What Does Renovation Cost Depend On?

Why do quotations for the same job differ?

The most common reason is that the quotations do not cover the same scope. One may include debris removal, carrying materials and the final clean, while another covers labour only. Before comparing figures, compare what is inside them.

The second reason is the class of material. "Tile" is not one thing, thickness, grade and brand move the price noticeably. If a quotation does not state the quality of the material, there is nothing to compare.

The third is how carefully the existing condition was examined. A price given without opening a wall tends to be optimistic, and the old pipework found on day one comes back as an extra item.

What should a quotation spell out?

A good quotation states the list of works, the quality of materials, whether debris removal is included, the estimated duration, the payment schedule and the condition in which the job will be handed over.

It should also state what is outside the scope. A line reading "electrical work is not included" prevents an argument in the middle of the job.

A verbal agreement produces different memories even between two people acting in good faith. A written, itemised quotation protects the client and the contractor alike.

Where do surprise costs come from?

Most surprise costs come from what appears once walls and floors are opened, aged pipework, corroded water pipes, a floor in worse shape than expected, or bad workmanship left by an earlier renovation.

None of this is entirely unforeseeable. An experienced contractor can look at the age of the building and the visible signs and say "this may turn up here", and will say so at the survey. Extra work whose likelihood was discussed up front is not a surprise. Extra work nobody mentioned is.

A useful question when taking quotations is: "What do you think might turn up unexpectedly here?" An answer that offers an honest list of possibilities is more trustworthy than one that says "nothing".

Why can a cheap quotation turn out expensive?

A markedly low price usually hides one of three things, the scope has been kept narrow, the materials are of a lower class, or the hidden work such as waterproofing and groundwork has been skipped.

The third is the riskiest, because the result is invisible at first. A bathroom with skipped waterproofing looks perfect on handover day. The difference appears in the second year, on the ceiling of the flat below. The repair at that point costs far more than doing the job properly would have.

How long does a renovation take?

Duration follows scope, but the ranges we see most often are these, a bathroom 7 to 10 days, a kitchen 10 to 15 days, a full flat renovation 40 to 60 days, and a 60-80 sqm office or shop conversion 20 to 30 days. These figures describe total calendar time once work starts, not working days.

Single-item jobs are far shorter, painting a one-bedroom flat 1 to 2 days and a three-bedroom 3 to 5 days. Laminate flooring across roughly 100 sqm 1 to 2 days. Tiling a standard bathroom 3 to 5 days. A drywall partition or suspended ceiling in one room 1 to 2 days. A glass balcony 3 to 5 days from measuring to handover. Decking and pergolas 2 to 5 days. External wall insulation on two elevations of a five-storey building 15 to 25 days.

For made-to-measure products the timeline splits in two, production and installation. Production runs 7 to 10 days for uPVC windows, 10 to 15 for aluminium and 7 to 15 for a steel door, while installation is usually 1 to 2 days. Most of the calendar sits in the workshop rather than on site, and that part starts the day measurements are taken.

What decides the lower or upper end of a range is the current state of the space. Of two bathrooms the same size, one finishes in 7 days and the other takes 10. The difference is whether the pipework is being renewed and whether floor levels change.

How is the budget for a bathroom distributed?

In a bathroom renovation the largest share goes to the tiling. The material itself and the labour to lay it sit together in that item. Plaster and wall preparation follow, and then the water and electrical services.

Sanitaryware and brassware look crowded because there are many separate items, yet they take a smaller share of the total. Taps, basin and shower enclosure come in that order. Brand and model choices can widen the gap in those items, though not as decisively as tiling and services.

This order changes from job to job. Where the pipework turns out to be sound the services item shrinks. Where floor levels are changing, plaster and screed move up the list. What the survey does is rebuild that order against your particular bathroom.

Which choices push the budget up?

The decision that raises cost most is renewing the plumbing completely rather than repairing part of it. Running new supply and waste lines from scratch makes a clear difference in both labour and materials. Against that, leaving a twenty year old installation in place can mean opening a newly finished bathroom again a few years later.

On materials, large format tiles are a heading of their own. They are chosen because they leave fewer joints, but moving them, cutting them and bedding them flat is harder than standard sizes and that shows in the labour. A made to measure shower enclosure works the same way against a standard unit.

Work that changes the layout of the space moves the cost up a level. Removing a wall, moving a door or changing the floor level brings with it not just the cost of that item but the plumbing, wiring and finishing work attached to it.

Which choices bring it down?

Finding the existing plumbing sound is the largest single saving. That becomes clear at the survey, where the age of the line, the type of pipe and the visible symptoms are assessed together. If the condition is good, partial work is enough and the full renewal item disappears.

Choosing standard sizes saves time on site without compromising the product. Models that are easy to find in stock also avoid waiting during the job, and a site waiting on materials grows its own cost as the schedule stretches.

Grouping more than one room into the same period lowers the total. Waste removal, scheduling the team and moving materials happen once. Having the bathroom and the kitchen done at separate times means paying those shared items twice.

What is looked at during the survey?

A survey is more than taking measurements. The first thing looked at on site is damp and staining, since a mark on a wall or ceiling points to another problem underneath it and widens the scope directly.

Then the scope is drawn out. How many items are changing, how old the space is, and what condition the water and electrical services are in. Whether there is a gas installation is also asked at this point, because boiler and pipe positions are planned around it.

Finally the joinery is checked. The condition of windows and doors affects the insulation and the scope alike. Joinery replaced after the renovation damages walls and finishes that have just been completed, so the decision is made at the start.

Why is a price not given over the phone?

Because it will not fit into a single number. What determines the cost of a kitchen is the run of the units, the worktop material, whether the appliance layout is changing and whether the plumbing stays where it is. Of two kitchens the same size, one is finished with new doors and the other is rebuilt including services and flooring.

The same applies to a glass balcony. A price per square metre is misleading on its own, because two balconies covering the same area can be one single opening or a corner enclosed on three sides. Whether the system folds or slides, the glass thickness and the state of the railing all feed directly into the figure.

Giving a number on the phone would be easy, and that number would change after the survey. Rather than starting low and raising it later, we prefer to measure and give one firm figure. The survey and the quotation are free and put you under no obligation.

What should a renovation contract contain?

The most important part of a renovation contract is not the price but the scope. It should state clearly which works will be carried out item by item, who buys which materials, the start and expected finish dates, the payment schedule, how the price is updated if the scope changes and what condition the property will be handed over in.

Who buys the materials is the clause left out most often. If they are yours, a list of makes and models should be attached. If they are the contractor's, the specification should be written down. Expressions such as quality tiles produce disagreement later.

On smaller works a notarised document is not required, and a written scope signed by both sides is usually enough. What matters is not the form of the document but how clear the items inside it are. Because contracts have legal consequences, we would suggest consulting a lawyer on larger projects.