rm size /flooring

[dzcook]

ok first off do you think a 5ft by 9ft approx floor area is big enough for a walkin wardrobe ?

2nd am opening up some of the old enclosed verandahs on the old hse am leaving the sides about 3 ft high just removing the old casement windows and leaving area below but am thinking that i would like to put down a a better floor ( old flooring is bad in that has lots of cracks gaps etc) but wood is basicly sound just looks like cr-p thought of just masonite underfloor sheeting but have started thinking that fibro underfloor sheeting might be better ( waterproof ?) was going to cover what ever with vinyl flooring after so any ideas would be good ( and any ideas to keep the costs down would be good as well )

have already run foul of the local coucil over the restumping so can anyone tell me what you can do in qld without telling them ie what renovations can you do with out submitting plans etc some one has already said that even replaceing the windows requires their permisson or doing what i want to do with verandahs may lead to trouble as i also want to remove the old corrugated iron from the kitchen area and replace with fibro so any feedback would be good
thks
david

[jackiew]

does it ever rain where you are? if you remove the windows to open up the veranda and it rains and the wind is in the right direction then rain will come in. If you've put vinyl flooring down then you will have a swimming pool at worst or a dangerously slippery surface at best. Better option would be to replace some of the windows with louvres if you want that open air feeling.

i've lived in houses where the 3rd bedroom was less than 5ft by 9ft!!! ... sounds plenty big enough for a wardrobe to me. Why don't you get some string and some tent pegs and mark the space out on your lawn, mark out the position of the doorways, the depth of shelves and hanging space and see how it feels.

[Sturdee]

....... do you think a 5ft by 9ft approx floor area is big enough for a walkin wardrobe ?

Yes. When I renovated our bedroom I partitioned a section off for a walk-in wardrobe. The area I used was 4'6" by 10' so your area should be okay provided you plan the shelving and hanging space carefully.

I used a combination of double hanging space, small sections of tall hanging space, shelves and pull out baskets with single hanging space above, shoe racks build in between the internal wall studs and shelving for storage above it all.

I also used a sliding door to save space in the bedroom.


Goodluck.


Peter.

[wombat47]

Depends who is going to use the wardrobe. If it were for my 18 year old daughter, definitely too small!!

[dzcook]

i hope u mean not a big enough wardrode for your daughter not that u would keep her in it lol

[Taffy]

Dave, being a standard 1970's-1980's bathroom is usually 8ftx6ft (similar floor area) I would think the size you mentioned should be quite adequate.
Re your question about what is allowable in Qld for renovations, I have always stuck with the belief that if you are restoring a place to its original style and appearence there should not be any problems. The time you will come unstuck is if you try to add to the roof line and don't get council permission, or if you try to build too close to your fence and a neighbour complains.
To be honest how are the council to know if you have changed anything inside, it may have been there when you bought, and there is unlikely to be a plan of the inside of a Queenslander in council as they only keep records for about 10 years. and we had a god awful flood in 1974.
I have just renovated a house in Brissy, got approval for the decks, the rest is my business.
Taffy

[jackiew]

suggest that the neighbours are most likely people to dob you in to the council ... cos they will know what you're doing and what state the house was in before. Which means don't wake them up on Sunday morning at sparrow-fart hammering nails in.

On the other hand applying for permits might be less stress. You can always ring up the council and talk to them about what's legal and what isn't ... you don't have to tell them who you are.

[bitingmidge]

Dave,

Not a good idea to cover timber floors that are going to get wet. I have a fair idea what the wood looks like: I'm guessing it was exposed and weathered before the casements were put in? Think seriously about punching the nails, giving it a light sand and painting with a suitable (paving) paint. The gaps are good - they'll let the water go straight through!

As for the rules: Technically you need an aproval everytime your dog poops on the lawn. Thanks to this marvellous device called the Integrated Planning Act, you are either conducting "operational works" or ending up with a "material change of use". The little dopey people who make a living dreaming up new ways to stop us doing things have been working overtime, and ironically are the reason so many people are doing things without permits...it's just got too hard to comply!

You should be ok with any non-structural modification, and even removing the windows to the verandah should be OK. If you get busted for that you could tell them that they were added without a permit and you are just bringing the house into line!

Replacing the stove recess or wall cladding is OK, providing there are no planning regulations which prohibit it, (unlikely in rural Qld), and if I were you I'd do whatever I felt like inside....don't forget to wear yourAluminium Foil Deflector Beanie to keep the thought police at bay.

Changing plumbing is a no-no but you'll probably get away with it if you don't have to change anything in ground, if you have a plumber talk to him about how far he is prepared to go.

BTW...how did you get busted with the stumping?

Cheers,

P

[dzcook]

got busted by the local building inspector jogging past the hse every avro !! didnt know he lived down the rd a bit

then got the letter from the coucil saying that they couldnt find a pemit application for the said work 3 wks after applying still not heard a thing but they got my $150 so suppose they are happy

asked at the coucil if they had any phamplets on what u can do etc and was told bluntly NO what ever i want to do has to be submitted and then they will tell me if i needed a permit good system hmmm


yes jackveiw it dose rain here last time was about 2 mths ago for 3 hrs so was alot of rain lol

had thought about drill and screwing down the looser boards on verandah and then painting them so might even do that as will be a lot cheaper in the long run

scored a 2nd hand kitchen today in t/ville popped down for a doctors visit had time to kill so went to the hse wreckers there and got one with sink $650 then had to hire a trailer to get it back here 135 klms ec way so another $50 so am quite pleased about it as can rearrange pieces to get what i need only problem may be getting bench tops to match what is on the units now
can they re cover laminated benchs ie use the wood section and just apply new laminate to it over the old stuff ??


onl,y thing that worrys me with any work done now is on things like walkin rodes / ensuites etc that they might be to modern in a old hse and the coucil will say u are caught out oh well makes life interesting i suppose

cyas
david

[wombat47]

Bitingmidge .. Many thanks for that link to the very relevant and helpful site demonstrating the Aluminium Foil Deflector Beanie. I immediately made myself a beanie - so easy to acquire a perfect fit. I tried protecting the computer from alien and government inference but I had to make a hole in the foil to be able to see the monitor, and it's very difficult to find the right keys, and the system seems to be overheating ....

I've passed on the site to a friend who works in mental health - it should brighten up the day (aluminium's well known reflective properties).