Because I LOVE before and after photos, I thought I would post some photos of the house we are renovating. It is shaping up well, with lots more work to go, but we are more than half way there.
I'll post "after" shots when I can.
This is a 1929 house in Camp Hill that had one tenant in for 15 years. It has good bones but needed a new kitchen 15 years ago . Hubby forgot to take a photo of the 1970s kitchen before demolishing it but it was pretty "ordinary".
The kitchen had 800mm deep walls jutting into the room and a wide door into the end part that seems to have been the original laundry or breezeway. It made planning a new kitchen difficult.
We decided to bring in a builder (and his engineer) to sign off on propping up the cement suspended slab patio entry area (that had sunk 50mm), engineer a steel beam to open up the kitchen to the dining area and another beam to get the half wall out of the kitchen.... so much better now.
This is work hubby could easily have done, but the builder is a terrific find, and really we are paying for the engineer and builder to sign off on these jobs, draw up plans, sign off and have it all done properly. Without this paperwork, any future sale would be scotched because of the obvious issues with the patio. They will still be picked up, but we now have an expensive piece of paper saying they are structurally sound.
If anybody is interested I'm happy to put up costs involved in this renovation.
Kitchen - after removal - ready for wall to come out
Facing the other end of the kitchen after the "half wall" came out. It was really two rooms with a large doorway - really difficult to plan until we decided to rip out the wall.
This is the wall you can see in the first photo after it was knocked out (steel beam installed) and props coming out tomorrow.
And the sunken "Cleopatra" bath that was probably quite charming in 1929 but past its "use by" date (not to mention dangerous) now -
I'll post "after" shots when I can.
This is a 1929 house in Camp Hill that had one tenant in for 15 years. It has good bones but needed a new kitchen 15 years ago . Hubby forgot to take a photo of the 1970s kitchen before demolishing it but it was pretty "ordinary".
The kitchen had 800mm deep walls jutting into the room and a wide door into the end part that seems to have been the original laundry or breezeway. It made planning a new kitchen difficult.
We decided to bring in a builder (and his engineer) to sign off on propping up the cement suspended slab patio entry area (that had sunk 50mm), engineer a steel beam to open up the kitchen to the dining area and another beam to get the half wall out of the kitchen.... so much better now.
This is work hubby could easily have done, but the builder is a terrific find, and really we are paying for the engineer and builder to sign off on these jobs, draw up plans, sign off and have it all done properly. Without this paperwork, any future sale would be scotched because of the obvious issues with the patio. They will still be picked up, but we now have an expensive piece of paper saying they are structurally sound.
If anybody is interested I'm happy to put up costs involved in this renovation.
Kitchen - after removal - ready for wall to come out
Facing the other end of the kitchen after the "half wall" came out. It was really two rooms with a large doorway - really difficult to plan until we decided to rip out the wall.
This is the wall you can see in the first photo after it was knocked out (steel beam installed) and props coming out tomorrow.
And the sunken "Cleopatra" bath that was probably quite charming in 1929 but past its "use by" date (not to mention dangerous) now -