about 16m2 to the house. There will be no excavation as the floor will still be a meter off the floor. Basically just enclosing half the deck into the house. The quote only includes the building work. No wiring or internal finishes. Basically just knocking down a few meters of walls and extending the roof out. Even the floor is simple - we've just got cypress pine down on the timber. Nothing between the boards and the ground - apart from the crawl space. Re: Cost of a simple extension 5Feb 01, 2011 7:44 am 16m2? That is nearly $10k per m2 @$150k total!!!!!!!!!! And its not fitted out fully? Something is not right here. Either you have lots of asbestos that needs removing or you are just being taken for a ride. As for moving a kitchen or bathroom(sometimes laundry too) its the cost of all of the fittings, waterproofing, tiling that makes it expensive, a new set of cabinets in a kitchen could run you up as much as 3k depending on how many you want. more if you choose soft close draws or other high end fittings. There was another post on here about paying $6.5k for a "basic kitchen" I thought $6.5K was cheap but what it appeared they got was not great quality. I would think that you'd pay a little more per m2 for a small extension. Probably somewhere between $50-70k should be the MAX for this size if you reuse most of the fittings you have. $100k if you get new appliances. Both of those should be fully fitted out (electrical, plumbing, gas) but not include floor coverings or polishing. Is it a small builder or a volume extension company? Re: Cost of a simple extension 6Feb 01, 2011 7:55 am Music to my ears. The two quotes have been from 'complete solution' companies. The type where you just give them the keys and come back in a few months job done. My feeling is that the cost may drop significantly if we find a smaller outfit. We don't have the experience/know-how to do owner builder though. We'd need somebody to oversee the work. There must be something between these big companies and the tradies themselves. Re: Cost of a simple extension 7Feb 01, 2011 11:04 pm I can't reconcile how it is only 16m2 - the plan suggests more because I suspect the bedroom, bath and toilet would be demolished and replaced, and highly likely, the roof replaced too? Although not in the trades, where walls and the toilet are removed, new flooring will be needed. Structural walls will be removed, requiring the roof to be modified (beams installed) for larger spans, and therefore the ceiling replaced. Replacement windows will be needed and I gather they aren't cheap.
We also found that a condition of our building approval (in Melbourne) was that we insulate the roof of the whole house, not just the extension. We also needed our switchboard upgraded because of changed rules and increased load. Be careful that you don't get caught out with hidden costs. By the way, one kitchen company we spoke to suggested that for a kitchen, laundry and walk-in robe, a $35,000 budget was a good starting point for the cabinetry, fittings and appliances.... That did include his $60-$70 soft closure drawer mechanisms on every drawer. We didn't go with him. Re: Cost of a simple extension 8Feb 02, 2011 7:17 am By looking at that plan I think adding 10m2 to the Living/Dining and 6m2 to the Kitchen could be conceivable. but I had the same problem with the dimensions too. Re: Cost of a simple extension 9Feb 04, 2011 9:37 am You are not adding 16m2 to your house, you are: demolishing a bedroom, bath and toilet that looks to be a total area of 3.5 x 5.3 = 18.55sqm You are adding kitchen and dining that looks to be a total area of 3.5 x 9 = 35.5 sqm You are adding a living room that looks like a total are of 4.3 x 2.7 = 11.61sqm You are removing the kitchen and making that a bedroom You are removing the laundry and making that a bathroom You are removing the linen cupboard and adding that to the bathroom So in simple terms, you are demolishing part of the house and extending about 50sqm This will require a new roof, unless there is someway you can get a flat roof whilst maintain legal habitable height internally The issue is that your addition and changes include the most expensive areas in any house....kitchen and bathroom. Re: Cost of a simple extension 10Feb 04, 2011 6:28 pm My mum had a double brick extension with 12ft ceilings and raised of the ground around 500mm done about two years ago. This is Semaphore, South Australia. We did all the demo work to get it ready and the builder done up till second fix, cornices, 150mm baltic pine floorboards,electrical and gas runs. It was a tricky demo and rebuild as it was a maisonette. The build worked at around $1800sqm. I did the same sort of thing with another builder on a sloping site using lightweight materials that worked out around $1000sqm. Hi Has anyone recently completed an extension in Melbourne. Any idea at what I'd be looking at for an extension of our living room (adding 4mx5m). 0 7784 Seems good to me. I've been told $4-5k/sqm is reasonable in Perth. 2 11171 Hi, We have a single story MacDonald Jones house, on a waffle pod slab with steel frame. Are we able to build a second story extension? Other info is we are 900mm from… 0 8471 |