Renovations from start to finish Part A

[namtrak]

Working on the laundry now. Our theory has always been, that where space is tight laundries are a luxury, and as such, we felt we got more bang for our bucks by converting the old laundry and outside toilet into an ensuite and building a new laundry on the deck.

Being on the deck, we figure the laundry will also double as the wet area for any outdoor entertainment spectaculars we may throw.

All up the laundry cost about $350. This included the new sink, runners for the doors, poly and assorted screws and stuff.

I am still waiting on the plumber to connect up the taps for the laundry and put in the mixer tap above the sink. The area above the laundry will eventually be rendered and the existing window replaced with a glass brick window.

The timber is all from Studleys packs. The lighter coloured stuff is some of the leftover from the Northern Beech flooring and the darker benchtops are blue gum from his reject packs! The two posts are some spare redgum I had lying around.

The whole kebab is finished with Cabots Marine Poly (I still have a few coats to go.

[pawnhead]

That looks great.
I love the look of the 'reject' timber you're getting. The 'flaws' give it character that it otherwise wouldn't have. I like the top that you've put on the built ins on the previous page as well.
You're doing a great job of the finishing, and I'm following your thread with interest.

[namtrak]

A couple of quick updates.

Firstly the paving. I have paved the side of the house and a portion at the rear, all up it was about 50 sqm. I used a brand called Trojanstone. The main 400 by 400 pavers were $40 per sqm. The edging pavers were seconds and cost about $35 per sqm. I bordered the paving down the side of the house with ‘rumbled sandstone’ .

In total the paving cost about $2500 including buckshot, packing sand, aggiepipe and aggregate. When I have finished the renos I will clean the pavers and seal them with a semi gloss paving finish.

I have also included the concreted front patio, which I will paint with straight paving paint, probably a dull red.

[namtrak]

I have also been working on the final rendering and the ensuite.

I dont have an old photo of where we started, but you get the idea.

The first pic shows the newly installed glass brick windows, and the fresh render. The window on the right was the old external laundry and the window on the left was the old outside toilet.

Firstly, I alomst copied everything from Juan's thread on his bathroom renos!!

Dug up the old concrete floors, relaid two new slabs - one either side of the inlaid steel drains. Water proofed the walls with damp course material.

Lined the walls with AC sheeting, and then waterproofed the whole ensuite.

The tiles and grout were done last week and now I just need to sand paint the top half of the walls and the ceiling.

Costings to follow!!

[namtrak]

And finally a checklist of my mini list of jobs.

Finish skirts and archs. DONE
Paint walls in loungeroom 2 days
Paint Skirts and archs 3 days
Finish extended kitchen bench DONE
Finish builtins DONE
Final plaster sanding painting 3 days
Finish cornice and sanding around fireplace 5 days
Paint internal doors DONE
Concrete patio DONE
Concrete around new extension DONE
Paving and Retaining wall DONE
New front gate DONE

[bingoshelley]

wow ive just read your blog over a couple of days wanted to take as much in as i could your costings are way off what we have budgeted for our new house we are owner building very soon ( i have started a similar blog to you on www.byohouse.com.au) you have definately got me extremely worried lol but ive loved the read and have picked up a few tips so thankyou very much.everyone is welcome to read my ob project as its just starting and i was hoping wouldnt take as long as yours i was planning on retiring before i hit 50 im 42 now so that might be a pipe dream lol i love this site had heaps of help and heaps of reality checks.thanks again

[namtrak]

Well it is finally all said and done. And here are a few post scripts!!

The house was completed in a hurry, because we have moved to Canberra and after all that work are now renting the house out to students.

From the time the first hole was dug to completion was around 16 months. Although I did lose 3/4 months, so to say it took a year would be reasonable.

In that time we added an extra 95 sqm of floor space, which made up 2 bedrooms, a large living area and new deck. The roof was trussed to match the existing house and was externally finished so as to look like a seemless extension. We also installed a new kitchen, and created an ensuite for one of the bedrooms. And finally I landscaped outside with around 50 sqm of paving and 50 sqm of turf (Buffalo).

The house is exactly how we want it (and I am sure the students will love it )

Cost wise, I havent completed the final budget but it cost very close to $140,000 - which was $80,000 cheaper than the next comparable quote.

The ensuite cost $4,500, the kitchen cost around $11,000 and the landscaping cost $3,500. Which means the extension it self cost $1,270 per sqm or about $11,200 per square.

Was it worth it? In a fiscal sense, the house cost $88,000 to buy in 2002. When we started the extension in 2006 the house was worth about $180,000 as is. We spent $140,000, which puts the actual value of the house at $320,000. In todays market, the house would sell for about $400,000 - a nett increase of $80,000 for a years work.

Would we do it again? In a heart beat!! As a matter of fact we have just purchased a house in Queanbeyan and will start again - and hopefully apply some of the things we learnt from this renovation. Stay tuned for the next House Renovation blog!!

Cheers

[wonnie]

congrats on a great job, it was nice to follow it along. lets hope you get to enjoy the current one a bit longer