Smithfield Plains Renovation

Corey Batt

Corey Batt

I've uploaded three galleries of the Before, During and After of the renovation. Around 80 pics all up. Feel free to have a look.

http://crackdenrenos.imgur.com/

Purchased in Dec '12 for $145,000, 10k reno, reval at 180k (usual conservatism of valuations). Rents $240/wk.

Wasn't a yield play as a quick clean up and paint would have achieved the same rent, and it is rented a little below market price.

Enjoy. :)

Before:
ucHWOWwl.jpg


After:
qwmnqw2l.jpg
 
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Hey Corey,

That looks awesome, you've done a great job. I presume you did most of the work yourselves? How long did it take, and was it just weekends?

PS. You're game parking the beemer in that suburb!
 
speary said:
Hey Corey,

That looks awesome, you've done a great job. I presume you did most of the work yourselves? How long did it take, and was it just weekends?

PS. You're game parking the beemer in that suburb!
Click to expand...

Except for the plumbing and electrical, all DIY. This was the first time my wife had ever taken part in a renovation, so it was an interesting experience. Luckily she found wallpaper removal fun. :eek:

Weekends and nights where I had the time, the problem with this one was we settled a week and a bit before Christmas and were two months away from getting married. :) Dragged out much more than I wanted, but we had it completed not long after getting back from O/seas. :)

BMW was fine, it was the Mercedes van which got stolen from there. ;)
 
looks great Cjay

can I ask that room with the fireplace,
the walls around it had the gaps, and the ceiling was wavey,

what did you do to make them flat again? or appear flat at least?
 
Great work Corey. Were u always that handy or you learned as you go?

How much would the exact same reno cost if you didn't DIY?
 
TMNT said:
looks great Cjay

can I ask that room with the fireplace,
the walls around it had the gaps, and the ceiling was wavey,

what did you do to make them flat again? or appear flat at least?
Click to expand...

The paneling was removed, gyprock underneath. Removed the panelling and brackets, patched up the holes. Voila.

Ceiling had multiple level styrofoam tiles glued to the ceiling. This was a pain, as they needed a lot of patching up plastering over most of the surface. I was happy with the result however.

Bez: This is my 4th reno, so I'm quite familiar with tools, DIY and the layout of bunnings. :)

I'd hazard a guess that to have everything done by professionals would be circa 25k.
 
jaspn said:
Inspirational, well done!

The aggregate flooring effect in the bathroom and toilet - is that paintable?
Click to expand...

Apparently not, unless you cut off the entire top layer. The terrazo flooring has thick seal on it, meaning the paint wouldn't adhear and 'soak in', it would just crack, scratch and flake off easily. That's the information I received in any case.
 
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jaspn said:
Don't you have to use steam to remove wallpaper?
Click to expand...

You do. Unfortunately half the property was wallpapered with a waxy finish paper which didn't like steam that much, even if you perforated the paper.

We found mopping the walls combined with hammer and scraper was the most time effective method.

The previous owner was a heavy smoker, so using the steamer activated all the lovely decades of nicotine in the wallpaper, which highly irritated skin. Recommend gloves if you know they were a smoker!
 
CJay said:
You do. Unfortunately half the property was wallpapered with a waxy finish paper which didn't like steam that much, even if you perforated the paper.

We found mopping the walls combined with hammer and scraper was the most time effective method.

The previous owner was a heavy smoker, so using the steamer activated all the lovely decades of nicotine in the wallpaper, which highly irritated skin. Recommend gloves if you know they were a smoker!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I'm possibly about to embark on a similar reno job (probably not quite as bad as yours), but in original 1970 condition. The vendor has lived in it for 42 years, has smoked inside for probably the entire duration (the ceilings and walls are yellow), and now has cancer. Gloves: Check.
 
Of The Vultures said:
Great job CJay, you've done a lot for $10k, kudos! Looks great.

The bathroom floor - what exactly is that, how much is it and can you DIY?

Cheers
Click to expand...

The floor is terrazzo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrazzo

Definitely not DIY to put in. Over time the floor can go dull and pale as the polish wears out. The most effective way to repair is to cut and resurface, but this costs time and $$$. ;) I repolished the floor, then sealed with a floor protectant sealer which brings up the shine. I've used this a couple times now, it works great on outdoor exposed terrazzo too.

irawin: Quality chinese tools. :)
 
CJay, Congratulations, had a good look through your albums - very impressive work you have done!

I always wince at those awful foam ceiling tiles because you never know what you will find under them.

Hope you are enjoying the married life.

Stangman.
 
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