Michelle, I'm not a builder but am building with hubby, a single storey limestone home. Our daughter built a two storey limestone home just down the road, that hubby also built for her and the extra foundations she had to install would be at least twice more than we have for our single storey, not to mention that there were allot of short walled founds leading off the perimeter of her home to assist in less likelihood of wall roll out and the inspector called it. Cost for you, will depend on whether you have adequate foundations to carry a second storey and usually that is never the case. All the lower walls will need double the support and it usually has to carry on down to the foundations, depending on whether you have a solid concrete slab or concrete stumps that are accessible. This would mean most of the plaster being removed and hoping that you find no nasty surprises as far as the condition of the existing frame in the home, the builder would as I mentioned, have to add structural supports to carry the second storey. Most often, second stories are built with a hardiplank type exterior and certainly not brickwork as you would then difinitely have to have extra foundations in for such a reno and you would have to start asking yourself if it isn't better to demolish as this type of reno can be extremely costly. You might be lucky but probably highly unlikely, to have adequate structional integrity to be able to add a second storey, without everything I have mentioned to be skipped in any way. I hazzard a guess that such a reno would cost you $250,000+ and maybe more. Would love to know what you finally decide to do and your builders estimate. Good luck. Cheers, Barbara

We're building 4x3.5 Two with ensuite and the others with a jack and Jill. Life has changed unfortunately and now everyone in the household works, kids stay at home longer and ageing parents sometimes move in for care. At the moment we have a 3 x 1 and really the only thing we really want for is a second toilet, which growing up we had because we had the one out the back with the red backs.

For most projects we are engaged for we begin with what we call a "feasibility" stage of service which is structured to provide clarity in regards to what are the logical and viable project approaches. The exercise considers options/variations of a nominated project scope within the specific context and applies accurate cost projections to a considered array of scenarios/options in broad form. We find this exercise to be is extremely helpful, particularly when people are scratching their heads with how far or how exactly to best approach a renovation/extension. What it does is provide the client with accurate information and understanding of what is possible in a particular format and for what cost and can hence they are better positioned to make properly informed decisions one way or the other moving forward. Whenever a significant property/project investment is being considering we believe it makes sense to allocate a proportion of the investment to professional advice that will help focus the project direction to both best suit a particular circumstance and also result in a maximised outcome/value.

a separate wiw and ens will give the best use of the space with maximum storage wall to disguise the volume of your clothes in chests of drawers under hanging space below high shelves and there's space in the ensuite for a generous double shower, vanity and wall cabinets but the bath will have to go elsewhere if you want to be able to stand and dress in the wiw or ens and keep the rooms feeling comfortable for two people to use together twin highlight windows will provide light and ventilation and hinged doors allow for clothes racks and/or hooks on the back of the doors