Adding a 3rd Bedroom. Small extension.

Hi guys,

Fantastic forum. I've been a long time lurker and am always amazed at the great advice given by members.

We currently own a 2 bedroom semi -detached brick home. We're in the inner east of Melbourne and love where we live. We are planning on having our second child next year and would much rather stay where we are then move and take on a much larger mortgage.

For the past few months we've been brainstorming ways to make more space available in our home with the end goal of adding a 3rd bedroom. I've attached our current floorplan below and although the space is small we're happy to stay put for at least the next 5 years if we can manage to add a 3rd bedroom.

Our idea is to extend our current laundry and toilet area and use the space as a small 2.7m x 2.7m bedroom/study. To do this we would demolish our current rear access stairs and move them to the other side. We would then use that space and extend the laundry/toilet area out about 1.2m. So the extension would be about 1.2m x 2.7m in total. We also have a flat roof. I have some experience with building and my father is a qualified carpenter. I'm hoping some of the members on this forum could take a critical look at my plan and maybe give me a rough estimate of costs both through a builder and if I owner built and also any stumbling blocks I could encounter? I've attached a floorplan for how this would look and also a photo of the stairs.

We have a single garage at the front of the property with car space in front of the garage so there shouldn't be any council issues with converting property into a 3 bedroom residence.

Not sure if the plans are to scale, but it looks as though you don't have enough space to fit your staircase the other way. Stairs and plumbing are both expensive to change, so if you're in a budget you may want to consider other ways to extend. Can you build upstairs? Have you thought of converting the garage into a bedroom and just using the carbay to park on?

Hi Jimbass
Welcome to the forum
Unfortunately, your 5 winder stairs don't work
and are non compliant
You might consider going up adding a sitting area, bedroom and bathroom
hth

Thanks for the replies amilelka and [b]StructuralBIMGuy [/b]

Yep valid point about the staircase. The space is small and makes sense that it would be non-compliant. We have considered going up but after speaking with a builder it appears this would cost in the region of minimum 200k. We love the place but dream of eventually owning a larger home when kids get a bit older so hence our idea of adding a 3rd bedroom in as cost-effective way as possible to get us through the next 5 or so years.

I posted our floorplan on another forum and it was suggested that we could change the floorplan around to create three bedrooms. This would all be below roofline. I'll add a basic plan I've drawn up below. New floor plan would include 2 x bedrooms (4mx3m and 4mx2.7m) where the living/meals once was and our current master bedroom would become the living room. The open plan living/dining/kitchen would be roughly 7.75m in length and 4.5m wide with it narrowing out a bit in the kitchen. We don't mind this idea just not sure if this would be too little space living wise for most potential buyers in the future. The advantage of this idea is that it would stay under roofline and my father and I would be able to complete a good majority of the work ourselves.

I think that's a great suggestion. It keeps all the plumbing in place and works really well spatially. The new size isn't huge but neither was the original so I think it will work well for you.

Hi guys,

Just an update, after toying with the idea of changing the floor layout we decided that the space and light wouldn't suit our needs. We then looked at upsizing to a bigger property a few suburbs out. It seems that to get a 3 bedroom plus property with some form of land component though will cost us upwards of 1.2Mil and we would be foregoing the amazing amenities we have at our current residence.

We have now started looking into what StructuralBIMGuy suggested and extending up to give us 2 bedrooms, bathroom and potentially a second small living area. I've sifted through some of the threads on this forum and there is some great information. We had a local big mob extension builder come in last week and tbh we found it quite confusing. He gave us a rough estimate of $220k for the job which wouldn't include painting or carpet. I'm now wondering if I'm best to get my own draftsman to draw up some plans or leave it to whichever company we pick. I'm guessing it would be advisable to have a few of the local extension builders come and take a look.

As I mentioned previously my father is a carpenter and I have some close friends who are both electricians and plumbers. My father thinks we should get something built to lockup and then we can do the rest with the help of friends for the plumbing/electrical work? I'd imagine after lockup is where a lot of these companies make their money so are we likely to find one who will build to this stage?

I believe you will get a better deal with a smaller Builders who are hands on site
Rather than a salesman from a large reno company spruiking free give away's and facebook & Instagram promotions


Definitely get your own Construction & Engineering drawings and own copyright
Make sure the 3D Bim design/engineering software your drafts-person is using extracts data and quants.
Then send it out to 3 builders and tradesman to quote... move quickly the Stimulus Package isn't going to last forever
If 3 builders take a month each to design you'll run out of time?
Process
Stage 1. Contour, survey, Engineers report, DA Drawings with 3D Model Data and Quants (approx)
Stage 2, Construction and Engineering Drawings for BA, Data and Quants ( Final)
Stage 3. CDC, select Builder/Trades, Building Permit, Insurances,etc
Make sure stages 1 & 2 are done using the same software..having to redo everything just wastes time and costs you money
Cheers
Chris

Thanks for the prompt reply @StructuralBIMGuy. Very much appreciated.

I'm gonna get moving on it right away so will keep you updated. How much roughly would we be looking at paying for stages 1 and 2 you'd say?

Hey Jimbass
3% of the contract value is a fair price (1% design, 1% engineering,1% Data and pricing) that's one AEC service provider with scripting automation, IoT,etc. Times are tough/slow so take advantage of lower rates, specials, faster build times and Govt handouts
BTW that is roughly what builders charge except they won't provide you with the data and costs
LOL, you might get a fancy coloured rendering included of the front elevation as an enticement from the Builder and Architect?
OT, Renderings without data/proofs and compliance are worthless on site and in disputes
Cheers
Chris

It seems to me that if you want to get a third bedroom in your house, then it's best for you to turn to professionals. You need not only to build another room, but to make it so that it complies with all the rules and is safe, I also think that you will have a small bedroom, so you need to think about help in interior design in order to get comfortable, cozy and functional bedroom. I love working with interior designers because they offer really cool and aesthetic solutions, and they can also share professional tricks with you to emphasize one thing or another in the room.

"I posted our floorplan on another forum and it was suggested that we could change the floorplan around to create three bedrooms. This would all be below roofline. I'll add a basic plan I've drawn up below. New floor plan would include 2 x bedrooms (4mx3m and 4mx2.7m) where the living/meals once was and our current master bedroom would become the living room. The open plan living/dining/kitchen would be roughly 7.75m in length and 4.5m wide with it narrowing out a bit in the kitchen. We don't mind this idea just not sure if this would be too little space living wise for most potential buyers in the future. The advantage of this idea is that it would stay under roofline and my father and I would be able to complete a good majority of the work ourselves"

I think this option is also good.

Yes HOCVIEN-AWE we're still somewhat considering staying under current roofline, would just mean we'd have to adjust our time frame down at this address as we'd grow out of it in a few years time.

Another design someone suggested is added below. It involves moving our current bathroom in between the two bedrooms utilising the robe space to create a 1.8m x 2.6m bathroom. We'd then turn the current bathroom, toilet and laundry into a 2.7 x 3m nursery room with robes between the two rooms. Our current main bedroom would become a 3 x 3.6m bedroom with study nook and we could potentially utilize garage space for the robes or just have a stand alone wardrobe. So we'd have two 3 x 3.6 m bedrooms and a 2.7 x 3m bedroom and wouldn't have to touch the kitchen and living areas which is where we spend most of our time when at home (We also have a great outlook and light filled living and kitchen which is why we weren't two keen on that original idea of converting the area into bedrooms.)

We've had a few builders come by this last week and the prices seem to vary for an extension but I'm guessing in the ball park of high 200's if I averaged out their rough estimates. If we stayed under roofline we'd spend a fraction of that and I think my dad and I could do the majority of the work minus plumbing/Electrical. I'd also imagine we'd need far less involvement with council and planning.

Well it looks like we're going to keep it under the current roof line in terms of adding a 3rd bedroom. After meeting with a few more builders over the last few weeks we've decided that the cost v benefits just don't add up in regards to adding a second level. I think the current covid situation and the uncertainty helped us make the decision.

I've started contacting a few draftsman in the area to get a floor plan change drawn up similar to what I have attached in the post above. I've spoken to a few mates who have done similar renovations who have suggested getting the job done without getting permits etc but I think its best to do it all above board. We're basically just gonna add a new bathroom (1.8 x 2.6m) to the residence utilizing a portion of the main bedroom and the wardrobe space between the two current bedrooms. We'll then take the wall down between the laundry and bathroom, pull up the tiles etc and create a 3rd bedroom (3 x 2.7m) in that space. I feel like this i probably the most cost effective way of adding a 3rd bedroom and will get us another 2-3 years in the place with better re-sale value/rent value depending on our next move.

My only worry is the rule about having to have a qualified builder for any job over 16k in value. My dad (Carpenter) and I want to do the job ourselves to save on labour etc (Obviously excluding plumbing and electrical). Who decides what a job is going to cost? Any rough estimates on what something like what we are planning would cost?

To convert the bathroom into a bedroom, would we be needing a building inspector or someone from council to tick it off as a bedroom?

Thanks