Renovationand Extension:$4210sqm

[Dirty Doogie]

Hi Dombat, It sounds like all the Noosa builders are going back to Melbourne LOL!

Those quotes do sound excessive to me but I know that builders will add dollars to the budget when any sort renovation on a heritage listing is involved.

If you are able to post some plans I might be able to see where the money is supposedly going.

Otherwise I would suggest you redesign the new area so it is not structurally attached to the house (a pod). In brisbane this has proven a popular way to increase/modernise living area while still retaing street presence and character of older houses. Generally the new area has state of the art living . kitchen, bath facilities connected to the old house by a covered walkway. The old part of the house is then sound proofed and air cond and turned into sleeping/ study areas with minor renovation work.

You can save mega bucks doing things this way becuase it is all new build. And get around various planning problems.

[rat52]

As a carpenter I often gave quotes to owner builders and I told them all to do a TAFE course on being an owner builder as it would give them the tools to overcome the pitfalls and give them the confidence to deal with trades (talk the talk)