Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 Apr 28, 2011 2:30 pm Hi We need to renovate a 1930's 3 bedroom house and I am trying to gather some ideas and order of jobs. We can't get access to the house at the moment as it is tenanted, but they are going to vacate in a few weeks. We will renovate then. The house is wallpapered! I'd like these removed and painted. I am guessing that not all painters would do the removal. How would I find someone to do that? I'd like to get an idea of the costing and time involved. It's carpeted at the moment (even the ensuite!). I'd like to put in either timber flooring, laminate or sanding it down (if this can be done, not sure what's underneath yet). I'd like to put in downlights. I have someone in mind to do this job and it's not urgent. Finally, the kitchen needs to be re-done, but it's not urgent, I think this can wait until after we move in. Do I need a builder to do this?? If so, how do I find someone? If not, what should be the order of jobs to be done? Where is the best place to find tradespeople other than recommendation? I am in Sydney, if that makes a difference. Looking forward to some suggestions. Thanks in advance. Re: Gathering ideas for renovating an older home 2Apr 28, 2011 4:35 pm Hi Cheeky.... I'm no professional, nor do I have much experience, so someone else might give a better idea. But I would imagine the way to find out about costs etc of wallpaper would be to ring a few painters - they will tell you if they do that kind of work (and if not, might point you in the right direction) and will probably be able to give you rough idea of price to remove. I would take care of the walls - both removing wallpaper AND painting before doing the floors - this will help worry about getting any paint on your new floors. I would also try to take care of these before you moved in - moving in then trying to sand or re-lay flooring would be a PITA I would imagine. Kitchen... well that would depend on whether you decide to do it before/after you move in. If before, I would imagine at least ripping out the old one, then taking care of the flooring and painting, then putting in the new kitchen? Or kitchen entirely first then the painting/flooring (depends if there will be any tricky painting bits or flooring bits AFTER the kitchen has been installed that would have been better being taken care of before - IYKWIM). As for needing a builder to do the kitchen - depends who you want to use. If you have no particular place to start, I'd just try a few kitchen manufacturers/companies in your area/city - start to get a few quotes. They usually come and measure up and work out designs with you and then install them. Or some places let you do all the designing and you just give them measurements and they make them and you can install them yourself. Or then there are the places like Harvey Norman and Bunnings and Ikea that I think sell ready made components. I don't think you need a builder as such to do anything with a new kitchen (unless you are rearranging walls etc) - a cabinet maker perhaps? Downlights... not too sure. I would imagine doing them before painting (the ceiling at least) so that you are not trying to paint around them and give a better painted finish all over. Or at least have the holes/wiring in place and have them 'dangling' (kind of thing) while you paint. Like I said, I'm no renovation expert, just going by what I would imagine be the process and my limited experience with small renovations over the years. Good luck with it all. HHCIB Re: Gathering ideas for renovating an older home 3Apr 29, 2011 10:37 am We are nearing the end of a major extension/renovation of a 1930s double brick bungalow which started in July last year. To say it has done my head in is an understatement. Usually, wallpaper is on the walls for a reason - to cover cracking in the render beneath. We discovered this when we removed ours after we moved in some 11 years ago. We removed the wallpaper ourselves - the steamer/wallpaper remover was hired from a paint/decorator place or Kennards, I can't remember but it came off easily. You can do it yourself to save money. With our reno, we ended up removing all the render in 2 original rooms, filling & bracing the cracks and then gyprocking. We have to underpin the outer wall to ensure minimal/no movement and the reduction in the likelihood of the gyprock cracking. Labour really is the most expensive component of renovating so if there are some things you can tackle yourself and need to save money, why not? I do agree with removing the carpets and sanding/polishing the floor boards prior to moving in (you can use drop sheets for painting). We did that when we moved in in 2000 but now having extended and renovated, we'll find ourselves moving our for 3-4 days while they do the entire ground floor AND that involves removing all of the furniture - not fun! An electrician will be able to wire for downlights as long as there is good access in the ceilings. Kitchens can be all or part done by a kitchen company or you can manage it yourself for savings, if you have the time. I know from experience that using a kitchen company for peace of mind was a waste of money with so many things not being "right". Gosh, if the bathroom is carpeted, you never know what you might find under that! Good luck. Re: Gathering ideas for renovating an older home 4Apr 29, 2011 5:43 pm Hello, We have just finished renovating our house. Our house was tennanted also but I needed the builders to do the job within a certain time frame due to job requirements. i made contact with a builder and a kitchen designer for starters and arranged for them to be able to access the house for measurements prior to the tennants leaving. Dont underestimate the time it takes to get your ideas together and then to get everything ordered for a timely renovation. The builder and kitchen designer took measurements and then we talked about the kind of look I was after. I had a mood board of pictures etc from mags etc so i could explain what I thought my end result would look like. Its important you are both operating with the same ideas. Your money, your decision. You have to live with it. If you start this process a bit earlier you have a chance to explore the ideas and find the taps, showers, door handles etc etc. We did a full repaint, both bathrooms and kitchen. Fireplace remodelled for gas. Carpet and flooring was done only just before furniture. We chose not to move in while the remodelling was done, 8 weeks, so the builders could have full access, they could leave their stuff overnight and get straight into it the following day. It takes time for kitchens to be made so you always have some wait. good luck Re: Gathering ideas for renovating an older home 5Apr 30, 2011 3:33 pm Thanks for all the replies. Does the following sound like a reasonable budget? Flooring $5 000 (if timber underneath) or $10 000 if laying new timber. Walls (removal of wall paper, preparation and painting) $10 000 Kitchen $20 000 including a stove and rangehood Re: Gathering ideas for renovating an older home 6May 04, 2011 2:07 pm Really difficult to predict costs for a renovation. We had a certain amount of money we wanted to spend, however it came out 25% higher in the end when all was finished. What I did was choose the 3 most important jobs. For me it was Kitchen two bathrooms and internal painting. Then I made contact with a kitchen designer, builder and painter and got them to go in and measure up. I gave them a brief outline and asked what price was I looking at. the economy was tight here at the time and I didnt find it difficult getting someone in to do this. A little afterthought. When I asked the kitchen designer how much, she said, I do need to know your budget for the kitchen and appliances? A ball park figure will do at this stage and i can look at options that will fit into the budget you give me. This will influence the appliances chosen and the scullery layout as well as the benchtops. As you would appreciate kitchens are like purchasing a car. I loved the analogy of weather I got got a V Dub or a BMW I had an old shower unit that broke on me and when I took it off, there were only 2 water pipes, instead of the normal 2 water pipes and a shower head pipe. S o I… 0 36934 What you are looking at is fibrous plaster, true gypsum, it is cast on horizontal beds with fibers included to give strength. I has no Asbestos in it. Houses before 1985… 2 7121 I would say both styles you have pictured are steel. The lower chord of the first pic would be a massive lump if made using timber considering the size of the rafters. If… 1 6138 |