Getting expert advice re: renovating

Hi All

First time poster and have spent the last little while reading lots of the KDR vs renovation topics.

Some context:

My wife and I are in our later twenties. We own a single storey home in Sydney's north west/hills area - a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, carport and pool home built in the late 1970s on 800 sq metres. Has had a kitchen renovated and two bathrooms renovated (not by us - about 10 years ago). We have repainted since moving in.

We want to look into what options really into what could be done with the place - i.e. if we do some internal renovations, larger renovations or KDR. Essentially we would like to see if we could achieve what we want (e.g. larger kitchen, outdoor entertaining area) with our current home and some renovations, or if we need to think bigger.

We would love to be able to get someone in to give us advice about this as we both know very, very little about anything building related - I do apologise that this probably isn't the most succinctly written post. Do you guys have advice on someone who could come, take a look at our place and tell us what options we available and relative costs?

Thanks!
Caleb

Ultimately that's what a builder will do. I don't know any in Sydney unfortunately, but do a Google search for small company builders who do renovations and get a few in to look.

Some will be better than others. Some can guide you and give advice, others will just give you a price on what you want and not offer any recommendations themselves. That's why it's worth getting a few in, plus you can compare costs.

Good luck.

Thanks mattb81

If anyone can recommend such builders in the Sydney hills region please let me know.

Cheers

Hi Caleb,
We are in North Rocks and are in the planning stages of a first floor addition and total renovation. We have had architect Brendan from BJD Design do our drawings, and will be going with Select Construction for the build. Daniel is our contact there. We have amended the plans to be within our budget and are preparing docs for DA submission. They both have facebook pages to check out.

After looking at other options with other builders, we are relieved to have found this draftsman and builer, who are local too!

Good luck.

Hi Parrydise

Thanks for recommendations. Incidentally I'm in the same suburb as you. Just had a quick look at their websites and we will keep it in mind.
Thanks all.

We used Paul from for our property renovations...we are based in West Pennant Hills. He did an amazing job in initially helping us renovate our kitchen before helping us with the rest of the place. Would really recommend him.

As the first step, I'm sure quite a few people would be able to offer ideas and advice if you have a photo of your floorplan you can share.

My partner and I are first time renovators and we just dived straight in and so far we are thrilled with the results.

Hi there

I am also in North Rocks. We are in the last few weeks of our renovation (addition and alteration). We used Envirotecture to draw up our plans and go through Council. We used Superior Constructions for the build. Can't recommend them enough.

Has been an enjoyable process:-)

Good luck with it all.

Hi,

You need to have an idea of what you want to do before you call a builder in.

A few questions to consider-

Is the house big enough? Yes/ No If yes then a small reno will be sufficient (maybe move a few walls etc). If no then is there room to extend out? Going up is expensive. If it needs a major amount of extra space KDR may be better.

Send me a PM if you decide on a smaller reno and want some ideas. We have done quite a few, moving a few walls, adding walls, kitchen, bathroom etc.

Hi Caleb,
When you renovate your home you should consider various factors for better results. In your case you want larger kitchen, outdoor entertainment area etc. So you should give more attention to this area in order to minimize the expense. You can browse for the latest trends about home renovation and of course about the expenses too. Afterwards you can consult any home builders. My home renovation was done with the help of an in-house designer in Oakville, they had done a great job. They suggested me to take the measurement of the rooms that is to be innovated and then consider my requirements, ideas and budget. It is very important to get a good builder in order to save time and money while improving our dream home.