My First Reno! Photos, Feedback Please!

[Truly Exotic]

thanks for your help guys so far,

I have a bit of question,

My front yard so the gap between the verandah and front hedge

Ive got a few opinions and today I spent a fair bit of time discussing it with the shop person

Options:
1. Remove most of the plants, remove weeds, dig up front yard, level it out with lawn mix , plant seeds

2. Remove most of the plants, spray weed killer, lay that black plastic stuff (just had a mental blank as to what its called) which stops weeds from coming through, buy garden mulch at $38 per cubic m (that hay coloured mulch stuff), lay it down

3. Remove most of the plants, spray weed killer, lay that black plastic stuff (just had a mental blank as to what its called) which stops weeds from coming through, buy terracotta coloured bark at $60 per cubic m (matches the roof tiles), lay it down

so far im heading towards 3, I think 2 will make it look ugly, but 3 will make the garden bright, even though you cant see it from the front due to the hedge, plus its maintenance free!

P.S apparently I need only 1.5 cubic metres

 

[Pa1nter]

One thing that worries me with the front is that it looks like the step stringers are sitting on the dirt,also the lattice work,possibly even the stumps ,if this is the case be very wary of white-ants as they will have unlimited access into the house.

Make sure you have a boundary from the ground to any wood,

If you only need 1.5 metres of bark,there is no reason not to buy the nicest product.

Cypress pine chips also look good.

 

[Angel13]

OMG!!!! I can't wait to see the after photos. How exciting

 

[NBS]

The garden beds can be built up using old car tyres (terraced style) and use plants that overhang which will hide the tyres. Is cheap most tyre places are glad to get rid of them.You can also use the bark or sugar cane mulsh to also help hide the tyres untill the plants grow.

Drill holes in the bottom (side wall) of the tyre so water does get out and put gravel in the bottom side wall then soil and plant away.

The mat is Weed Mat i'm not a lover of it but will do the job for a bit.

Brian

 

[Truly Exotic]

ok, reno has been completed!!!! severly overbudget, severly over scheduled, i've gained a few grey hairs, severely overstressed, a few extra pounds, a sore back, many x 100 lessons learnt, a lot of bad luck (and I mean a lot!!) but am still smiling from end to end, ready for more torture, here are some photos (ill post a budget shortly)

FRONT

 

[Truly Exotic]

KITCHEN

STUDY (Prior to Cleaning)

LAUNDRY

 

[Truly Exotic]

HALLWAY

LIVING ROOM

BATHROOM

 

[Truly Exotic]

TOILET

BDR1

BDR2
Forgot to take photos, looks the same as BDR1

 

[Truly Exotic]

BACKYARD

 

[MsAli]

Truly Exotic, it looks great!!!

 

[Truly Exotic]

 

[Truly Exotic]

Expected Budget $8k-$9k
Expected Time Frame: 2 weeks

Actual Budget: $13k
Other Costs: Fuel, Hotel costs, food etc $1.3k

Total Cost: $14.3k
Time Frame: 4.5 Weeks

Rental Increase: $40 per week approx
Equity Increase: $40k to $70k, most likely $55k

On top of materials (included in the total), I had to buy in the process, 1 pressure cleaner, 1 Jigsaw, 1 Hammer Drill, 1 Planer, 1 Hacksaw, 2 x Wrenches, tools for just about everything, 2 emergency plumbers to fix problems, Electrician to rewire one side of the house

Lessons: many many learnt

Costly Bad Luck Situations:
- Wall behind toilet collapses on final day due to weight of cistern, needed to call plumber in, replace cistern and replace wall
- Laundry floor had to be concreted 3 times to allow base to fit at the correct angle
- Realising that laundry shower was a plug hole with no pipe connected AFTER concreted and base laid, had to rip up and start again
- After telling tradespersons that half the blinds in the house would be replaced, he thought I said, all of them, so he threw all of it away while I was out for lunch, had to replace them all!
- While I was Throwing some logs off the roof, one of them had a nail sticking out, caught me in the stomach and arms, and I fell off the roof, a quick trip to the hospital and I was back in a few hours
- Attempted to replace bathtub, so we removed the tiles around it , to only realise it was moulded into the frame of the house, so had to retile it and fix the actual tub itself and not replace
- Weedmat was laid, and had bricks placed in various places, the next day, either the wind had blown all the bricks and mat off or it was vandalised
- Paint shop selling out of the colour of paint that we had been using, so had to drive an hour to pick up some more from a different shop
- Approximately 100 trips to bunnings, at 4 times per day

 

[Pa1nter]

Oh the joys of renos,
Big difference ,however I believe it needs more as it still looks unfinished in some areas.

 

[Truly Exotic]

Oh the joys of renos,
Big difference ,however I believe it needs more as it still looks unfinished in some areas.

if you are referring to the backyard, yes agree, at that point I had already spent about 40 hours on it, levelling it and diggiing it up with a shovel since no way a bobcat could have got up there, and decided that a tenant was not going to pay more rent based on any more improvements, different story if I was selling it though!

or is there other points that look incomplete

 

[Pa1nter]

if you are referring to the backyard, yes agree, at that point I had already spent about 40 hours on it, levelling it and diggiing it up with a shovel since no way a bobcat could have got up there, and decided that a tenant was not going to pay more rent based on any more improvements, different story if I was selling it though!

or is there other points that look incomplete

I'm a perfectionist so don't take any notice of me,
Good job

 

[BMan]

the laundry doesnt look finished off
you can see where the pipe runs along in the wall that could do with a sand off
and something dodgy looking around the skirting board/bottom tile at the bottom of the shower
other than that good job!
half my house is still unfinished from my basic tidy up and paint each room reno lol

 

[travelbug]

Well done. It's coming along nicely.
Yes you can lose a lot of time by making trips to Bunnings. That comes with experience. So do you think you'd do it again (or too soon to say)?

One thing.
I would change the cane blind in the bedroom to ones that fit the window (venetians or verticals) and put a seat in there with a nice cushion. I think it's a wasted space as is and would make a nice, inviting touch.

 

[younguns]

Well done! This was great to read and see all the hard work you put in. We are still going through our first reno. I'm still a little close to the stresses to report but I'm hoping to be able to share our hard lessons learnt soon as well. Great job again

 

[Jezza13]

Awesome job. Great transformation from original photos.

 

[matto_]

What a great write up. Thanks for sharing.

I was going to all about the figures etc which you have already laid out.

So,

14k plus a month, and you have gained ~50k equity and an extra 2k rent.

Not bad work if you can get it.