Design process

Hi all, Gin and I are busily working away at our design ideas and have graph paper of varying size sprawled all over the outside table as I type away. We have a few concepts but I think that we will quickly realize that we are going to run out of space. Our current lot size is 594 sqm and the lot is 13.1 meters wide 43 meters long approx. So, We have come across many types of designers, drafts people, and architects who can do varying types of jobs. Obviously if you go with a draftsman you are supplying the design for them and you must ensure you have very clear vision as to your requirements. We have had quotes from 3000 to 45000 for design and blueprinting as well as management of the project. In many respects we are looking for  some good design ideas, and in a perfect world we would go with an architectural firm who could manage the project but for the size of the project it just doesn’t make sense to spend that much money.   Our wonderful bank isn’t interested in helping us finance the design process unless it is incorporated into the price of the builders price and we don’t want to chose a builder based on their inhouse design skills, we want the design first, then let our project go to tender. This is one of the rudimentary problems we are encountering. The bank is happy for us to have crap design just as long as the building comes in on budget and is worth the allotted loan.  Some of you would say, well just cough up the 20k for design and get on with it. Well, we could do that but then we would be diluting our ability to borrow by using up cash reserves.

So, we are going to have to start to think….

Functionality versus Luxury

So, the ultimate question comes to almost anyone who decides to put an addition onto an existing house. How much money do you spend? You have a lot of things to weigh up. How long you will be in the house after the Reno is done, is also something to take into consideration, as time acts as a buffer against the almost inevitable overspend. We are looking at  ensuring we have a house that is easily sold, a house that is perfect for a medium sized family or 4-6 people.  We live approx 5 km from the city centre from Perth in Western Australia. We are three blocks from a train station which takes fifteen minutes to get into the city centre. Once in the centre all buses are free. So it is a couple of dollars to get into the city and it takes relatively no time at all. This bodes well in any energy crisis which we will inevitably be ensconced in again some day soon. We also  have the luxury of being within five hundred meters of two primary schools. One a public school and another a Catholic school. We are within walking distance to a public library, tennis courts, bowling club, family day care and a few small restaurants as well as the required bottle shop. Ten minutes to the closest large grocery store and mall via car. So we have what most people look for in a house for a young family. We are ten minutes from the domestic/international airport, with no flight path over head, so for anyone travelling with work a lot like my wife, it is nice to know that you will be home in a short time once you hit the ground.  

So, I have given you the pros on the house, what are the cons, It is old, and I always worry about termites as WA is prone to them and this house has had them in the past. Each year we are here we get them treated but they are in this neighborhood and I am just going to have to be on the look out for them all the time.  The roof needs replacing, none of the plumbing is worth saving, all of the ceilings will need redoing as well as some of the wall plastering as I want new finishes. Most of the wiring is older now , though not original, basically new wiring will be required throughout. The house does not have any central air-conditioning , so this means that if this is what we want we will need to have all of this put in.   All in all, lots of money.  Houses on this side of the world rarely have basements, so we don’t have the added benefit of having extra space like most houses in North America do by having that space below you. As well you lose the ability to have a cool place in the house. This for Perth seems ludicrous as you would think it would be on of those places on the earth where a basement would be an important place to have.

Things I would like to have in the house. These things are things that are WANTS, and will definitely be on the short list.

A cellar, A large walk in pantry, a parents retreat with office space and reading space, a pool, air-conditioning through out the house, Polished concrete floors. self designed kitchen with industrial accents. I would love a Sauna close to the pool, I would love to have the current living area to have a loft put into it, with dormer style windows. The current bedrooms to have French doors off of them out to a new outdoor deck,  all new high brick fence between our property and the neighbors.

So, there are a lot of things to do to the current house and all are quite do able. There are a few things that we will definitely have to cut out of the plan and I am not silly to think that this will be a cheap Reno. But I am hoping to get clarity on important aspects to our design as well as purely functional aspects of the house into the future. I would very much like to have an open airy house, which when closed can be warm during the winter. Perth is a desert city and you really get extreme temperature fluctuations throughout the year and for this reason you can have a big swing in temperatures from day and night, as well as seasonal changes. Ensuring the house doesn’t get extreme sun in the summer is very important and it is also very important to ensure that there is also enough light coming into the house throughout the year.   Being able to adjust temperatures according to your needs without having to throw on the air-conditioning is important, sometimes difficult, yet possible ninety percent of the time if you build properly. Enough said for now, I will try and cleanse this drivel over time.

( the act of writing in itself is a great way of clarifying what I like and need for the house  )

thanks and i will write more later.  Tony

Our Intentions

A little while later after picking the kids up from school

The intention for us to do this reno is to give us more room in all aspects of living. At the moment we have a family of five living in a two and a half bedroom one bathroom house in Perth Australia. It was built during WW1 and was originally intended to be a corner store. The house is all double brick with aluminium pressed roof. The shop which is directly on the corner is a nice big room that is 3.9 metres high , 7 metres long, and 4.5 metres wide. A good size room. This at the moment is our main living area and it is a nice place to be. We intend to keep this room, and the entire house at present as "The Sleeping House" . This house needs a considerable amount of work on it, new windows, new bathroom in the present kitchen, and all new internal and external doors and windows throughout. It is well insulated in the ceiling , and all the walls are plaster. Bricking is old and soft with lots of work needing to be done. Lots of people have said we are crazy and that we should knock it down. The house has gorgeous floor boards throughout the house, all the ceilings are between 3.9 and 3.4 metres high, which really gives the house some feeling. The house had a major 70's reno done, I think the person who did the reno must have gone to Mexico and came back with some ideas on how to make rounded doorways. It might have looked good then but it is very dated now.

We have lived in the house for a little over three years now and we are very sure as to what we want done with the house, the style of the new fittings, the lines, and most rooms are set out in our minds. There is one chimney which has been knocked down but still has fireplaces in two of the bedrooms, these fireplaces will not be rejuvenated as it is illegal to have any type of fireplace in a bedroom now where we live and the mortar and bricks are taking up very precious space in these old small rooms so we endeavour to take them out. We hadn't intended to do this but it wasn't until we lived in the house and realised that we needed to maximise the space in these rooms or else they wouldn't work. None of the rooms have any storage space, and the house is dark. All of this is normal for an older house built in 1917 and it has some advantages as it is extremely cool in the dead of summer. In Perth, the temp can run into the mid 40's (Celsius) for a week or two at a time. So keeping the house cool using the house and airconditioning is pretty much a necessity unless we can get some cool air through the house some how.

The property is approximately 13 metres wide and 43 metres long. This gives us 594 square meters of ground space. We are on the corner and have three roads on either side of us as there is also a back lane. This gives us a lot of leeway in that we won't intrude and be intruded upon by other people very much.

So what we need for us as a family. We need atleast four bedrooms, two bathrooms , a garage, a new kitchen, living room and dining room, Pool and outdoor living area. Sounds like a lot doesn't it. Well the new house will be the entertaining house and the old house will be the sleeping house. The parents will have their bedroom in the entertaining house and the kids in the other house.

First Blog

Hi

A little about ourselves. I am Tony and will be writing this blog. It is about our Families journey through a house extension and renovation. We live in Perth Australia and are about to embark on a project which we have wanted to do for years now and the time to move on this is now. I have often admired people who blog their personal triumphs/failures and realised I wanted to also give my experience back to the world that might care. Who knows, you might glean some bit of information which is inciteful or just funny. I will post tons of pictures and videos of current, ongoing , and finished products over time.

Well, that is all for now, just the beginning so to speak.

all the best

Tony