Removed

Hello,

I bought my first home, a 1960s 3br here in the Hunter region, NSW, back in 2018. It's not flash, but it's very livable and the location is ideal for me. I have no plans to sell.

I'd like to make some improvements to the place over time, but I get a little stuck with analysis paralysis and am not sure where to start. I invite you to speculate and share your insights/advice on the least-bad ways to approach it I know these aren't specific questions that necessarily have easy answers. I am very much a layman so I'm just hoping to hear opinions, advice and questions to help guide me in a reasonable direction. I hope that I don't give the impression I'm under the assumption that any of this is trivial/cheap, but I cannot say that I fully understand the scope or cost of any of it.

A year or two ago, a hefty storm left me with some damage. The roof on the 'lean-to' (i.e. laundry, toilet, and shower) ended up in a driveway across the street, allowing the ceiling to become soaked and eventually collapse, and the double garage was destroyed (all that remains is a slab which is in bad condition and is unsuitable for re-use).

So given the above background, here are the warts:

• Roof on the lean-to is AWOL: no repairs made to date (tarped)
• Garage is AWOL: slab reviewed by engineer and can't be used
• House is on a mix of piers (original cast concrete and new brick, some of which have subsided), slab, and piers+curtain (I think that's what one'd call it)
• The front entry room (on the slab) is cactus: it seems to have taken on sufficient water over the years to cause internal ceiling/wall damage. The front doors are also exposed enough that, based on old images of the house on the web, it seems one gets 4-5 years out of the front doors before they swell and need replacing.

Things I'd like to achieve:

• Rebuild the front entryway room as a bedroom/study
• Add rear extension: add master bedroom and a laundry/storage at the rear
• Add replacement garage
• Add driveway through down to replacement garage
• Replace roof with something that takes advantage of the sun and the good airflow from the house's rear
• Make use of the outlook

The tricky part for me is figuring out what's the 'optimal' (loaded word, I know) way to approach this. It will likely need to be staged for cost reasons and I guess I'll incur some inefficiency because of that. That said, I'm still not sure of where to start and in what order to tackle it.

Here is what I have been thinking so far:

• Garage: without a garage/shed, I have nowhere to store anything to maintain the place (incl. tractor). I am considering building further back into the lot (unsure how I'll go with setback rules and the like) a garage/shed of sufficient scale to serve as storage, an office, and a temporary living arrangement for when larger renovations to the house are possible/affordable. I am leaning towards this being the first job for two reasons: the first being the aforementioned lack of tool storage/workshop and the second being the fact that it's a job seemingly distinct from the house works which simplifies things (in my layman mind).
• Foundations: before starting any major works to the house, the foundations should be sorted. I am inclined to replace all piers with something like a Duragal system, and use the opportunity to raise the house to allow for a 'basement' laundry (under master?) in the future extensions. Why Duragal (or similar)? As a layman, seems easier to erect and maintain level using the adjustable screw tops and replaceable posts, vs. bricks which I can't lay myself. Happy to be corrected on that and/or hear your experiences.
• Front entryway room: being on a slab, I think this would make raising the house difficult. I think my options here would be: don't raise the house, rebuild the room on temporary (or not) piers, or remove the room and rebuild it only once the final foundations are established. It would be rebuilt as a bedroom instead of an entryway, and the front door would be moved (undecided where..).
• Future extensions: remove the lean-to on the piers+curtain containing the laundry, toilet and shower. In its place, add the master + laundry extension. Assuming the foundations are fixed, I'm hoping this would be mostly separate work to any changes to the front entryway room which would make it suitable as a later stage.
• Roof: the current windows don't do a lot for lighting. I like the idea of 'clerestory' style windows at the front of the house. I don't know much about harnessing energy passively other than using the sun and its overhead angles at different times of year, but I think these windows might be a good way to get nice morning sun in Winter; adding windows for ventilation at the rear might allow good airflow in summer. Whether modifying the roof would be worthwhile for this, I'm not sure.

Thanks for reading





The 'front entry room' (right) on the slab





Current floorplan


Sewer main/line




Sun trajectory 1st of Jan



Sun trajectory 30th of Jun


Old floorplan ideas knocked up in Sketchup. After witnessing the results of the wind applied to my house in that storm, I'm less keen on the big windows at the rear.. and having the rooms all along the side that gets sun during Summer is also something I learned to consider since having the ideas.