We often visit homes right across the Canberra region where people are looking to get advice on doing a renovation and extension or a knockdown rebuild.
Many builders only offer new builds and others specialise in extension work, so they will be biased in their advice. Given that at DJ Homes, we offer both services, we feel we are well placed to offer honest advice that will help you in making the best decision for you and your home.
At times we visit homes and clients have only considered one option and not considered the alternate for a range of reasons and it is always good to discussion to pros and cons for each option to give them all the information required to make an informed decision.
We typically see a renovation being the best option when clients are looking to change the layout of the existing home with no or minimal increase to the overall size of the home. An extension is then on many occasions the best option if the layout of the existing home is to be kept largely in place and the purpose of an extension is just to add additional space.
Even when the layout of the existing home is largely kept in conjunction with an extension, if the wet areas (kitchen, laundry, bathrooms) of the home all need updating, it can see the cost of the project start to add up and mean that a knockdown rebuild is then something that should be considered.
When we have clients who are looking for a complete change to the existing home, as well as an extension to add more space, we often see this option get very close to the cost of a new build and in some cases exceed it.
Another factor that is leading to the cost of extension/renovations adding up, is the requirement for the whole of the extended home (including the existing part of the home) needing to comply with the latest energy requirements. This means that things like wall and ceiling insulation, sub-floor insulation, new cladding and new windows may all need to be considered for the existing home.
Providing estimates for a new home is something that we can do with a level of accuracy that allows people to make a decision on plans for their build. It is much more difficult to do for an extension as there are so many more factors that determine the cost of the build, that are hard to consider when providing estimates and means that you would typically need to go through the process of having full plans completed to allow for a comprehensive quote to be provided before you are able to make an educated decision on if your project will meet your budget.
The advice that we generally give is that if an extension/renovation gets to within around 20% of the cost of the knockdown rebuild project, then serious consideration needs to be given to the latter option. This is because once you get into that range, you are still going to be left with ‘old bones’ by going with the extension/renovation and the better longer term investment will likely be to have a home that doesn’t have some of the issues that older homes can have, such as water/termite damage to framing, rising damp and cladding that is not water and/or air tight.
Sometimes clients will have a preference for a renovation because they would like to live in the home while the project is being completed. If possible, we really encourage people to move out of the home, especially if there is internal work being completed to the existing home. If the work means the client is without a functioning bathroom or kitchen, then we let clients know that we don’t provide the option of them living there. The reason we encourage them to move out is because it is the best option for all involved, it makes it easier for us to manage and living in a home that is being worked on and having trades work on top of you while trying to live can cause a real disruption to family life, make it a stressful experience and in most cases mean the project will take longer to complete given we need to factor that in when scheduling the different stages of the project.
Reading the above may seem like that a knockdown rebuild is the only option to consider, but that is certainly not the case, we still complete more extension/renovations than we do knockdown rebuilds. It is simply to highlight the instances where you weigh up the different options and when the costs get close, that is when we are likely to suggest you go with the knockdown option. As a builder that offers both options, we offer you the opportunity to have us visit your home for a consultation to discuss all options for your home.
Does Your Builder…include pricing for engineering and energy reports?
