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So, a bit of a rare thing for me to do but having come across a few really awful tradesmen, I know how important it is for good people to get the recognition they deserve.


Now that I'm near the end of our current project (ground floor extension, loft conversion and the lot), I would like to highly recommend our Architect and Building company - Jino of ArchInno Limited.


Jino is our architect and he also runs his own building company. Ours was (is) a big project spanning over 6 months and things have been delivered to an impeccable standard so far (and people tell me I'm extremely demanding. ehem), to budget apart from scope changes, and without much delay despite the awful spell of rain we had over x-mas.


We had previously used a different team in East Dulwich for a different (smaller) project and the difference was staggering. Key things that made Jino and his team stand out from other builders:


- Great communication and responsiveness

- Amazing work ethics. The team worked on Saturdays (very understanding neighbours) and we even had a plasterer work this bank holiday weekend to get the job finished

- Accomodating to my erratic personality, demanding pedantic changes or changes in plan

- Full time site manager (Lee) who oversaw every little detail and really thinks about how small details can affect funtionality from our point of view

- Great architectural team that always provides detailed drawings for the smallest details (e.g. cupboard uits) so that I can really visualise everything and comment on things before we finalise

- Impeccable finish - my husband and I are a bit OCD about things being aligned and straight, etc and although we are doing a list of snagging issues, we haven't found many yet!


Jino's mobile number is 07786 985564. He normally operates in Wimbledon area but is currently spending a lot of time in East Dulwich due to our project. I have been trying to convince him what a great market ED is!


If you have any further queries, please feel free to send me a PM.

  • 2 months later...

Hello Guys,


Everyone is talking about house extensions but actually not many people have seen what's really involve in building one ?


This is the link to interesting video where you can see all the planning, building process needed to build side return kitchen extension.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3lApVjR5nY


Kind Regards


Pawel

  • 2 months later...
  • 2 years later...

Just had a conversation with an Architect about a kitchen side return we are looking to do.

He said it would cost at a minimum ?120K. That is for a 4.5 metre by 7 metre room.

Feels very expensive - can anyone advice if that is what it has cost them?

That seems expensive but it really depends on your expectations on design and what that estimate includes.


What kind of rooflights does that assume? Are you using reclaimed London Stock brick or rendered cement blocks for the extension. Do you need to do additional foundation work? What specification of windows and doors would that require and is the architect including the cost of the kitchen and finishing in their estimate. Does that include refinishing the garden following the work and are you installing a downstairs loo or utility room as part of the redesign? are they charging you project management fees to oversea the build in addition to architectural design fees? A side return extension can easily cost that much but that is definitely on the real upper end of the spectrum. If you can't afford that, there are certainly ways to bring the total cost down considerably and still get an attractive design.


Good luck!

picmicnic Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Just had a conversation with an Architect about a

> kitchen side return we are looking to do.

> He said it would cost at a minimum ?120K. That is

> for a 4.5 metre by 7 metre room.

> Feels very expensive - can anyone advice if that

> is what it has cost them?



We did ours last year ?35,000 for the structure.

The kitchen Flooring decoration etc was extra.


Unfortunately the Australian guys who did it went back home.




Just noticed yours is 4.5 by 7 meters, mine was just a side extension.

That sounds expensive but not unreasonable - depending on the type of finish and detailing you are looking for. That figure also probably includes the architect's fees for the drawings and for project managing?

Thanks for the replies. To answer the question


What kind of rooflights does that assume - glass roof in side return

Are you using reclaimed London Stock brick or rendered cement blocks for the extension - cheapest (never specified this with the architect)

Do you need to do additional foundation work? - yes (14 Meter square of new floor space)

What specification of windows and doors would that require - bifolding doors.

Is the architect including the cost of the kitchen and finishing in their estimate - not included.

Does that include refinishing the garden following the work - yes

Installing a downstairs loo or utility room as part of the redesign? - No

Are they charging you project management fees to oversea the build in addition to architectural design fees? - Not sure (suspect that includes project management)

There is a huge range in price between bifold doors-- you can pay 1,500 or 10k depending on the brand and style.


I'd sit down with the architect and get a more detailed breakdown to see where you could potentially save. Based on what you've said, the building work and fees should easily be able to come in at under 100k if not less.

I can recommend Stephen Turvil Architect - http://www.stephenturvilarchitects.com/ he's local and we're using him at the moment and he's been great. Your architect should be able to send you a fee proposal for the plans for planing permission etc. They should then be able to do detailed specs for a builder (if you want to pay them to do that) find you an engineer (if you want them to do that) get 3-4 RFPs out to builders to quote on a spec and help you choose the best builder for you (if you want them to do that). Only then will you know what your real cost is going to be, but you'll also know you have market rate as you're comparing like for like quotes. You could just get the architect to do the plans for planning permission and then sort out the rest yourself. Or, you could get a few builders round now to quote. The challenge with that is they'll all quote on different specs on different ideas and they'll all go over the budget they initially proposed because they'll all have missed stuff out. Either way you slice it, for what you're doing, ?120k is probably a fair ballpark.

It should be about ?2,500 a sq metre

So your 4.5 x 7 = ?80,000 for everything except the kitchen and anything else exotic like expensive doors and underfloor heating or a glass roof.

But a standard extension is within that price per sq metre including architects fees and planning fees and everything standard.

My builders worked on that basis.

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