Hi fb57, Great charming federation house, retain the front and fix the back, then maybe later you can put in a granny flat - depending on cost and local council bylaws. I would not put in an attic - stairs are a good place for mishaps and as we age it might have limited functionality - but if its something you have your heart set on it might prove worth while. It appears that you are competent enough to do a decent measure up plan, going from what you have posted - you might need to take a few photo and a few other dimension to get a good design from someone working online. The idea is to get a design that you are happy with and then get a local competent Drafts-person to do your working drawings for a Building Permit and then get it built with a Builder of your choice. This would result in my opinion in a significant saving and a design of your choice, especially if you are willing to do some of the legwork with council and other authorities. To get a good design that you feel is a solution to your requirements, you need to produce a variety of design schemes (plans elevations perspectives etc.) and this can be done online with any competent Building Designer that you can get along with. It will not take one go at it - and it will not be quick, as you need time to digest every scheme but generally it works out in the long run. These are some of the things I would look at: 1. The possibility of breaking up the build into stages - maybe stage one do the renovations at the back and the stage 2 place in a granny flat. 2. As you have good access on both sides of the property I would place a new garage on the largest width and possible gate and walkway on the other side to give individual access to the granny flat. The new garage would be as closely to the front as possible, with the new fence an gate on the other side it would greatly improve security. 3. Depending on budget I would provide a bathroom shower and toilet with a walk in robe to the main bedroom and redo the kitchen and laundry if required. 4.The area next to the lounge area I would develop into an external entertainment area. 5 Since you mentioned that you have a "Fibro Extension" it implies to me that you may have asbestos on the property - get an expert in and determine if you need to remove asbestos when you renovate - this is a dangerous material and you should take all precautions possible to avoid long term damage. 6. An indication of the position of your neighbors windows and setback might also help in providing a design that complies with your planning laws and respects your adjoining neighbors. Like all things it will take a few revisions to get it right , but if you are willing to work at it, it will payoff in the end. The first thing is to draw up the existing conditions to scale so that an initial proposal showing possibilities can be worked on. I would be willing to work on this project with you online, I hope this is of some help. Regards Michael Manias mm407p@gmail.com

I share you concerns with the look of the light. I lived in Cairns for a while and many restaurants etc had high ceilings with lights and fans with a more traditional look. Maybe you could do some internet stalking of hotel websites etc. I'd start with Palm Cove. Good luck.

always good to please your husband and you'll have a better chance of achieving a good result together....cost will depend too much on the reality of the site to guestimate...we always begin by consulting a builder to check the existing building to see what's possible structurally, check with Council to see what's legal and then you'll need formal plans drawn up so you can collect quotes but i'd be inclined to ask about the whole project as you may have a better chance of attracting an experienced custom builder for a bigger job than just the small extension (even if you negotiate to have the work done in stages ...best of luck

Does this sound like you? For the umpteenth time today we’ve had people come in looking to replace the polycarbonate patio cover/outdoor living area at their home. We made a business decision close to 10 years ago to remove polycarbonate from our range of patio covers and I think it’s been proven that we made the right decision. At the time & even more so now, we were finding that we were pulling down patio covers that had polycarbonate roof sheeting. So we sat back & reviewed why. Heat was the #1 reason Dirty – they found that it looked great for the first week it was installed but it quickly got dirty. People are time poor, thus it never got cleaned & it got worse & worse. Aesthetics. Polycarbonate needs a heap more framework to support it, which can often make it look top heavy & gives more places for the spiders to make webs around. “But I don’t want to loose any natural light inside” I hear you ask. It is a balancing act – you want to maintain their natural light into the outdoor living area & at the same time not loose any light internally say to the kitchen or living areas. No matter what type of structure you build, you will loose some percentage of light internally. But I look at it this way. By creating a correctly designed outdoor living area that you can use all year round, means that you are gaining so much more compared to the small amount of internal light lost. And there are ways around that too. Don’t forget that you can always install an internal sky light to the internal living area. But I would say that you would already need one regardless of the patio cover out the back. So, what can we do? Design correctly Select the best materials Incorporate accessories. So what are my material options? “Premium Series” Colorbond Great looking roof sheet with a flat ceiling. Will span unsupported up to 4 meters & you can incorporate light panels that are 31cm wide. Find out more about "Premium Series" Colorbond Insulated Your next step up from the Colorbond “Premium Series” option. More colour options, you still have the option to include a light panel but the great part is that you can hide your electrical wiring through the roof sheet. This way you can actually put a light, even a down light on the sheet. Find out more about Insulated Patio Covers Lined ceiling Incorporates exterior blue board lining or even timber linings. Find out more about lined ceiling patio covers ‘Eclipse’ Opening & Closing louvers The ‘Rolls Royce’ of patio covers. It gives you flexibility. Find out more about louvered patio covers Would you like to find out more? Can you entertain our relax outside all year round? Is your BBQ & outdoor furniture always covered? Contact us to have a discussion about the options available for your home. We highly recommend that you share a coffee with us in our office so you can have a closer look at the products available in our display. We find that this helps our clients a lot as they can get a ‘hands on’ feel for each material option. Our display is by appointment only, so use the section below to book in a suitable time for us to meet one on one to casually discuss your outdoor lifestyle Book a private consultation in our display