Browse Forums General Discussion 1 May 01, 2004 9:19 pm We have purchased a small double brick house in Northern Suburbs of Sydney. It only has two bedrooms, a small kitchen and sunroom. It is on a sloped block of land, so the garage and laundry are underneath. We would like to add another two rooms and ensuite, plus do up the kitchen and extend the balcony. I'd also like internal access to the laundry. Does anyone have any recommendations for builders, designers etc ? The stories we've heard about people's experiences with renovations have all been horrific. My worst fear is dust through the entire house. We were thinking of taking it in two stages e.g. Kitchen, sunroom and balcony and then next stage would be the additon of bedrooms. We've never even contemplated rennovations before so don't know where to start. We did get a designer in from a kitchen place and for a simple kitchen, they estimated about $50k, we were horrified ! Please is anyone able to recommend anyone we could start with ? Thanks in advance for any help at all. Tricia. Re: Where to Start? 2May 01, 2004 9:20 pm Hi Tricia,
I'm not in your area so can't really recommend tradespeople that you may require. I'm mid renovation (as in it will probably take another two years until everything is finished). Your morbid fear of dust is going to be a minor problem to say the least. I've recently de-plastered a lathe & plaster room at my place and have never seen so much dust in all my life. As far as renovations all being horrific - mine's not. Sure it's dusty, there are price blow-outs, unreliable tradesmen, nothing looks quite the way I thought it would and on and on, but I've lived so far, learnt so much and love nearly every moment. I wish you luck and congratulations on your new house! Re: Where to Start? 3Apr 11, 2005 10:54 am I am a small builder in Melbourne. I would seriously recommend you find an architect to plan your renovation for you. Yes, they come at a cost, but can come up with some really clever solutions that you may not have even considered. Once you are happy with the plan (and the specifications) for your renovation the architect will organize some quotes from builders they know. This way every quote you get is for the same thing.
And, during the renovation, they are there to advise both you and the builder when unexpected problems arise (and they always do). I believe an architect charges between 5-15% of the cost of the works, but at least you will know from the start that the job WILL be completed. The architect will control when and how much the progress payments are, so you know you will never have paid for any part of the job that hasn't been completed. Good luck with your renovation! Catriona |