Thread: Help! Newbie that needs advice

Hi All

I've bought my old family home in a great possie on a pretty good sized block (650sqm)... Problem is, it needs a LOT of work!!! And, because I haven't done this sort of thing before, I thought I'd try and get some advice / ideas from you all...

It's a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom brick home, with one living area. 2 of the bedrooms are actually the size of studies and are far too small to live in. I'm pretty sure the place needs to be r-stumped as the floor in the lounge is dipping and there are cracks in walls & cornices in every room (some are 1cm wide). It needs new guttering and fascais and i'm pretty sure some of the plumbing needs to be replaced. The bathroom is grose and HAS to be replaced.

Sooooo i think I have 2 options:
1) Extend 2 decent sized bedrooms out the back of the house, knock out walls from the 2 tiny bedrooms and create more living areas (leaving it as a 3 bedroom house). I'd also like to create a nice outdoor entertaining area and eventually a pool. Of course, i'd still need to do all of the repairs on the current home as well.

OR

2) Demolish and start again. Although, there are some trees out the back that i'd love to keep and don't know if it's possible to save then through a rebuild (they are along the back fence line).

I'm leaning towards option 2 because I think it might be easier, quicker, and cheaper (????) but I really have no idea.

I'd love to get your opinions before I get the ball rolling.

Thanks!!!!!!!
Confused Newbie

knock down rebuild is the go in your situation mate

Yes, that would be my first thought also - those cracks - you need to find out what is causing them. If you have a reactive clay soil then any masonry will continue to cause problems unless you have seriously good footings. And investing in seriously good footings on a house that clearly needs considerable work to bring it up to your expectations is money down the drain.

Get a quote from an engineer to fix the cracks, and from a builder to carry out the work you are considering, then compare it to the price of a new build to get exactly what you want, sited in the 'right' location on the block and with rooms you can swing a cat in ....

What BC said

also 10 mm cracks are structual, unless its very different or holds some very strong memories and start again with what you want. Renovating if you're not doing all the work yourself is probably more expensive than a complete rebuild. And just think you could be in someything that you help designed within 5 months.

Thanks for the replies

Looks like demolish and rebuild are the best way to go...

Now I guess the next question is, use a company like Metricon / AV Jennings etc and just let them do all the work, or, try and organise it all myself... I do have a lot of tradie mates, but I don't know if it's worth the stress of trying to co-ordinate it all...

Thoughts?

Speak to your tradie friends first and if they don't hold a builders licence get them to recommend somebody, do it all on a fixed price contract with specified extras, so it doesnt hurt to get them all in, as long as you compare apples with apples...

IMHO I find with the franchised project builders you somewhat lack quality as they get the local tradies to do it for a veryyyy low amount but charge you top dollar.

Wot he said ... Owner-building can be a pain in the butt if you are on a tight deadline, but if you can take your time, then doing it that way will save you money and will get you a better result as you can adjust to unexpected situations as you go along. My interior had to be redesigned on the hop due to a measurement c*ck-up by the first (fired) plumber. But because it was my mate who was helping me with the framing, rather than a builder on a fixed price contract, we just sat down, worked out the best option and built it, using the materials we already had on site. Better result than the original plan would have permitted, and same price result.

Thanks again for the advice!!!!

I think i'm gonna try and find a design I like on some of the Metricon type websites, then get my mates around to give me price ideas...

Luckily i'm not under any time pressures, but depending on how my finance goes, that could change things.

If I budget enough to rent a place to live in for 12 months I think that should give me enough time to get it built right, with a bit of an allowance for something to go wrong...

It's just scary!!!! It's a massive decision and because I haven't done this sort of thing before I'm freaking out i'm gonna make the wrong decision!!

Thanks again for the advice!! Much apreciated!

That's OK. I took mine on with next to no building skills and only basic tool skills. You learn as you go. You make some mistakes, but if your mates are working with you, then you can make them up as you go along. One thing though... Make it a business relationship that both of your clearly understand and agree to in writing. It is a really good way to lose friendships if you each have different understandings. I pay my mate an agreed rate, and in cash. He has one side of the responsibilities, I have another. We each agree that before we start the next stage. That way, when we are both knackered and inclined to be grumpy, we have a way of sorting things out before it gets heated.

Rule of thumb is that any renovation should not exceed 10% of the total value.

So you may be over capitalising.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Oldsaltoz

Rule of thumb is that any renovation should not exceed 10% of the total value.

So you may be over capitalising.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

Whoops........
No one told me....

Originally Posted by Oldsaltoz

Rule of thumb is that any renovation should not exceed 10% of the total value.

So you may be over capitalising.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

Unfortunately a bit of a misnomer ....Renovation is the key word to it, it is often misused. If you rebuild or add to or increase size then you should be increasing its capital value proportionately and the 10% rule doesnt exist. Now if it was a investment property spend as little as possible no more than 3% of value.

The 10% also doesn't exist in capital cities and if the property is kept for 7+ years as historically properties should double in value.

Slightly off topic...sorry.

Originally Posted by sundancewfs

Whoops........
No one told me....

I must have missed that bit of advice too...

I wouldn't get much done with 10% of the house value, probably a coat of paint...