How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

Nah it's all wonky, start again I would

Just reserving a spot in hell, aren't you?

Whatever…

Someone recommended a bathroom extractor fan that had a(n?) humidity sensor that automatically turns off. Anyone recall?

https://www.wickes.co.uk/search?text=humidistat

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  https://www.wickes.co.uk/Manrose-IPX5-Humidity-Quiet-Bathroom-Fan/p/276195
  

Are you having a parapet wall with coping stones? Make sure you or your bco checks the coping stones overhang the required amount. My parents in laws extension has had water ingress because of inadequate overhang which i have then had to sort out because the builder washed his hands of it.

Fyi my plumber warned me off these - he says if the sensor stops working well you get either no fan when you need it, or a fan that doesn't switch off...

I would highly recommend a 'dMEV' continuously-running extractor with humidistat-triggered auto-boost.

Before deciding to install MVHR, I was going to use the Greenwood CV2GIP: https://www.greenwood.co.uk/continuous-extract-dmev/unity-cv2-gip

It's the best bang for buck, runs almost silently, and boosts enough to deal with a shower.

Anyone had a standard loft conversion (Victorian terrace, max size available under PD so two rooms and an en-suite, no fancy finishes, windows, etc) and able to share a rough all-in cost?

@Brun did you find anyone to do yours? Is the roof terrace going to cover all the outrigger roof or will it be two rooms plus the roof terrace?

My friends have just completed theirs in E17, done by Bespoke Lofts; double dormer with en-suite, basic finishes, cold roof with felt etc. Cost ~£90K.

Yep, the entire roofline is a parapet which will be clad in powdercoated aluminium coping as per pic.

The coping has a fall towards the roof side, with ample overhang. There is also ~25mm overhang on the brick elevation side. Hope it all works and the house doesn't turn into porridge!

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Basic bitch+, bespoke lofts, 80k maybe?

I genuinely cannot understand how they get away with charging 90 grand.

The materials are about 15 to 20k give or take including the wood, cladding and steel. Add 5k in professional fees, building control and plans.

These L shapes take about 5 to 8 weeks. 4 blokes on 200 quid or so a day every day is 800 notes wages a week. Call it a grand. Thats 8k in wages for them to screw it together. Call it 18k with basic windows and the roof and the scaffolding, 5 days of electrical work and the same of plumbing. Call it 20k with tiling.

Where does the other 50 grand go?

Your maths on labour are wrong no? 800 per day not per week - £4k per week x 5-8 weeks.

Plus then specialists for some jobs who are maybe more than £200 a day, etc etc

4 blokes on 200 quid or so a day every day is 800 notes wages a week.

Eh? 4 x 200 per day = 800 a week?

The £90K is all-in, with tiles/sanitaryware/paint etc that are all extras, which adds up. Also includes stuff like council skip permits etc, which isn't insignificant.

4 people @ £200/day * 10 weeks (these things rarely actually take 8 weeks to full completion, unless it's a cowboy rush job) = £40K wage bill, and that's only counting 5 days a week; most residential sites I see have people working Saturdays too. Skilled trades charge significantly more.

Outfits like Bespoke who bang out 70x lofts a year and sub out most of the work make ~10% profit if they're lucky, which works out OK due to the high volume.

Small-time independent builders are either using very cheap labour, very few workers (taking much longer), operating at break-even to establish themselves, cutting corners, charging shitloads or any combo of above.

Yeh what a fuck up. C grade maths.

So 200 x 4 =800 a day.

800 x 5 = 4500 a week.

Call it 6 weeks = 20 to 24k in basic wages.

2k for the electrics and 2k for the plumbing. 2k for the tiling. 2k for the roofer. 1500 for 2 velux, a roof light and 2 basic upvc windows

15k for the wood, steel, felt, cladding, scaffolding, chipboard at the absolute max.

There is still 30 to 50k of profit here for the loft company, especially if most of it isnt going through the books which happens extremely often.

I'd be surprised if the 'blokes' are on anything less than £300 / day TBH. Maybe labourers get less than that.

I was under the impression that day rates were pretty wild for construction folk.

Still, there's fat in that £90k. They get away with it because people will pay it. Credit is / has been cheap, which drives up prices.

I paid less than 40k for an L shaped loft in 2017 btw.

800 x 5 = 4500 a week.

Grade C? Hmmmm...

Should have said 800/approx x5 but i think the point i was trying to make has been made.

Dont you only have to get like 35 to 40 pc to get a c grade anyway? Im sure it was something silly low like that years ago.

CSE Grade 3 more likely.

That’s getting close to a decade ago now.

Can you think of anything that has stayed the same price in the last3 years, let alone 7?

You been doing your sums with Alex?

Haha i didnt want to mention his name in case it upset you.

I dunno really why it irks me so much really as ive done all my work. I just think that its all starting to become a bit of a piss take really.

I think alex charges like 55 to 60 for these bigger lofts. But as you found out sometimes the price has strings attached to it, right?

I think builders and that during covid just kinda took the piss on prices and have just sorta kept it at that as long as they are getting business.

Could say the same for a lot of stuff though that the price is a piss take.