Cost of wall removal.

Possibly not too much.

 

The problem with a lot of this work are the hidden costs and allowing contingency to fix them. Things like Structural Engineers fees and Building control fees could set you back £600+ combined. Things like the floor between the current kitchen and utility room will have to be made good but may also not be at the same level all the way along the length of the wall you have removed.

I would call several structural engineers and get them on site and they will give you a quote for their work and they will point out any potential issues. Quite often they will give an indication of what you can expect in terms of costs from the local builders

 

Mackie, chust been investigating this type of job myself, and it's due to be done next week.

A local SE was £95 - he was happy to charge for one hour's work. He was on site for a decent half-hour or so, and did a thorough job; really helpful advice, full set of calcs and even a house plan showing the wall wot's coming down and stuff. (Another local SE was going to charge £300 + VAT which I knew was taking t'pee...)

(The SE actually recommended we go 2 of 9x2 timbers as they won't require any further fire-proofing other than the layer of p'board. Steels would need intumescent paint, and would be more work to over-board afterwards.)

The SE was a name given to us (one of two) by the our local BCO - "I obviously cannot recommend an SE to you, but I can give you a couple of names..."

For Building Control, a simple sub-£1k job like this requires only a 'Building Notice Application' which can be filled in on-line. Cost of this was £105. The BCO will likely only come out once to view, after the lintel is in place (although they want notice given in advance for 3 stages - existing wall, lintel in place, and finished works).

We are having our wall (2m opening) taken down for £275, but that is a guy who's doing other work at the house already. And all the finishing will be done by myself - he is fitting the lintel and taking down the wall (for me to dump...).

This really is a dead simple job for a general builder - bread and butter stuff. Surely the taking down wall part shouldn't be more than £500? Then probably around the same for making good afterwards?

With Sospan's proviso - what about electrics? And Plumbing? Floor levels and finishing?

But, I'd have thought that a builder with a few days to fill in would be happy to do this job (take down wall and plaster afterwards) for circa £1k?

Or am I off the wall?

 

You could indeed do it that way, or simply try and locate some general builders in your area, if possible select them by recommendation.

A decent builder should be able to tell you everything, including a suggestion for an SE (he might even know one himself he uses regularly).

 

A nice thought but it is a dangerous mix if a builder recommends a Structural Engineer - there are too many horror stories of dodgy builders and questionable designs by Structural Engineers.

 

In which case the BCO will say "What the 'ell!" when he comes out to look at the lintel in place.

Would you suggest Mackie looks for an SE first? The only reason we did it this way is 'cos the builder was not local - he's also a Heats cove and is doing sis's stove.

Otherwise I'd have thought a decent builder would sort pretty much everything?

 

What am I, chopped liver?

 

I am thinking beans and a nice chianti

 

I would get an SE first and specify it. Then when the builders come round, it is just a matter of saying - I want you to quote for this .....

Whilst working for the customer, I do like SE's to be independent of all parties as much as possible. It's not good if the builder and SE have too cosy a relationship as standards can slip.

Down here there are very few SE's. which is good and bad, in that there is a very limited pool of people and builders have worked with all the SE's at some time so you can't get away from the familiarity. The good thing, is that because there are only a few SE's, Standards have to be higher due to a small pool of people competing for work

 

Swings & roundabouts then.

Me being old school, I also like SE's to be independent like you do.

 

Sorted, then

 

Just joking

 

Yep, that's why I said to budget £600. Around £300+ for the SE and £100+ for the building control. The rest is just in case you run into problems and the SE has to come it and do a bit more work.

 

Bar steward. Our other quote was similar to that.

Looks like the guy we got was simply a decent fellow - he charges £95 per hour and said from the outset that that's all he would charge, even if the job went over that a bit.

He was at the site for a good half hour, and I'm sure the report he made (complete with plans!) took well over another half hour. So he was a decent fellow and probably knew that to charge much more for such a simple and cheap job was unreasonable.

£300+? That's extortion.

This sort of job really takes a couple of hours or more? Get lost.

 

Mackie, must be other SE's in your area, or surrounding area, your SE is taking P***.

 

Perhaps he just fancied you