Our current renovation - before photos

[wylie]

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 -

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

Im a massive before and after photos fan so i can't wait to see the after photos.

I think I will put up some photos of our recent reno as well!

Regards

Shahin

 

[kathryn d]

That probably was a stylish tub in its day. Love it

 

[ashes]

Who is your builder?
I have a similar job (knock out a supporting wall) on a 1900 timber Queenslander. I always like hearing about good trades-people/builders.

Ash.

 

[trinity168]

Good stuff Wylie, please post reno costing if you don't mind.

Cheers

 

[wylie]

Who is your builder?
I have a similar job (knock out a supporting wall) on a 1900 timber Queenslander. I always like hearing about good trades-people/builders.

Builder is Owen Ferguson (Ferguson Builders). He lives close by and I'd recommend him.

Don't forget Brian who is NBS from this forum, who is on the north side, but was most helpful for advice when we needed advice badly on a house our son bought. I'm not sure if he is in Brisbane right now, but you could give him a PM.

 

[wylie]

Good stuff Wylie, please post reno costing if you don't mind.

Cheers

I'll post costs once we are finished spending. This reno is -

. gut bathroom
. new bathroom
. gut kitchen
. new kitchen including appliances
. paint internally
. have floors polished

I estimated this would cost us $25K to $30K (ballpark $10K kitchen, $10K bathroom, $3K floors, painting done by me so just cost of paint plus my time plus allowance for things that will go wrong. With an ashblock house built in 1929 we were certain things would go wrong, or at least we would find little surprises.

We have done more than planned. Added to the above is -

. We decided to pay a builder to prop up the sunken front concrete patio. It had sunk in the middle by 50mm. Builder advised engineer report and approval.

. Same engineer did plan for removing a structural wall between the kitchen and the dining room. Builder installed a steel beam and we also removed the part wall at the other end of the kitchen.

My hubby is very capable of doing these jobs, but we paid for a builder mostly because he worked with an engineer and both of them will be issuing paperwork that is worth real money in the event of ever selling this house. The sunken patio will always be very obvious in a building inspection. It is not being jacked up, but supported by five stumps and a large beam and then topped with a levelling layer. So we need the bit of paper signed off by both builder and engineer or we will fail any future building inspection, or lose big money when a buyer lowers the offer price for such an obvious "problem".

Builder is great though, so having him look after this has allowed hubby to tackle some of the other "extra" work not initially planned...

We decided to close up a doorway and a window, plus what was once an external large bathroom window but which is now an internal window between the bathroom and a bedroom, not required and just weird.

Also decided to convert existing 1950s carport into living space, which entails boarding up a large wall of breeze blocks, installing windows and french doors.

So, once we have everything finished, I'll post up our costs.

 

[INVSTOR]

Cool, looking forward to seeing your progress and end product!

 

[HD_ACE]

If you dont mind....

what sort or figure are you looking at to remove wall, install steel beam and have it cert/ approved?

Im looking to do the same thing in a future reno.

thanks

 

[wylie]

what sort or figure are you looking at to remove wall, install steel beam and have it cert/ approved?

We are paying about $10K (cannot find contract right now) but that includes the cost of the builder cutting through the ashblock base, installing a gate to get the steel under the patio, cost of the steel C-beam for the kitchen, hardwood beam for the other end of the kitchen (non-supporting wall required a hanging beam only), removing the wall under the newly installed C-beam, plus the cost of the engineer for his initial visit, follow up visit and third visit to sign off.

I'm unsure if this is good value, but with so much else to organise, we just wanted to get it organised.

All this hubby could easily have done himself, but we really will be relying on the contract and guarantee from a registered builder and the jobs having been signed off as being structurally sound because the patio from underneath clearly has had a major issue. We also asked the engineer to state on his report that the house can take a second level.

The builder's paperwork and engineer's report mean we can market the property down the track and not have it fail a building inspection. It will be a valuable bit of paper.

 

[HD_ACE]

We are paying about $10K (cannot find contract right now) but that includes the cost of the builder cutting through the ashblock base, installing a gate to get the steel under the patio, cost of the steel C-beam for the kitchen, hardwood beam for the other end of the kitchen (non-supporting wall required a hanging beam only), removing the wall under the newly installed C-beam, plus the cost of the engineer for his initial visit, follow up visit and third visit to sign off.

I'm unsure if this is good value, but with so much else to organise, we just wanted to get it organised.

All this hubby could easily have done himself, but we really will be relying on the contract and guarantee from a registered builder and the jobs having been signed off as being structurally sound because the patio from underneath clearly has had a major issue. We also asked the engineer to state on his report that the house can take a second level.

The builder's paperwork and engineer's report mean we can market the property down the track and not have it fail a building inspection. It will be a valuable bit of paper.

Thanks for that

 

[wylie]

Forgot to add that included in the price is also five galvanised steel posts to support the sunken patio slab, in cement footings. This is happening this week, the is the last part of the job. It is not going to be an easy job. The patio is about three feet high where the post holes will be dug.

The decision was made not to try to jack up the slab as that would cause more damage to the rest of the house. So it will be stabilised and once that is done, it is engineered to take the weight of a topping slab to make the floor level again.

This is the patio. The edges are "high" and the middle of the patio has sunk to 50mm in the centre. In all the rain the other day, I filled a 20 litre bucket and it just kept coming in through the bottom glass. That is another job for us... the sinking patio means the timber trim now slopes back towards the glass and the water runs in. Hubby drilled a hole at the lowest point so the water would drain.

 

[lizzie]

Can't wait to see the after photos ... great job.

My problem is that I keep forgetting to take before photos as I'm too busy getting "stuck in" and doing it. Will make an effort.

 

[Ed Barton]

Thanks Wylie.

I for one wouldn't mind in progress pics and a bit more about the carport conversion.

Are you renovating for increased valuation (your post in the other thread indicates you don't think it's a money spinner) or increased rent or both?

 

[wylie]

Will put up some progress photos tonight and our reason for doing this. It is too hard on an iPhone

 

[wylie]

Thanks Wylie.

I for one wouldn't mind in progress pics and a bit more about the carport conversion.

Are you renovating for increased valuation (your post in the other thread indicates you don't think it's a money spinner) or increased rent or both?

Garage conversion is problematic. Do we get it drawn up and approved or do we allow the tenant to have his son live in it with just the roller door replaced with french doors? New tenant (our painter) is happy to do it this way until we are ready to deal with the floor. It slopes very gradually, not enough to stop it being a livable room. The outside of the house in the garage is stucco which hubby will remove rather than try to sheet over it and make it level (very bumpy stucco). The breezeblock wall will be sheeted with a lintel providing support for a window to the yard.

Here is a photo of the current set up



The car tracks will go and the fence will continue past where it stops now. The roller door comes off and hubby will probably try to disguise the slope of the asbestos roof without disturbing it or the cladding above the roller door.

We can either build up the floor by about 4 inches at the roller door end and have three steps down to the room, or build up the floor to two steps from the dining room (which would be more like ten inches at the roller door end) or hubby will build a timber floor. I don't want to do it and then find we have to rip it out to satisfy a certifier, so I'm pushing for the son to live on the concrete floor with a big carpet until we know for sure the best way to go.

We've had our pest man and builder look at it, and this will be discussed again very soon, so we can make a decision.

The reason we are doing this reno is that one tenant has been there for 15 years. My mother used to increase his rent, but as the house got shabbier she always preferred to keep the rent lower than she could get because we all knew that if this tenant left we had a major gut and reno to do if we wanted to get good rent and if we wanted to stop the house from deteriorating.

By the time he left he was paying $350 per week and we could have been getting $400 per week "as is". But "as is" was pretty bad, and I was surprised when two agents said we could get $400. So, it suited us to leave him there until we were ready and had time to get into this renovation.

I estimated the job would take $30K to $35K, ballpark allowance of $10K kitchen, $10 bathroom, $3K floor sander and $7K painting and everything else. But we had the luxury of not really having a budget, and we have made changes along the way to make the house flow better.

We also considered doing it up and selling, but will rent it out and see what happens with other things that we have on our plate.

 

[wylie]

Some of the changes we decided on as we went that were not in the initial scope of works (or the initial budget) were -

- Removing the wall that divided the kitchen. This kitchen started life as a kitchen and laundry, and when the garage was added with a large laundry at the rear, the old laundry wall was knocked into a larger opening, but it made the kitchen feel "cut up" and made planning a kitchen difficult as it was like two rooms. We decided to knock out the wall, and that cost $900 because the builder wanted the engineer to specify the timber hanging beam. Hubby would have done it for one third this cost, but like the other builder/engineer jobs, it was worth paying extra to get that magic piece of paper at the end.

- Removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room. This required a steel beam to be made and builder installed it and cut out the opening.

- Having builder/engineer prop up the sunken patio. Hubby could have done this too but it all came down to that magic bit of paper which will be invaluable when it comes to selling. The sunken patio will not be missed by any building inspection and knowing it is engineered and approved will mean money in our pocket rather than a vendor running a mile.

These three small jobs cost us about $11K but we believe were worthwhile for the reasons above.

- Decided to close a kitchen window that looked into the garage (used to look into the yard until the garage was built). This made planning the kitchen easier.

- Decided to close up the bank of windows that opened in to the garage. They were a danger at head height, looked into a garage and didn't get much breeze through the breeze blocks. They now give a good large wall for furniture.

- Closed up six hopper windows in third small bedroom that used to be a sleepout, and replaced with casements.

- Moved plumbing so toilet is hidden behind the door. This didn't cost much extra but a hidden problem was the DT under the house which would not be allowed now, and was moved/fixed/filled in (?) by the plumber when the new toilet pipes were run.

- HWS was huge and took up a bit of laundry room. If it broke down it would legally have to be moved outside, so we paid extra to have it moved now. The copper was too narrow and water pressure was terrible, so we had new copper run. This all cost more but we got a bigger laundry and saves having to fiddle with it in the middle of a tenancy. We also built storage cupboards into the laundry which we couldn't have done as the HWS moving at some time would have meant ripping them out.

- Decided to close in the garage, close in the breeze blocks, close in the windows opening to this garage, raise the floor level, replace roller door with french doors and install windows and lintel.

- Divide garage into this new living/bedroom and a small storage room that can easily have a second toilet installed and/or shower down the track.

- Closed up a doorway between a bedroom and the old laundry end of the kitchen. This second bedroom had three doors and a window.

So, we have doubled our initial budget (not finished but ballpark) due to all the extras and overruns.

But we have made a two bedroom and tiny third bedroom/study into a three bedroom and tiny fourth bedroom/study. That extra bedroom is a big plus and it could be used as a separate entry office if not required as a bedroom.

 

[wylie]

Bathroom before and during (this looks so much better in the photo than it was in reality - YUCK!!!)

 

[wylie]

Dining room windows that opened to the garage (real danger of knocking yourself out walking through the garage), and closed up read for finishing plaster work -

 

[wylie]

Main bedroom with unpainted timber wardrobes (I would LOVE these wardrobes - hubby wanted to pull half of them out - no way!!!) - and next photo undercoated - (Note the gorgeous domed plaster ceiling)