Help with budgeting for Electrics, heating & hot water

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EricaT
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Help with budgeting for Electrics, heating & hot water

Post by EricaT »

I'm aware this question is a bit tricky to help with without actually seeing the property involved but I'm hoping I will be able to find out if my budgeting is completely unrealistic or not.
We are considering buying an old property which consists of multiple houses and barns. We want to initially restore 2 of the houses. One to live in, and one as a gite.
The houses are joined and the square footage is 144 metres in total for both houses. There are two floors. The roof and carpentry and walls etc are all in very good nick. Water and electricity is already connected to the properties.
So I have budgeted -
£4000 per house for complete rewiring. (£8000 in total)
£3300 per house for a heating system, probably wood and some way of heating water (£6'600 in total).
Does anyone have any experience that I can compare with?
Again, I know it's impossible to put an exact figure on this but I'd be interested to know what costs other people have encountered so I can at least make some sort of "guesstimate" before making an offer on the property. Thank-you in advance, Erica.
Ecosse
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Post by Ecosse »

Hi Erica, I'm presuming, as you're talking about a gite, you're looking to buy in France? If so, I can't help with all of your pricing queries, but I suspect you might need to up your estimate on the rewiring costs. We are planning on rewiring our gite (about 180m2 needs doing) within the next couple of years, and are setting aside the best part of 20,000€ to do this. However, we're basing that on the advice from a friend 'in the business'... before you make an offer, and assuming the current owners are happy for you to do so, you could arrange to get some quotes from tradesmen to get a better idea. Good luck with it all!
EricaT
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Post by EricaT »

Thank you Ecosse for replying. I've posted in another forum too and the general consensus is that my estimations are way too low. I'm glad I found out now rather than getting a nasty shock further down the line! Good luck with your re-wiring!
vacancesthezan
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Post by vacancesthezan »

EricaT wrote:Thank you Ecosse for replying. I've posted in another forum too and the general consensus is that my estimations are way too low. I'm glad I found out now rather than getting a nasty shock further down the line! Good luck with your re-wiring!
We have a rule of thumb that we use to give Brits an idea of estimating work in France.

Think of the maximum sum that you think it will cost - then double it. This will give you "fairer" idea of costs. Any building work is eye wateringly expensive compared to what a "Brit" might estimate.

eg we had one floor of our house rewired just over a year ago. About 120sqm and the cost was €12,000.

We would strongly suggest that you get some "devis" from French artisans for the basic things as soon as possible. Then you will start to have an idea of the true costs of a renovation in France (dont just guess!)
EricaT
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Post by EricaT »

Thank-you vacancesthezan,

I'm tripling everything! Yikes.
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

I wouldn't get too despondent, Erica, we've had quite a few jobs done on our house in recent years and with some exceptions have generally found the costs pleasantly reasonable. OK, so we are comparing with Surrey, which is not renowned for its cheap workforce, but generally prices are not worrying. I usually think in terms of Eur 25 an hour for skilled workmen.
A new law came into force yesterday in France which requires all artisans to give a detailed breakdown of costs on their devis, and also to publish their hourly and other charges on their website. This might work in your favour.
As a plus factor, work done to an established dwelling benefits from a 10% TVA rate, and anything eco-friendly may be eligible for a partial offset against your income tax.

Nil desperandum!

Mols
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
EricaT
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Post by EricaT »

Hi Mols!

Thank-you, it's encouraging to hear a positive spin :-)
I absolutely have to get my budgeting right as we are selling up lock, stock and barrel, (if we end up doing it after all the budget upping!) so no option to come back easily.
farley
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Location: Poitou Charentes

Post by farley »

Hi Erica
Just a thought, maybe buy a place that is ready to use as a home plus rental. I speak from experience of watching my husband work extremely long hours on our project.

We completely renovated our property ( it was in a dreadful condition) but my hubby had most if the skills to do it. The cost was high but at least we didn't have to pay for too many artisan hours:)

Good luck with your endeavor plus why not check out recent mentions of Gites For Sale on this site.
EricaT
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Post by EricaT »

Thanks, Farley. I'll check that out :-)
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Bassman
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Post by Bassman »

Rewiring an old building with thick walls is time consuming, so that would be a big factor also if the plastering or plasterboard has already been done. Have you considered doing the work yourself? Its not a difficult task just takes a while!
EricaT
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Post by EricaT »

Hi Bassman,

My husband would be doing all the plaster boarding, skirting boards, fitting the kitchens and bathrooms, laying the floors etc etc. It's the big four that might require specialist artisans that are bothering me - Electrics, Fosse septique, Plumbing and heating/hot water, (am I correct in thinking these need doing by a qualified artisan in order to be signed off by the relevant authority?)
At the moment, (since today's revelations, I've posted on the Living France forum too), I have £9000 for electrics/re-wiring, £10'000 for heating/hot water, (maybe a riseau de chaleur system), £9000 for plumbing and already have a quote in for a fosse septique 5000 lts of £10'000. As I mentioned earlier the footprint is 144m2 but the overall square footage Im guessing is around 250-300m2.
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Bassman
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Post by Bassman »

Hi Erica
Unless it has recently changed you dont need an artisan to install just someone who inspects it and issue a cert. of conformity (this is on new build) i paid someone to check my work pre inspection visit. Its been a while since i did ours (old & new buildings) but we didnt need anyone to check the existing building as it already had a electricity counter.
There are a lot of new plumbing systems around i opted for PER (flexible plastic tube) for both the supply & heating, just got someone in to install the boiler. To date (13 years) no problems
EricaT
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Post by EricaT »

Hi Bassman,

did you do the plumbing & electrics etc yourself? if so do you mind me asking how long that took?
Ecosse
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Post by Ecosse »

While electrics need to be signed off, plumbing doesn't, and if you're using the new, plastic piping, it's very easy to install. Over the last 3 years husband has installed or replaced 4 bathrooms after watching a YouTube video... with no leaks so far. The hardware shops sell the parts to connect the new plastic piping to existing 'traditional' copper piping.

With regards to the electrics, you could, rather than knocking chunks out of old stone walls, have the electrics visible (i.e wires running along the surface of walls and ceilings, covered by plastic conduit)... it's perhaps not as beautiful, but I'm not sure any of our guests notice (we certainly didn't when we viewed our property) as no one has ever passed comment on them. Should be cheaper, too.
EricaT
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Post by EricaT »

Thank-you Ecosse... :D
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