Thread: "Art Deco" apartment in Sydney

We recently sold our house on the central coast and bought an apartment on the top of an art-deco block in Sydney but we don't take posession until 1st December 2008 (our buyer wanted 6 months to sell his place).

The apartment is approx 87sq M. It currently has 3 bedrooms but we plan to join two together to create a master bedroom with a study/dressing area and turn the other bedroom into a dining room. We also plan to use the space in the existing passageway to enlarge the bathroom and bedroom space.



A plan showing our intended changes to the apartment is above. Pictures of the interior can be found here together a 3D rendering which illustrates where we plan to remove some walls and add doorways.

The original 1930 plans of the apartment can be found here http://www.softmarksolutions.com/85macleay/.

As you can see from the plans and photos, there are extensive beams that cross the apartment which carry the loadings from the roof and therefore we believe all the interior walls are non-structural (this is also the opinion of a structural engineer but he has yet to visit the site).

We are trying to preserve the original ceilings but due to the poor state of the paint (caused by using modern paints over Kalsomine we believe) it may be easier and cheaper to tear some down and replace with gryproc and new plaster mouldings. The walls also have paint cracks/crazing caused by the same reason.

We have access to the attic space in the pitched roof above the apartment and we plan to use this for to supply reverse cycle air conditioning - probably small duct high velocity systems which require smaller vents and ducts.

As we see it the jobs involved are:
- Tear down non-load bearing walls between bedrooms & make good
- Tear out existing kitchen and bathroom
- Remove non-structual internal wall between living room and balcony and add bi-fold doors.
- Add additional walls to increase size of bathroom/master bedroom & close off existing master bedroom door.
- Strip/Remake/Seal remaining ceilings and walls and make good
- Aircon ducting and vents[/font]
- Sand existing hardwood floor (seal later)
- New tile/floor tiles for kitchen & bathroom[/font]
- Wiring for lighting, power sockets, kitchen & bathroom, aircon system
- Wiring for LAN and AV
- Kitchen cabinets & under-lighting
- Bathroom cabinets & glass walling (also possibly move toilet waste pipe - the toilet is currently not located where shown on the original plans)-
Wardrobes in master bedroom
- Desking/shelving in study area of bedroom
- Murphy (pull-down) bed and cabinet enclosure in new dining rom (we don't want the bed to be too comfortable for visitors!)
- Display shelf cabinet in living room
- Paint & decorate

I have previously renovated my apartment in the UK and the place here (including re-wiring, plumbing, new floors, false ceilings, tiling, new bathroom, lighting, fitting kitchen (basically every job except plastering and cabinetry) but I'm not a pro by any means.

Move in or store?
But we have a reasonable budget for this job to outsource and time is an issue given that most tradies will take off between 15th Dec to 15th Jan. We have to move out of our Central Coast property on 1st December - so should we put our furniture in storage and get the project started ASAP? Or move in with a minimum of furniture and plan to move out in January when the tradies return ?

Who manages the project?
We're torn between project managing the reno ourselves (but we live 80Km up the coast), giving it to an architect (not a structural job?), giving it to an interior designer (not a big job?) or going to a freelance project manager based on the drawings/plans from either an architect or interior designer. Also should we look for multiple tradies or a single builder who sub-contracts certain elements?

DevelopmentApplication or Construction Certificate?
The building is in a heritage area but I don't believe this covers the internal changes we plan to make (we plan to leave wall nibs and beams where the two internal walls are removed) also other units in the block have already removed internal walls. We already have a structural engineer lined up and we're not making external changes. The Body Corporate requires plans and an engineers report.

Suggestions, hints, tips welcome

Regards

Paul

As it was a long post and there were no replies, I thought I'd repeat the questions at the end.

Move in or store?
We have a reasonable budget for this job to outsource and time is an issue given that most tradies will take off between 15th Dec to 15th Jan. We have to move out of our Central Coast property on 1st December - so should we put our furniture in storage and get the project started ASAP? Or move in with a minimum of furniture and plan to move out in January when the tradies return ?

Who manages the project?
We're torn between project managing the reno ourselves (but we live 80Km up the coast), giving it to an architect (not a structural job?), giving it to an interior designer (not a big job?) or going to a freelance project manager based on the drawings/plans from either an architect or interior designer. Also should we look for multiple tradies or a single builder who sub-contracts certain elements?

DevelopmentApplication or Construction Certificate?
The building is in a heritage area but I don't believe this covers the internal changes we plan to make (we plan to leave wall nibs and beams where the two internal walls are removed) also other units in the block have already removed internal walls. We already have a structural engineer lined up and we're not making external changes. The Body Corporate requires plans and an engineers report.

Suggestions, hints, tips welcome

I can't help you as I have had no experience with that type of renovation (I have a normal suburban house in Melbourne) When I renovated my house,we were living in it and the major jobs were all done over mid December-mid January when I was on holidays. It always required a lot of planning.... to have all the major supplies on site by the middle (or even earlier) of December as if you missed something or run out of it, it could be February before it was back in stock in the shops! This was especially so with the bathroom and I am glad I built my shed first to store it all (it was a bathroom too for a few weeks!) and I got held up by tradies on holidays too. (As I knew the electrician I checked where I could put power points and stuff for the spa and I drilled large holes and installed pull wires so I could line and tile it until he got back from holidays)

So in summary....

It is difficult living in a place undergoing major renovation, especially if it involves bathrooms or kitchens
There are always unforeseen hold ups and overruns that would take you into the Christmas break and most tradies would not be looking for new work at that time but rather finishing off other jobs.
I would suggest you get your job booked in for First thing in the new year

It is a pity for the sake of a few days (Christmas /New Year) the whole country seems to shut down for nearly 6 weeks

I hope you can get it done in the time frame you want and you get a really good job. Your plans look good!

Cheers,

Chipman