GOALS, OPTIONS, PRIORITIES
The first question to get clarity about is: Is it worth renovating? – OR – Reno it or Demo it?
The basic feasibility of any renovation project will be a balancing act of your needs and goals, practicality, affordability, and scale:
A renovation to fix a specific minor problem or a single room or area – OR – a more extensive retrofit over the wider home
A renovation for cosmetic purposes such as a flash new kitchen – OR – improving the energy efficiency and operational performance of the home such as new insulation or recessed double glazed windows
A simple addition for extra space for a growing family – OR – a retrofit to future proof a forever home
Consider your family’s personal attachment to the home:
Do you love the house? – do you like the style and character, the period charm, particular rooms or features?
Do you like the location?
Are you in a good school zone? – near parks or beaches or good cafes and shopping areas?
Do you intend to stay there long-term?
Do you have strong family memories in the home?
Be clear about your budget and the expected returns on your investment in the home:
How much are you willing to spend? – you need to consider where you draw the line, to avoid overcapitalising
What do you hope to get out of the renovation? – what longer-term value will you create?
Can you do your renovation in stages over time, dealing with the most urgent things first before addressing other improvements as you can afford them?
Be clear about what’s involved in the project – you will need to scope out costs and timeframes involved in:
A plan or flow chart for the process – including initial site assessments, a Home Performance Assessment or Energy Audit to identify issues and help you determine priorities, and your decision-making processes with your renovation team
Designs and technical plans – Eco Design Advisors in your council, or Superhome Movement partners and participants, will be happy to help
Building consent or compliance with the Building Code – check with your council
Licensed professionals for necessary expertise and services – builders, engineers, electricians, plumbers, drainlayers, quantity surveyors, roofing experts, house lifters, window suppliers, joinery experts, heritage experts, hazardous material experts (for problems like asbestos removal)
Building contract – a legal requirement if the budget exceeds $30,000 (including GST):
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“Doing renovation without huge costs, so adding thermal performance, dramatically increasing thermal performance without dramatically increasing the cost.”
Candice Smith: Kingspan Thermakraft
“It’s so insanely expensive to build – retrofitting existing buildings, I think it makes good economical sense for clients who don’t necessarily want to go out and build a new build.”
Duncan Firth: Solarei Architecture
“There’s alot of old homes out there and they’re going to be there for a long time – people in existing houses deserve to live in comfortable healthy energy efficient homes.”
Darren Ballantine: Metro Glass
“More clients doing alterations, don’t have the budget to build a new home so staying in their existing homes and making them better.”
Dave Gunter: Coastal Designs
“People focused rather than here’s an old villa and we know it’s going to be cold and yes it probably needs double glazing and all these things – but if you stop and talk to the person who’s going to live in it at the end of the day, it does open up a heap more ideas – they like doing that with a homeowner, finding out first what’s their end goal. No one wants to live in a damp cold draughty house, we all know that already, but there’s little wins you can get from people, just talking and listening.”
Victoria Mitchell: Statement Homes
“Wherever possible we will keep the older house – it’s an older suburb, there are some great villas around. It’s important for the heritage of Addington.”
Simon Fenwick: Nest Residential
“Virtually anything you renovate is going to be better than what’s already there anyway.”
Peter Davis: AD Architecture
“It is predicted that 80% of current homes will be around in 2050 – to get those homes up to Superhome you need a Super Renovation – there’s a massive space there.”
Gary Peters: Select SIP
