hi,
i don't own any investment properties (yet). I own a 1 bedroom cottage built in 1880 in Adelaide
The people who owned it before me half renovated the house – new bathroom, new roof, restored the stone work, paved the backyard, new shed
when i bought the house it was perfect, but after 2 years it has cracked internally.
ideally i want to build on an additional room (5x5m) to turn my place from a 1 bedroom into a 2 bedroom cottage, new kitchen, new floorboards, fix the cracks, built in robes in the 2 bedrooms, new ceilings & cornices (current ceilings are cracked & there are no cornices), render the side of the house, skylight/velux style window in 2nd bedroom
i have gotten a quote from 1 builder which was $75,000 (not including floorboards/built ins/new kitchen) – which really means that the renovation would cost me over $100K – which would, in my opinion, make the renos uneconomical.
really i only want to spend $50-60K
when i see people on this forum & in books/magazines doing renovations with budgets of $20K i am amazed & i wonder what i am doing wrong?
any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!
If you can do all this work < $100K, you've gotten a bargain!
People doing renos for $20K 1) aren't adding on rooms, they're probably doing cosmetic stuff, and 2) many are doing illegal renovations. In most (possibly all) states of Australia it's illegal to project manage works over a certain value – about $10K retail value, not what it would cost you to do it – but people do it all the time. I'm waiting for the first prosecution and/or lawsuit.
Many renovators seem to think that if they pay electricians and plumbers to do their trades, and don't do anything structural, then you're fine, but that's simply not true. The laws may be excessively restrictive, but they do actually state that if, for example, you need to repaint the interior of your house (say $5K), polish the floorboards for $3K and pay $3K each to a plumber and electrician (total $14K), in QLD you would need a builder's licence to manage this.
Roxy,
Do you have any comeback under builder's warranty insurance (7 years for structural) or are the cracks cosmetic?
Trakka, did you realise that in Qld that they now require licensing for all categories of building – residential, commercial and shopfitting? Probably a good thing to weed out the cowboys however DFT are usually toothless tigers when it comes to enforcement.
um scott my house is 130 years old – so i don't think that the builders warranty suggestion would work
does anyone know a good plasterer in Adelaide?
i have enrolled in the WEA's course "Renovating For Profit" which starts 28 Feb (Angas St Adelaide)
has anyone else been to it before? if so is it any good?
is anyone else going?roxannec wrote:hi,The people who owned it before me half renovated the house – new bathroom, new roof, restored the stone work, paved the backyard, new shed
when i bought the house it was perfect, but after 2 years it has cracked internally.
Roxy, if the people before you renovated (depending upon how long ago), the insurance may still be current.
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