Thursday 7 February 2013

House Renovations in West End

There hasn't been much discussion regarding the renovation of late, but things have definitely been happening behind the scenes. The schedule of fixtures and fittings has been finalised, the architects have been busy wrapping-up the construction drawings, and we are now in a position to go out to tender. It will be interesting to see the difference between the initial cost estimate compared with the building quote, particularly since the project has been scaled down in size.

We hope to select a builder within the next 4-5 weeks and then construction can commence...... finally.

Wow, it's been almost a year since I started this blog and while we've been busy finalising the plans for our house, I've been checking out all the other renovations and new house builds that have been happening around the neighbourhood. A few of you may remember this place:


This house has always been a favourite of mine - great bones, large block, river views, great location, etc, etc. Well it's been going through a bit of a transformation as well.

This is the proposed concept plan:
In May 2012, the house was pushed into the stratosphere raised with plans of having a garage and pool on the ground level, living areas above that and the original cottage (the bit at the top) is planned to house the bedrooms.



This house has now been under construction for approximately 10 months, and there is potentially another 2 months to go - a total of 12 months construction - YIKES. I hope our's doesn't take that long to build.

Here's what it currently looks like:

Not a particularly good photo - still lots of fencing, formwork and building material in the way.
I'll post another photo when it's 100% complete. What's your initial reaction?

12 comments:

  1. It's actually not looking as bad as I anticipated. Not sure if adding that garage door underneath will ruin it though. Nice colour ( I still haven't chosen the grey for Betsy yet, but think I may have found a house to rent, fingers crossed, inspecting today!) mel x

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    1. Good luck - I forgot to ask you if you were staying put or moving out whilst it was all happening. xx

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    2. We hadn't really decided until this week but common sense ( and wanting to avoid divorce or daily meltdowns) got the better of me so we are pretty sure we will move. We stayed and lived through our last reno but with no kitchen or laundry and kids with issues and food issues i think it is smarter to move out.

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  2. I actually really like it so far.
    I love the freshen up that the original house got...love that grey colour.
    And it looks like it will sit really nicely in the street in between that modern house and the cottage next door.

    One thing I am not a fan of is using those horizontal wooden slats...not sure if they are for privacy or visual interest but I hope that if they do make it from the concept drawing to the actual building they are quickly covered in jasmine!

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    1. It appears the function of the timber slats is that of a balustrade/handrail and to perhaps offer some shading. A climber definitely softens the look, but it's the maintenance aspect that bothers me. It appears they are stained which means it would require reapplication every 6-12 months - no thanks. xx

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  3. i like it but don't love it... i would personally paint the wood frame windows white (but maybe they will do that anyhow) and i agree about the jasmine - not a huge fan of slats after every man and his dog has put them up... they have to be donw really well for me to love them now.

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  4. beautiful - love the color and the wood frames

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  5. I like it, it's a bit modernised though. I like the colour scheme, except like others, I do think they should of kept the windows white. And is that ballustrade a different coulour to the house? Are my eyes going on me, or is it a pale blue? Unless they just havn't painted it yet!

    They have saved the house though, and that is much better than bulldozing a lovely home with character.

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  6. It looks nice but would much prefer white windows so much crisper , stained timber just screams work, work, work at me!

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  7. I screwed my nose up at the concept drawing but was pleasantly surprised by where it is at, so far I like it. I love the colour scheme and look forward to seeing the finished project.

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  8. It's looking lovely so far - mucb better than the concept sketch I have to say! The colour scheme is pretty though. xx

    Anna (My Design Ethos)

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