top of page

The Process

When we set out to renovate our home, we envisioned a cosy, warm space that we could finally call home. A place where we would put down roots, a place where we would spend the rest of our lives together, growing old. We had great plans and ideas of what we wanted. However, the renovation process is never as it seems. It turned out to be long, drawn-out and at times very painful. We hope that by sharing our experiences and mistakes, we can help others who are looking to renovate their home.

Planning and Council Approval
 

Before we decided to embark on this crazy renovation adventure, we decided we needed to determine the renovation would be within our budget. To do this, we got rough quotes from a handful of builders. One of those builders put us in contact with Abela Design and Drafting. The general advice when it comes to any kind of building or renovation is to get an architect. It eliminates a lot of the thinking process and research. However, it is an additional expense to be factored into the budget. We figured that since we were not making many structural changes, we would make do with a draftsman to save on cost. Although it turned out alright for us in the end, it also meant we had to copious number of hours research looking through hundreds of photos for inspiration, double-checking the plans, multiple meetings to make changes to the plans, drawing measurements on tthe floor and the wall to envision a specific space. No one knows the space that you envision better than you. Tip : Plan ahead and research what you want in your new home. The size of a bath, sink, tap, heater, bench space, door, lighting option, etc wlll determine your measurements. If you don't have these information, you may find that after the plans are drawn, you won't have enough room to fit your dream bath.

 

It was a long, laborous process. We had the initial plans drawn up early July, but it wasn't until early December when we finally finished the final plans for approval. We went through a private certifier which shortened the approval process. It was mid-December when we finally got our Development Approval. Information for the whole approval process in SA can be found here.

 

Even so, in spite of our double and triple-checking, the final plans submitted for council approval still had a few errors in it. The one thing we didn't think to check was the site measurements done by the drafting company. We assumed that with their fancy equipment, the measurements should come up fairly accurate. Boy were we in for a huge shock!! The night before our first fix plumbing, when we were going through the plans, working out exact measurements for placement of wastes plumbing, We found to our horror that the width of the family bathroom in the plans did not match the actual measurements. We were only gutting the insides of the family bathroom and so the walls were not moving. We were 100mm short!!! It was a few stressful hours as we worked well into the early hours of the morning to come up with an alternate layout for the family bathroom as the one in the plans could no longer fit.

 

Finding a Building Inspector

Right from the start, we agreed that we would engage the services of a building inspector, regardless of which builder we decided to go with. While it does add to the budget, I believe it is an essential part of the process, especially for people who have no knowledge or experience with building. A building inspector will check that all work has been done to regulations and standards and that you are getting the work you paid your builder to do.

 

On the recommendation of a friend who works in the building industry, we engaged the services of Reinhard Kabelitz from Better Home and Building Inspection Service. Although not the most amiable person around (in fact, he is a rather prickly character), Reinhard is spot on with his knowledge on current standards and regulations.

 

We had our first inspection after our concrete slab was poured and he picked up on two issues that our builder wasn't even aware of due to changes in regulations and standards. Thanks to his report, we were able to immediately discuss that with our builder to rectify the problem.

 

For neophytes like us, this service gave us the added assurance and security that the building work was being done properly.

Finding a Builder

This was probably the most difficult task by far and the trickiest. There is a whole spectrum of different types of builders out there, and the tricky part is finding one that suits your requirements. We spent over 3 months trying to find the right one.

 

Along the way, we met builders who quoted a very cheap price but had ridiculously small list of inclusions to their work, and others who quoted exorbitant prices pretending to have a whole long list of inclusions (with many of them being standard work associated with the scope of work we were doing), At times we despaired at finding a builder that wasn't trying to rip us off. At one stage, we even considered becoming owner-builders, but we quickly realised that our work schedules would not allow that.

 

We finally found a builder that we were happy with, through a recommendation from a friend. Ivan Basic from Basbuild was someone that we thought showed pride in what he does, and his pricing was reasonable. And yet, the process was not without its pitfalls. Read Our Reno Blog for more info.

 

Here is a list of tips from lessons we learnt from our experience:-

  • Your suburb matters. If you live in a well-heeled suburb, expect the price to be inflated by an extra 15%. So an honest builder should be quoting you about 15% less than everyone else.

  • Everything that you want your builder to supply as part of the job will include his 10-15% margin in the price. Do not be fooled when your builder tells you that he can get something cheaper for you. Trust me, it won't be!!! Do the research and price-hunting yourself. We saved a whole lot supplying all fixtures and fittings ourselves. The only thing our builder is supplying is the materials he needs to work with.

  • Research, research, research!!! The more you know about the whole building process, the less likely you will get ripped off. For example, there are different types of insulation a builder can use and they are not all the same in terms fo price and efficacy. Make sure you know what you're getting quoted for. Try and round up people you know who work in the building industry. We were constantly hounding our building supervisor, plumber, and electrician friends. The information you gain from them will be invaluable.

  • Do not reveal too much to the builder. We made the mistake of revealing our kitchen supplier to a few builders. It was interesting to see their quotes increase astronomically because of that. If a builder even thinks for one second that you will be installing luxury items in your home, they will increase his price accordingly.

  • Ask for a detailed quote with pricing for each stage of work. And even if you do get a detailed quote, go through it with a fine tooth comb for unnecessary hidden costs and unusual pricing. For example, we had one builder quote us $20,000 for painting.

  • Always trust your gut instinct. You will know when you meet someone you're comfortable with.

Finding our Suppliers

I will cover this section more in Le Livre Noir. My one big tip is : NEVER pay full price!!! You can always find the exact same thing cheaper if you look hard enough!

 

As Australians, we don't realize how much extra we are paying in comparison to our European counterparts. While most Australians know that great shopping and cheap bargains are to be had in Asia, Many still don't realize that you can get the same from Europe. With the influx of China-made products, most people don't realize that good quality hand-made items from Europe can be bought for the same price! You just need to know where to look! With the advancement in online shopping, many overseas vendors are clamoring to sell you their products and it can be a simple as a quick email or two.

 

All the items that we purchased and the suppliers we purchased from will be listed in Le Livre Noir, and they will most probably be in the French style. If you are looking for a different style, you can still use the same principles I used to search for the items you want. Believe me when I tell you that there is a whole world of bargains out there.

© 2014 by BVCLam. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page