with previous experience of building and renovating DIY, owner builder, subcontracting and full builder service (and somewhere else to live and no full time jobs or young children to worry about) we decided to use a combination for renovating our 50s double brick with redundant extension over several years...stage 1 consulting council and our builder to determine possibilities, preparation and approval of plans and negotiating finance stage 2 diy internal demolition of bathrooms and kitchen, including professional removal of asbestos, stripping out old wiring, roof insulation, timber trims, doors, wall and ceilings linings, brick chimney, opening new doorways and carefully salvaging floor tiles and sections of old plaster cornice for later patching, stage 3 subcontract carpenter, electrician and plumber to replace some windows, open up new doorways and build internal walls, first fix plumbing and new wiring, selection and purchase of all taps, PC items, doors, handles, windows, cornice, architraves etc and plan and order the new kitchen and all cabinetry stage 4 employed the builder and his team of trades to remove old roof tiles, rebuild the whole roof, add new structural supports, extending a new hip roof over an old extension, new wall cladding, new bathrooms and laundry, patch damaged plaster work, replace the rest of the windows, add new doors and timber trims and stage 5 we organised installation of the new cabinets, painter, tiler, plumber and electrician to install lighting taps etc ...i'm exhausted just thinking about it but we saved money by doing lots of work and subcontracting ourselves but the services of an excellent builder was worth every cent because they have the trades coordinated to arrive in the correct sequence and results happen so much more quickly but taking our time allowed us to pay more attention to details and we were able to salvage and recycle and sell items that a builder doesn't have time to save eg tiles removed from our roof were used on our neighbours' extension and we sold all the old copper wire and windows...look forward to learning what you decide

Yep, it sure adds up doesn't it! It's a lot of money for perhaps not an equivalent amount of value gain. But it's not necessarily the builder's fault or issue here. Their pricing here is not surprising, but to clarify not sure how you can isolate the kitchen or what exactly does 30K mean? Is it joinery only, is it including fittings? Is the balcony upper or main level. The question is, is this actually the best way to spend your money? Considering how much you're spending, should you be considering getting proper value for the money and getting more for your money with potentially a different design?. Are you happy with the design? It's going to be super? Is it worth $400K to you for what you're going to get? If the answer's no then a design rethink is possibly in order. Where are you at in the design/doc process? have you used a drafty, designer, architect to help you with the process? What people often get quite wrong with renovation projects is the distribution of budget in regards to HOW it's being spent (you WILL spend it one way or the other), and it always comes back to the design/layout as to how well or not it's spent. Really need to see actual plans to be able to assess and comment further with more accuracy otherwise just speculating on in all. Depending upon your finishing decisions this sort if thing could easily nudge the $450K mark.

We had a similar problem on our home, in that our front bathroom is very small. I know that my idea doesn't exactly meet your definition of not being an extension, but would you consider adding in a box window to your bathroom (this could make it 900mm longer), then you could add in a bath into this area, and reconfigure the remaining area with a shower, toilet and basin/vanity. It would only require a small concrete pour for the foundations, you may be able to use the bricks when removing the outer wall for the base of the box window, and you needn't change your roof?

Hi Hannah, Generally speaking 100k would not be enough to demo the existing and rebuild the extension. If the extension structure itself is sturdy and not a hazard then leaving the structure in place and renovating internally would work much better for your budget (also meaning you usually dont need to spend money on approvals in most council areas). You can still make it look completely new inside (and if there is damp due to water, have the roof checked to find broken tiles etc) and do most the work yourself to save the money. Eg. - If your not happy with the floor, there are hybrid flooring systems that are easy enough to install over your current flooring. - Fresh coat of paint all round - Do the demo yourself for kitchen / bathroom/laundry and hire trades for the services works when needed. - For kitchen cabinets, Ikea has a budget friendly selection which you can put together yourself with their easy instructions. Depending on layout all your kitchen cabinets could cost under $2k. Ikea also has benchtop solutions but if you like Caesarstone just get some prices from the trades and they can come install after the cabinets are in. Of course it is always better to get a builder involved to use their experience is always recommended (Coming from a Builder :P). But if your not touching the structure and wanting to stretch your coin, you can do most of it yourself (through avid YouTube tutorials and some hair pulled hear and there) and just hire individual trades like stonemasons, plasterers, tilers, plumbers, electricians etc to do anything you don't want to do or the specialty work. Good luck!