Biff's Reno - Updated Pics

Given there is no renovators forum and the fact this renovation is not that far off a new build I thought I would start topic on our renovation journey.

Background
We own an old 1890's, single fronted Victorian. We've had the poor old girl for about 6 years now and although parts of her are satisfactory the key areas (bathroom & kitchen) certainly could do with an update. In planning for a family we also decided we simply need more space! The house currently has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.

The Target
A modern, two story renovation with open plan kitchen/living area, 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms and upstairs sun deck.
Estimated build time: 6 months.

Leading up to this point have been the following milestones:
Jun 2008 - Engage architect
Feb 2009 - Plans finalised
Jun 2010 - Relevant permits granted and ready to go!

Without too much more fuss here are some 'before' pictures.

Kitchen: Not so attractive eh? Our poor old oven had been used and abused so much that the temperature numbers had worn off. Need to cook for 45 mins on 180? Sure no problems, urm......*flicks knob about half way* - that ought to do it! Needless to say we had some interesting meals to begin with until our guesses became more accurate.





Living Room: I don't think too many words are needed here!



Hallway: Ordinary paint job, smallest 'man hole' in the entire world and an off centre skylight at no additional cost. When we first moved in the carpet stunk like old Nanna so bad that we had to put down new carpet (the cheapest stuff I could find) just to try and get rid of the smell.



Bathroom: Just plain horrid. The shower is so bad I am too ashamed to post a picture. It had one of those interesting windows above the toilet which had two panes of glass that kind of overlapped which left a gap between the two so air could flow in and out. Great idea for removing noxious odours but bad in both winter and summer.



Bedrooms: Nothing really exciting except one has built in robes and the other doesn't have any but does have a beautiful ceiling.





The back: Outside has a small courtyard. We hardly ever use it as it's just concrete and has a shed in one corner.

DEMO TIME!

Now for the fun part........mwah ha ha ha!!

How exciting! Congrats on the beginning of the journey.

What have you demolished? What are you keeping?

Thanks mpcj it's been a long time coming.

We have a heritage overlay at the front so we can't touch the facade. As a result we are keeping the front two bedrooms and a small third room that will become the new main bathroom. The rest of the house is getting demolished.

I can see why you want to renovate. Sounds like a big job. Enjoy the adventure. Are you able to post plans of what your house is going to become?

Unfortunately I can't post plans so you'll just have to use your imagination for now.

Well that didn't take long!

Hey nice Biff, I was waiting to see when you would put up a thread!

Great demo job that went on there. Please keep us updated with lots of pics, it's interesting to see the transformation of a Victorian home.
Scan some plans and put them up!

Trippy

Luck

ARGH! I can't find anything in this one bedroom dog box of a rental (I think my wife might be under one of these boxes....hmmm). Anyway, the best I can do is to put these up to give you an idea of the finished product.





Things are progressing well. There was one small issue with a random gas pipe crossing right through my backyard and that of my neighbours. Gas company had no record of it (although it was still active) and capped the thing and said "If someone's using it and they no longer have gas, we'll here from them." OK then.

Footings have been dug and we now have a nice new slab. I'm REALLY looking forward to doing the brickwork on the left, removing the temporary fencing and avoid any issues with my neighbours. Let me just say the owner wasn't particularly happy with the whole idea of a renovation.

I know the feeling. I packed the cat last night, gonna pack the dog tomorrow night and then Ms Echo this weekend. And I dont move for another 2-3 weeks.

sweet job so far.
are you owner building? are you a builder?
looking forward to see the progress

I think the builder has his work cut out for him there, with the limited space around the exterior of the worksite.
Would be great to watch!

PS: Don't you just love those figures in the drawings they make, all lounging around, they don't show the reality of me sitting in the study till 10pm working to pay off the darn place!

New look is going to be fabulous ... cant wait to see more of your reno!!

No to both - we have a builder for the whole job. I just pop in on the weekends and take photos.



Exactly. Not only that but my wife likes the idea of the hanging chair thingy so much that she constantly asks if we're having one!

Nice work Biff good to see it all coming together.

Steel, glorious (expensive!) steel! Not to neglect the brickwork on the boundary or the timber that has arrived for the frame either.





It was a bit of a surprise to casually walk in the front door and find no floor. It took me a split second to realise too.
The wood on the floor is silver-top ash which we are using for some of the external cladding.

Nice beams mate!
Also I like that colour of the wood you chose as well. That will polish up nicely.

Flying through the framing! The light well at the back left of the room is a big skylight which will shine some lovely sun into the kitchen.

Everything is running to plan and my builder is doing an awesome job.

The ceiling in the bedroom is gorgeous, absolutely stunning, I wish they still made them like that!!!

Everything is still progressing very well.
Frame is taking shape and I had a chance to get upstairs to have an initial look about.



This is the early stages of the downstairs bathroom. We've had to drop the ceiling to accommodate the upstairs deck off the master bedroom and we've knocked out the small double hung window and are replacing it with floor to ceiling French doors that lead out to a small light well.



Below is the very early beginnings of the upstairs deck. The roof part you see will be eventually cut away and it should create a nice private outdoor space for wifey to sit out and read, catch some sun or whatever.