Main pic – DFS
We are frequently being asked about ballpark figures for what things will cost. And if we’re not being asked we’re wondering ourselves. Thinking of retiling your bathroom? Laying down artificial grass in your back garden? Adding in an extra electrical socket somewhere that needs one? How much does all of that stuff cost? Well, we can’t quite give you definitive figures as it will always vary from supplier to supplier and the level of quality you go for but we’ve done our best to round up your most asked questions, matching them with prices you could expect to pay in 2018. Of course, if you’ve gotten your hands on a great bargain with a great supplier or expert in some field – do let us know!
In no specific order, here are eight common questions and answers.
How much does artificial grass cost? From our research, you can get grass for as cheap as €13 per square metre, but it will look like pants. For your back or front garden, you want it to look good and perform well, withstanding the weather, pets, BBQs, the works. Between €30 and €36 per square metre will get you the top of the range.
How much does a garden room cost? It might seem like the reserve of the rich and famous, but actually, a garden room can be a more affordable way to extend your living space, with no disruption to your house as it is. Prices with gardenrooms.ie go from €20,000 for the smallest size (including tax) up to €36,000 for a room that’s 3.6 x 7.5 metres. In contrast, a house extension can cost between €45,000 to €90,000 (via tradesmen.ie).
How much does it cost to paint a room? How long is a piece of string? Again, this depends on the quality of the paint you go for and the size of the room. Paint is not something we would go budget on; you do not want to have to paint your home on a yearly basis. Dulux, Crown, Farrow & Ball, Fleetwood and Color Trend would be the brands we’d lean toward. A 5litre pot of Dulux interior emulsion will cost in and around €40 – €50 (F&B will be much higher at €102 for a 5litre tin). A 5litre tin of paint should cover over 13 metres squared per litre. According to the Dulux paint calculator – a really handy tool on their website – you should be able to get two coats of a room that’s 3 x 5 metres with one 5litre pot of paint. Of course, if you want to paint the ceiling you’ll need a pot for that – 2 litres should do the job in a room this size. A 5l litre tin of Fleetwood ceiling paint costs in and around €20 at Woodies.
Tiles – like artificial grass – are always priced per metre squared. Subway style white tiles with Tile Style will cost around €67 per square metre. If you want to tile the walls in your bathroom, measure the height and width of each wall (don’t forget to take the door/sink/cabinet/shower/toilet area into consideration, but you are always better off having more than less) to get the square metres. For example, our downstairs toilet is 0.8 metres wide x 2.4 metres high and we would need tiles to cover roughly three walls with those dimensions, so we’re talking 5.76 square metres which, if we went for those subway tiles, would cost us in and around €402 euro. Again, this is a rough guide only.
How much does a good bed cost? With beds, you first need to decide if you are getting a bed frame and a mattress, a bed frame and keeping your old mattress, or a divan bed set where the mattress comes with a base and you sort out your own headboard separately. Again, the breadth of cost here is wide depending on the quality of the bed you want to go for. We have a post here on how to know what type of bed is right for you. A high-end King divan bed can cost up to €2,500/ €3,000 but that’s everything in one. The average price of a decent divan bed seems to come in at around €1500 (we’re looking at Harvey Norman’s bed offering). Bed frames? You don’t need to worry too much about a bed frame if you have a decent mattress, all that matters with the frame is that you like the way it looks and that it’s strong enough and durable enough to take weight over a long period of time. Expect to pay at least €300 for a decent bed frame without a mattress.
How much does it cost to convert your attic? Another very tough question, so we went to tradesmen.ie for a gauge here. They ran a survey asking a series of contractors what the average prices would be and it seems you can expect to pay €15000 to turn your attic into an extra bedroom (this was carried out in 2017), but you’d have to add VAT on to that bringing it up to just over €17,000. This would be without an en-suite, however. If you add a bathroom and the plumbing necessary to make that happen, you could be looking at up to €26,000.
How much does it cost to have your garden professionally landscaped? For your average 3 bed semi detached home, taking patio, decking, grass and work into account, it could cost anywhere from €3,000 to €7,500. Prices will vary depending on size, contractor and decisions made about decking (which will always be pricey), additional features etc.
Lastly, you may be thinking of adding an electrical socket where you really need one. This isn’t as expensive as you’d think, but the price will depend on whether you need wiring completely hidden and where it is. Expect to pay between €100 – €200 for the labour and the socket.
Reminder: All of this is roughly based on our research online, keeping it as close to today’s costs as possible. Any more specific questions you want us to get answered? Comment below!