Cost of renovation

Hi everybody,

I am planning to move to Malta in June 2011, would like to buy a house of character or townhouse. I am trying to find any kind of info about cost of renovation. All I'll be paying for is a material and I'll have family member doing the work. What do you think how much should I budget per square meter?

Thank you all.

tereziem

how long is a piece of string ?

sorry, impossible to answer - depends on so many things

Thank you Georgeingozo,
I mean general modernization,plumbing,electricity,new bathrooms and floors,probably new windows,new kitchen....nothing very fancy... I have no idea how much it is in Malta.I did in US but I don't think I can compare that.
Approx. 100-150 m2 floor area

tereziem

Hi tereziem,

Welcome to the forum .

Your question is still very difficult to answer but having been to American DIY stores and also renovated houses in Germany , and comparing to what I see and hear in Malta I would guess that it might be twice as expensive to buy material in Malta as compared to the US. The labour work, if bought , would be a lot cheaper.

But that is really only a guess ! Most of the material is imported to Malta which makes it expensive.

Regards
Ricky

ricky wrote:

I would guess that it might be twice as expensive to buy material in Malta as compared to the US. The labour work, if bought , would be a lot cheaper.


agree - building labourer gets paid € 50-75 per day

Joeform2001 wrote:

more Like 50 euros an hour!!


I had work done on my house last year, and it was € 50-75 per day

you got ripped off then

No, I'm English. Once more, and for the last time - I paid 50-75 euros a day. General labourers at lower end, electricians at upper end.

Just think about it -

60 euros per day = € 15,000 a year, an above average wage

50 euros per hour  = € 100,000 a year, which equals the top 1% of wage earners in Malta - you got ripped off

you are happy paying € 120 odd an hour, I'm happy paying € 60 a day - we are both happy, and we are both right.










ps you still got ripped off :-)

pps next time you want building work done, give me a call - I can get you workers at half the price you pay, a sweet deal for us both

Hello georgeingozo,

You are very funny :D You make my day!

Yep, just waiting for my new 20 tonne garden wall to fall apart - give it 100 years and you might be right - I only had it made of local stone, you probably would have it gold plated

I'm not retired.....and I had an old farmhouse converted 6 years ago, so I know exactly what skill sets are required, and what to pay for them.

"missing the point about advice to the man that started the chain" - um, my point is, don't get ripped off like you did - so long, and thank you for the fish

Joeform2001 wrote:

my father used to own a quarry.


his workers must be millionaires if he paid them the rates you pay

gizza job

Joeform2001 wrote:

paying X for a garden wall is not the same as paying Y for a repair to an outside wall and working at heights


I paid the same amount per day when I had a 2 story house repointed, and a balcony and ceilings repainted, as for building a garden wall - in fact it was the same workers. Nothing extra for working at heights. Someone saw you coming.

ps its not a rubble wall, its a limestone block wall

Joeform2001 wrote:

in this world you get what you pay for,


just think how great a job they would have done if you'd paid them € 10,000 an hour - probably used peacock feathers gathered at dawn, bound to a diamond encrusted unicorn tusk to make the brush, and used paint mined on the moon....

alternatively they used Dulux on both yours and my houses, started work at 7am, knocked off at 4pm, and did an equally good job on both. If you think you got a better job by paying 10x the price I did, thats fine by me, but to the OP - you can hire good quality workers for € 50-75 a day, apparently you can also pay them € 50-120 an hour. Your choice....

Hi,

I think I'll go along with George's numbers!

Even in Germany you don't pay more than 30-40 € / hour for a highly qualified,experienced and Germany trained builder,electrician, heating specialist,carpenter or even car mechanic.

Germans's also complain that the costs are too high but the average income in Germany is around 30.000 € /year so it all makes sense.

In Germany you also pay for the work done but you can usually trust them to work fast and to a high standard. But it pays to get several offers and choose. Why should it be that much different in Malta ? I've also had work done and know of work done for Maltese friends here in Malta so I can judge prices and quality.

Regards
Ricky

I haven't had any work done but I hope George's number are correct in case I ever do:)

Also,
a. George has a history of providing useful and valuable information on this website (and some humour);
b) Sorry Joe, but I just don't know who you are so I can't judge how credible your opinion is because this is the first thing you've ever posted here;
b. Even if Joe is correct and there are builders etc who work for cash and so it doesn't reflect in Govt. figures....very few people could afford to have any work done at those rates.

Hopefully, Joe won't get disheartened by this difference of opinion and continue to post here and build up a good reputation and credibility.

Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Tim

This site is so entertaining...:D

I gave my opinion, now if you don't want to take it, that's fine by me, but trying to make fun of me,don't worry you have your resident expert, why bother to have a blog!
Don't cry when you find out work will cost a lot more then you budgeted for, just remember I'm not English and have not landed in Malta last year or so.

Now I know what this blog is like I won't bother to post any relies you can have the opinion of George as he knows it all and I got ripped off!!!

Joe - all you've done is make a series of snide comments about the quality of my building work without seeing it, have a go at me for being a local, then for being English, for being retired, for not being retiredr, for having only just arrived, for having a rubble wall and so  on. I've taken all this in the best of humour, and all I've pointed out is that you overpaid for your labour work, which from my experience, you did. You seem to have a very large chip on your shoulder (from your  fathers quarry ?), and seem to have a need to impress people with how much money you have and how much you can afford to pay for things like your watch - sorry, doesn't impress me -  you need to chill out.

Allow me to share with you an unsolicited pm Joe has sent me - I've starred out the swear words, although by doing so, I suspect my * button has broken due to excessive use

"S**t head, now you gone too far, Fu***ing English ba***rd, tight a** c**t, small place Gozo, enjoy."

which is nice.

Geographically correct, even if atonomically confused

Thanks for posting George. That's not the kind of language we should start using on our forum!

We are all doing our best to give the best information we can provide with all our different situations and experiences.In most cases there is no absolute perfect answer so the site lives from the diversity of opinion voiced. Let's keep it that way to the advantage of all users.

If you ever happen to venture over to mainland ( Sliema) give me a note or PM and lets get together for a chat George. I look forward to putting a face to the name -)))

Hope your * button recovers .......

Regards
Ricky