Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Mar 26, 2007 6:35 pm hi, new to the forum.
i'm midway purchasing a new place in brisbane and one of the conditions i was given if we were to buy this place was that i had to renovate the area that we'd live in. so! i stumbled on this site while trying to find information on paint strippers and now hoping that you seasoned renovators would be able to help me. if you could please list the things you would do first til last, i'll describe below what needs to be done. 1) painting, the whole place needs painting. for some reason the previous owner thought that black was the new black. in a small area, it makes the place look dirty and tiny. so i'm going to paint it a lighter colour, hence the paint stripper... 2) kitchen, i need to enjoy cooking. i hate it in there... i'll buy a second hand kitchen and destroy the current one. 3) toilet, livable if i was still a college student. since i'm renovating. i'll do the toilet as well. this mean, removing the current vanity, maybe toilet bowl and shower cabinet. changing it into an open space shower area with tiled walls and skinny capinet with wide mouth vanity. confined space, so it has to look roomy. 4) currently, there are dark tiles on the floor. they look ugly as hell. i'm hiring an industrial scrapper from kennards and ripping them all out. floors will be polished (kennard eq again) and sealed concrete. 5) cupboards will have to be built in areas of the house for linen storage and the likes. none of the above is any structural work, mainly cosmetic for asthetic purposes, so products can generally be bought off the shelf except for machinery that has to be hired. oOkay, i settle in about 3 weeks. then i've got a month's deadline to get that all complete. i don't want to double up on any work and definately don't want to waste necessary time doing things i don't have to. what should do first til last? Re: mass reno 4Mar 27, 2007 1:56 pm A month is not much time, but I have done pretty much everything on your list over the last 18 month so feel free to ask away.
First of all, how old is the place? 1) Painting: What are you painting plaster? if so, don't strip it just paint over. Though I have to repair and paint my entire house when I got it, now I wish i just had it replastered, would have been much easier. 2)Depending how good your carcase is, you may get away with new (or recovered) doors and benchtop. Auctions and ebay are good for appliances. My carcase was terrible so I bought a second hand blackwod kitchen and made it fit. Best thing I've done. 3)If your messing with shower cavities, you're best to go back to the stud and sheet the walls with villa board. Get a new toilet and cistern in one, will work much better than mismatching. All just my 2c. Good luck with it all and take heap and heaps of photos. Thanks Re: mass reno 5Mar 27, 2007 3:26 pm Renovate the place in order of personal preference.
Just remember - Old is not necessarily crap. And paint covers a lot. And cleaning also does a lot Like someone else said, the kitchen may be ok with a lick of paint. We painted our carcasses (origial 1950's wooden gear), put new handles on, made a new benchtop (Tassie Oak stained jarrah and finished with Danish Oil), painted walls, new sink, new taps. Looks fantastic. I'll take photos and post here. Oh, and how old is the place? Re: mass reno 6Mar 27, 2007 5:40 pm hi, thanx for the replies.
the place is about 45 years old, i wouldn't be knocking anything down because of abestos cement sheeting being used in that era. I've contacted a friend of a friend who is a painter, and he'd be helping me paint the place. he'd take a look first to see if it can actually be painted over, or if it has to be stripped. i'd be very happy if it doesn't have to be stripped as that sounds like one hellva job. i'll definately be looking at auctions and salvage yards for the benchtops and doors. don't see any reason why they're inferior to the new ones.. as for the kitchen, it's oollldddd.. i haven't had a great look at the carcass but if it's still structurally sound. maybe i would considering reviving it. and i know it's old cos it's even got the drawers with the round edges.. and the appliance has one of those plate warmers. i'd definately be wanting to get new appliances if i try to asthetically revive the kitchen. but as the place will be a rental property in about a year or so, i don't really want to get anything expensive and definately no open flames.. and also whoever designed that kitchen should be dragged out onto the street and shot. the cooking area is right beside a wall!, not only will the wall get dirty when i start frying stuff (i do 95% chinese cooking). but it's always awkard to generally move (i tend to do alot of flipping). Hello It is good to have a planned bathroom reno to suit your budget and design, living for 10 years I think you need a bathtub 4 10380 Bought in Nov 21 at the height of the market (classic). Good area, atrocious floor plan. BUT has land out to the left-hand side that we can extend out on (see second… 0 8784 The only thing to add to these comments is that where possible it's always good to try and work with people than just say "no" because you can. Having someone… 4 17153 |