How hard is it to renovate a fibro house?
6 years ago
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PRO6 years ago
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Renovating 1970's brick home
Comments (21)I agree you wouldn't need to do much to improve this property greatly and depending on your budget you could do a lot of different things. The main issues I would look at here is the roof, carport and paint like some of the other comments on here I would pressure wash the roof, get it painted if you want to spend the money, Improve the outside of the house either by rendering and painting we do this to a lot on older brick properties if you just render the front of the house you can save money on rendering the whole house. It works out pretty cheap really, I would put some piers up out the front where your carport is and at the front of your porch. Maybe look at getting your driveway resurfaced you could get it painted with a stencil added to it at low cost. I would improve your porch either with a bit of decking or paving The garden out the front is nice and tidy but a rendered front fence or planter box addition here would have a huge effect on the front aesthetics of the property. We do all of these type of improvements on a regular basis and you would be surprised at how little they can cost and how much value it adds to the property. Lastly paint your gutters and improve your front door remember first impressions last a good quality front door can make a world of difference it doesn't look too bad though so I would probably just paint it. Good luck with whatever you choose I hope it turns out amazing....See MoreReview my dream home renovation plans
Comments (21)Like others here, at first glance I assumed the view of the water was to the east, but then realised from the sun diagram that north is up the page, so I'm guessing this might be in Bundeena? I agree with most of the other suggestions and have a few of my own as well, will summarise here: - the pitched roof dominates too much, I would suggest the new master bedroom suite has a flat room, similar to the new entry; - the garage is too small and can easily be larger, especially wider and the stair could go down the side instead of at the end; - the foyer/entry is too small for a luxury property, really just a stair landing. I suggest widening it to the line of the new bedroom, and also pulling the entry doors out further to give more space there; - car turning space is questionable. Maybe the external stair could flip over to the other side of the entry to give better reversing room, if it is needed at all (3 stairs???); - give more space to the ensuite, less to the walk-in-robe; - give more space to study, taken from bed room; - angled wall (in line with deck edge) in bedroom instead of re-entrant corner would make it more spacious and allow the bed to move forward with better access; - door to laundry from pantry instead of bath room....See MoreAre we mad to want to renovate an old house?
Comments (33)The good kind of mad! (Most) old houses ooze character, warmth and heart as much as new ones do chemicals and cheap fittings. I am a housebody, and love being in my house - I spend my money on it, instead of out clubbing and yes, there are always unexpected costs (new hot water service, leaking toilet...), but if you were renting you would have nothing of your own at the end anyway. Three years ago I bought my first house, a fairly original sandstone 98 year old lady in need of some TLC. No builder's reports in this little town, but then she cost me less than a landcruiser... Things I planned to do, but took forever because of rusting nails, old sizing, old quality workmanship include painting the whole thing, top to bottom, pulling up axminster carpet and getting the floors polished, putting fans and air conditioning in. Things I was hoping to avoid for a few more years but can't, include replacing the original roof, swapping the three-cupboard sleepout kitchen with a bedroom, redoing the bathroom, complete with new plumbing and actual drainage to the septic pit (which I had to have fixed a bit), and then I think the best option for the back room and laundry is just to rebuild them....But I don't regret this house, or the journey it's taken me on. Even if it has turned out to be a much more expensive journey than I thought! With time and google, you can do a lot yourself. Before I moved back three years ago I had always been n provided accommodation, so had never used a drill and only changed a couple of light globes, but now... I took a chimney and fireplace down on my own, then re-pointed the stone and put in a ceiling panel to close it up. I have painted, put up shelves, taken down cupboards that were built into walls, patched cracks, filled gaps, pried off skirting boards, and generally turned it into a home. For the more major stuff, like putting a doorway through a foot thick stone wall and rewiring an original bedroom to house a modern kitchen, I am getting the professionals in. good luck!...See MoreSmall house renovation ideas
Comments (11)regardless of what we might want there is not enough space for a vanity in a room less than 1200mm - 1500 deep.. assuming standing space of about 900 x 900 and a vanity about 450 deep ...the only way i can see to make enough space for a vanity would be to push out the wall and make a bay window alcove but you may not have enough space outside the wall before you reach the boundary and would probably also need Council approval to change an external wall my suggestion for the moveable island (eg IKEA has big kitchen trolleys and storage tables that might suit) and that can be moved to allow for the dining table to be rotated or extended into the kitchen for more comfortable space for an occasional crowd .. small walking spaces are tolerable occasionally but fixed narrow walkways less than 1m on all four sides of the island will side defeat the goal of making the rooms feel more spacious and i would also be careful about adding extra storage that is hard to reach and would need walk around the island to wipe the whole surface...much more than 90cm deep is too far for most arms to reach ..there are many other options for extra storage eg by adding tall wall cabinets and maximizing the basement storage for seasonal supplies and a proper cold cellar and use the moveable island trolley for most often used supplies and you can improve the corner cabinets by making them 1050x 1050 (ie with double bifold 45cm wide doors) instead of the standard 90x 90 corner cabinets with 30cm wide doors.... BUT i had another look at my first suggestions from last year and i still think that a more generous ensuite stolen out of the basement space would make the most comfortable master suite, moving the bedroom door allows much better location for both the new stairs and plenty of space for wardrobes, king bed and a bedroom chair instead of the tiny master suite and don't forget the low storage wall in the dining room for dinnerware, glasses etc...See More
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PRO6 years agolast modified: 6 years agofungry_04 thanked Paul Di Stefano Design
PRO6 years ago
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