Reno Advice

[wildfire]

I am looking at a house to reno close to the city, and am looking at some figures, it currently looks like picture 1 and I would like to make it look like picture 2 (outside view from street)

What would need to be done and how much would need to be spent to get it looking like something similar?

The inside does not have photographs as of yet, but will need heavy renovations too.

I am targeting the young business person (or couple) the house current price is around $370k - $400k 6km from city feature 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom timber house (no off street parking) with renovated houses in the area going between $500k - $750k for 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom timber house (no off street parking)

I am thinking about living in the property and renovating one room / part of house at a time and selling in around 1 years time after renovations have finished.

Does this work? Is this ideal? Any flaws in my project that you have experienced or can predict?

 

[craigb]

Done this in canberra but the houses are not as old , it looks like just a good sand and paint and make good on the other surfaces, clear the tree's and add a small victorian garden , picket fence etc,it is not a huge home so take your time,, and perhaps a heat gun, will rid you of the old paint , beware of the lead in old paint, good luck.

 

[wylie]

I don't like picture 2 at all. It has lost all the charm of the original house. I agree with craigb about what needs doing. To wipe away all character would be a huge mistake (in my opinion, and not knowing what type of houses are around this house).

 

[RumpledElf]

You can see the house next door in the photos .... its just got a nice coat of paint, a picket fence, pretty verandah posts and probably a cottage garden to match.

Strip old paint, put on new, make that verandah roof the same colour as the house roof, put on pretty turned verandah posts and/or wrought iron lacework, ditch the fence and trees for something in keeping with the neighbour's house and you're set

 

[LynnH]

I'm with craig, wylie and Elf on this one - IMHO, the old character houses look much better when 'restored to their former glory' rather than turned into some soul-less modern version of the same.

Mind if I ask what suburb it's in, wildfire?

Cheers
LynnH

 

[Buzz]

I agre we do the same - return the property to its formal glory - even if that is taking out the 70's aluminium front window and finding the lead light original in the wrekers yeard. As we have just done, same goes for inside fireplaces with ornate surrounds, original panel doors.

We haev lived in all ours as we haev done them, just be prepared in getting plaster dust into everything.

Jane

 

[Twitch]

I am targeting the young business person (or couple) the house current price is around $370k - $400k 6km from city feature 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom timber house (no off street parking) with renovated houses in the area going between $500k - $750k for 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom timber house (no off street parking)

I am thinking about living in the property and renovating one room / part of house at a time and selling in around 1 years time after renovations have finished.

Does this work? Is this ideal? Any flaws in my project that you have experienced or can predict?

I've extensively renovated 2 Victorian timber houses in Melbourne which were in a similiar condition to that one.

There are so many issues, ideas & traps it's hard to know where to start.

First thing I think you need to consider is safety. Lead paint. Asbestos (rear lean-to?). Old wiring with decayed insulation. You'll almost certainly have 2 of the three and probably all 3.

Do not under estimate the danger of lead paint, I'll almost guarantee all the paint will have lead if the facade condition is any guide as to how old the paint is. This makes renovating the interior in particular a tricky prospect. In one house I simply ripped out the l&p and gyprocked the entire hose. In another I had a hard plasterer encase the lead paint in a 3mm coat of fresh plaster. You cannot use a sander on lead paint.

Heritage overlay? Covenants?

Then there's the structual issues. It's almost pointless to do any renovation without restumping, $6k?

The house looks low to the ground so check access.

The services may have to be replaced, particularly water. Some old houses don't even have storm, so check it out. Is gas there? If so how old does the meter look? How old does the electricity meter look? Does it still have the old bacalite fuses?

Then there's the flooring issue and what kind of condition the boards are in. $25/sqm to sand & polish assuming the boards are 100% OK (normally not but might get lucky).

Then there's the lath & plaster walls repair ($2-3k/room?), or replace?

Ceilings can be really touch and go if they are still l&p. All depends on whether any roof leaks have gone unchecked and how the restumping goes.

There won't be any insulation, $2k?.

Rewiring ~$6k?

Gravity hot water?

Any heating?

Then theres the floor plan. The old houses usually have a nice layout for the front 2 or 4 rooms, but living rooms & wet areas will be a mess. This is where the expense really starts.


I don't want to put you off, I love old houses and wouldn't swap mine for anything. I want to warn you though these houses often need a lot of $$$$ if they've been uncared for.

Good luck.

 

[buzzlightyear]

I've extensively renovated 2 Victorian timber houses in Melbourne which were in a similiar condition to that one.

There are so many issues, ideas & traps it's hard to know where to start.

First thing I think you need to consider is safety. Lead paint. Asbestos (rear lean-to?). Old wiring with decayed insulation. You'll almost certainly have 2 of the three and probably all 3.

Do not under estimate the danger of lead paint, I'll almost guarantee all the paint will have lead if the facade condition is any guide as to how old the paint is. This makes renovating the interior in particular a tricky prospect. In one house I simply ripped out the l&p and gyprocked the entire hose. In another I had a hard plasterer encase the lead paint in a 3mm coat of fresh plaster. You cannot use a sander on lead paint.

Heritage overlay? Covenants?

Then there's the structual issues. It's almost pointless to do any renovation without restumping, $6k?

The house looks low to the ground so check access.

The services may have to be replaced, particularly water. Some old houses don't even have storm, so check it out. Is gas there? If so how old does the meter look? How old does the electricity meter look? Does it still have the old bacalite fuses?

Then there's the flooring issue and what kind of condition the boards are in. $25/sqm to sand & polish assuming the boards are 100% OK (normally not but might get lucky).

Then there's the lath & plaster walls repair ($2-3k/room?), or replace?

Ceilings can be really touch and go if they are still l&p. All depends on whether any roof leaks have gone unchecked and how the restumping goes.

There won't be any insulation, $2k?.

Rewiring ~$6k?

Gravity hot water?

Any heating?

Then theres the floor plan. The old houses usually have a nice layout for the front 2 or 4 rooms, but living rooms & wet areas will be a mess. This is where the expense really starts.


I don't want to put you off, I love old houses and wouldn't swap mine for anything. I want to warn you though these houses often need a lot of $$$$ if they've been uncared for.

Good luck.

Great summary Twitch..

Sounds like my reno and where the last 6 months of my spare time and cash has gone too.

 

[RumpledElf]

Heh yup, doing the stone version of one of these myself. Barring the bathroom, the floor plan isn't totally useless at least, and it is structurally sound, but a lot of the rest holds true. The kitchen was particularly awful. We've got ours vacant while it is being fixed up, with view to rent out at the start of the new year and probably move into it ourselves later.

 

[Lily House]

Some great advice there Wildfire.

Melburnians love their heritage homes - keep the orginal character to ensure maximum capital gains.

And Twitch is right - lots of costs in renovating these types of homes. Just make sure you do a really thorough cost analysis - and overestimate how much everything will cost, and how long it will take, and if there is still a good profit there - go for it!

If you can live in it and reno yourself - already saved yourself capital gains tax.

Good luck.

Lily

 

[quoll]

Character home, don't change it just fix it up to 2008 standards. Replace broken bits (roof sheets) paint the good stuff.

I agree with everyone else.

Regards
Graeme

 

[Tizzy]

Have to agree that a pretty fix up of number one will be streets ahead of number two if you can pull it off.

 

[Celeste]

One other thing to check. Not sure if the rules are still the same as in 1988.

I understood that in Melbourne any house that hits 100yrs old is automatically Heritage listed..

Our Victorian reno in Moonee Ponds was 1 month short of 100yrs old when we sold. We found where the builder had signed and dated the weather boards in the lounge room behind the plaster. That was a real buzz.


Have fun...