Builder quotes.... all made up

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Just had a room skimmed and thought I'd ask him how much to 're-render the bungalow, 13k ?.

Think we might be going down the cladding route ?

Higher, higher...it's quite a long job if they do it properly - especially if they have to hack off existing pebble roughcast and replace whole areas of that. Or as was the case with us - just hack the lot off...though fortunately they didn't have to go all the way to the brickwork.

 

[Mudball]

I am a QS and much of my work is tender/estimate preparation for builders & contractors. If you are having anything other than the most basic work down you should ensure that you get a fully detailed breakdown of what is (and by reference what is not) allowed within the estimate. You should not under any circumstances rely on a single line lump sum price.

Cost per ft2 are in no way reliable and are even less so for small projects, I have done recent projects for as little as £150ft2 right up to complex bespoke projects of over £3000 ft2.

There are reputable builders out there, take the time to seek one out local to you.

One of the builder sent in his QS for a survey.. decent bloke. I think i asked him too many questions and options and ideas. This might have got me a W*nker badge.
Anyway he said, his job was to figure out how much it would cost and then provide a view on how much contingency to add. Finally down to the builder on what to set the price at. Looks like the builder took the badge and put it 2.5x markup on whatever the QS came up with. Even if I ask him for a breakdown, he will reverse engineer to fit that markup.

I am still waiting for one more builder to give me a figure. He came 4 weeks ago, but hasnt provided a quote yet..

 

[Mudball]

One of the builders is yet to provide a quote .. can’t be bothered. We also had asked couple of landscaper for quotes to terrace our sloping gardens. All quotes are very high.
However a recurring theme is cost and availability of raw materials. The landscaper was complaining they could not find cement in Surrey. Another co we spoke to who provided a garage door quote in Jan, say price gone up in April. Some of them blame the B word for this. I am not sure I can afford 30% increase in cost. If I can’t afford a builder, what will he eat?
Genuine q for builders and those in the trade… have prices gone up significantly as well as material shortage in the last few months. Or are my local guys taking me for a ride?

 

[BiMGuy]

Genuine q for builders and those in the trade… have prices gone up significantly as well as material shortage in the last few months. Or are my local guys taking me for a ride?

Prices have gone through the roof, and stock is in short supply.

 

[Deleted member 3432]

Prices have gone through the roof, and stock is in short supply.

Plus the fact that every man and his dog are wanting jobs doing and builders have months of work on there books.

 

[PJ87]

Prices have gone through the roof, and stock is in short supply.

A colleague of mine wanted to build an outside office for his wife. The cost of timber alone (considering he was doing all the labour himself) 12k

 

[Fade and Die]

One of the builders is yet to provide a quote .. can’t be bothered. We also had asked couple of landscaper for quotes to terrace our sloping gardens. All quotes are very high.
However a recurring theme is cost and availability of raw materials. The landscaper was complaining they could not find cement in Surrey. Another co we spoke to who provided a garage door quote in Jan, say price gone up in April. Some of them blame the B word for this. I am not sure I can afford 30% increase in cost. If I can’t afford a builder, what will he eat?
Genuine q for builders and those in the trade… have prices gone up significantly as well as material shortage in the last few months. Or are my local guys taking me for a ride?

From an Electrical perspective some things have definitely gone up and have far longer lead in times. The bread and butter stuff seems available but anything manufactured to order, (multi-compartment metal trunking in our case) then cost has gone up by about a third and the lead in time is ridiculous. The manufacturers blame steel shortages due to the big B and of course “the Rona”. We also have severe delays with 3 phase stuff and larger sized cables.
What we have noticed is that enquiries and orders has skyrocketed which may explain more why there is a shortage of reliable builders/Trades and materials.

 

[Mudball]

Wow… did not know that the building trade was hit so badly by big B on supply side.. good to see Demand is high. Though I thought the backlogs at Kent and other ports have now eased

Our preferred landscaper (he is a good one) says the earliest he can do is Sept But his advice was to order and pay for cement, slabs and fence posts a month or so in advance. They will be delivered to his yard. Otherwise he can’t guarantee his schedule.

 

[larmen]

Wow… did not know that the building trade was hit so badly by big B on supply side.. good to see Demand is high. Though I thought the backlogs at Kent and other ports have eased

It’s not Kent. The girlfriend works for a joinery company which uses workshops in mainland Europe and they don’t get materials either.

Apparently it’s the Chinese buying off all the wood, that was what they said in the German newspapers. There was an article saying how Germans had to buy imported wood as the good German wood was being exported.

There will be similar pressure over here.

 

[bobmac]

That's the problem with modern language.
When I read the thread title, I didn't know if you were happy with the quote or the builder guessed a price

 

[Bunkermagnet]

From an Electrical perspective some things have definitely gone up and have far longer lead in times. The bread and butter stuff seems available but anything manufactured to order, (multi-compartment metal trunking in our case) then cost has gone up by about a third and the lead in time is ridiculous. The manufacturers blame steel shortages due to the big B and of course “the Rona”. We also have severe delays with 3 phase stuff and larger sized cables.
What we have noticed is that enquiries and orders has skyrocketed which may explain more why there is a shortage of reliable builders/Trades and materials.

In my field, theres a particular manufacturere I know of that has 94 containers of products sitting impounded by the Egyptians until the Evergreen owners pay up the fine they have been handed, and then it still has to get to Rotterdam or wherever the ship goes first before the UK

 

[Jon321]

I’m a bathroom fitter and pretty much everything i use has gone up between 5-20% in the last year. You may think the quotes are high but if they are all about the same then that is the going rate. If it’s not something you can do yourself, you have to pay the price or don’t have it done.

 

[Fade and Die]

In my field, theres a particular manufacturere I know of that has 94 containers of products sitting impounded by the Egyptians until the Evergreen owners pay up the fine they have been handed, and then it still has to get to Rotterdam or wherever the ship goes first before the UK

Not europa components is it? With Hoists going up left right and centre to remove cladding I’m struggling to get 3 phase interlock RCD sockets and 5 core SWA in reasonable time for a reasonable price. Europa was always pretty cheap but wholesaler can’t seem to get them now.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Not europa components is it? With Hoists going up left right and centre to remove cladding I’m struggling to get 3 phase interlock RCD sockets and 5 core SWA in reasonable time for a reasonable price. Europa was always pretty cheap but wholesaler can’t seem to get them now.

No. Fisher Paykel

 

[HowlingGale]

Got a landscaper neighbour and one of the dads at the kid's school is in the same game. Both bemoaning jobs they priced two weeks ago have increased substantially and their customers are moaning. Timber is a huge issue. It's all being shipped to North America causing a shortage here.

Not really sure that the big B is to blame. Think the pandemic then that big boat getting stuck has led to an increase in demand and a reduction in materials.

 

[Mudball]

Had to tell our builder that we decided not to go ahead with the project. Too many variables - raw materials, labourers etc. needless to say he was not a happy bunny. he blamed the govt for shambles and 'not what was promised when i voted' stuff. Apparently he has lost a fair bit of business this year with clients pulling out.

Having said all that, people are finding it difficult to get tradesman to give them a quote. What are tradesmen holding back for? I can understand this supply and demand equation..

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Had to tell our builder that we decided not to go ahead with the project. Too many variables - raw materials, labourers etc. needless to say he was not a happy bunny. he blamed the govt for shambles and 'not what was promised when i voted' stuff. Apparently he has lost a fair bit of business this year with clients pulling out.

Having said all that, people are finding it difficult to get tradesman to give them a quote. What are tradesmen holding back for? I can understand this supply and demand equation..

We have a builder coming around this evening to discuss what we would like to do for on extension. We need to know where he sees the main cost drivers associated with our house and the services as they currently in place. My wife is keen to go ahead with something next year…I fear costs may have escalated taking things out of our reach…and never mind availability and costs of tradesmen a builder might have to bring on board. We are also in Surrey and it seems that builders and all tradesmen seem to think everyone here is rolling in it.

And I cannot comment on the political aspect of your post.

 

[Mudball]

We have a builder coming around this evening to discuss what we would like to do for on extension. We need to know where he sees the main cost drivers associated with our house and the services as they currently in place. My wife is keen to go ahead with something next year…I fear costs may have escalated taking things out of our reach…and never mind availability and costs of tradesmen a builder might have to bring on board. We are also in Surrey and it seems that builders and all tradesmen seem to think everyone here is rolling in it.

And I cannot comment on the political aspect of your post.

There seems to be sever cost and availability pressures on raw material. So our quote went up since it was quoted Maybe fixed pruc
I ignore the politics too.. but was really looking fwd to get some work done. but a 7x7m kitchen side extension now realistically starting to look at 6 digits.

We ordered new garage doors back in May. It had a lead time of 8 weeks. Speaking to them last week, they say the global steel shortage means, we wont get it before Autumn.

 

[sweaty sock]

Everyone I know whos quoting at all are in effect only giving rough orders of magnitude.

The raw material prices are haywire, and most are booked up for 12 months so are unwilling to committ to a price when material prices could go anywhere in a year...

 

[Mudball]

Everyone I know whos quoting at all are in effect only giving rough orders of magnitude.

The raw material prices are haywire, and most are booked up for 12 months so are unwilling to committ to a price when material prices could go anywhere in a year...

Our gardner was very clear.. we buy the raw materials and he will store in his yard. Once all the material is available he will start work. No material - No work. A bit of a banana republic out there.