# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  50's weatherboard bungalow renovation-melbourne

## Cherrryrockette

first house purchased, yay!
Mid 50's weatherboard bungalow, in excellent condition. Barely looks lived in. Certainly never had kids or teenagers rampaging around inside.
SO now comes the long process of making a few updates and changes to improve and make it more liveable for our young family.
Settlement was 23/3, and I've been planning and scheming, and then finally on tuesday this week we had an architect in to have a look and get some designs drawn up. 
I know we probably could have just gone down the route of a draftsman, as i have a pretty thorough idea of what we want. However, being a designer i foolishly believe things should look good as well as being functional. Considering our taste is very mid century modern, I though it appropriate to source someone with similar ideas, and we're currently getting Alistair from SDS to draw up a fee proposal, which we should see after easter. Fingers crossed it's within our ballpark.
We're planning on 2-3 stages of development:
1. gut the kitchen and redo completely, including staining and polishing the floors throughout whole house (excl bathroom/laundry)
2. money permitting, gut and redo the bathroom and steal nearly all the laundry space. (if not enough $$, then this will will be put back about 1yr)
3. extend the house from 3bed to 4bed + back deck and additional second living space (for kids as they get older)-this will be 'in the future'. 
We're not going to do DIY build the thing, as neither have enough experience with trades to do it safely (or professionally), but with some help from family and friends who do work in various trades, we can hopefully save some $$ without sacrificing quality at the same time. and we get to learn, which is excellent! 
ok, pictures a go-go:
existing house (lovely fisheye pics from the agent-not our furniture)

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## sundancewfs

Looking good. This will be a nice one to see evolve. Beautiful sized yard too.

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## Cherrryrockette

builtins in bed2 are gorgeous, these are staying. 
kitchen has almost no cabinets, though they are solid and well made. the double handles is a shame. thinking these will make excellent shed storage though. 
rest umped already-whew!
hideous metal cladding on whole exterior. will remove eventually and use to clad the shed-then paint. i think that'll look good, but no idea of reality.
tiny 1.5x2 bathroom, with shower behind the door!
lovely original features

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## Cherrryrockette

thanks sundance! it's on 650m2, and dead flat. not like where we used to live in upper gully! i think our house was on a 50 degree angle, it was hell moving in and out.

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## Cherrryrockette

forgot the layout! :Doh:   
yes, that shed is 12m long. are you jealous yet?  :Tongue: 
already got electricity and lighting inside, but needs some weatherproofing due to rusted holes at ground level and a few small holes in the roof.
and i need to fix the lock, as that doesn't work, so we can't move stuff across for storage yet.

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## Cherrryrockette

These are my inspiration boards / planning for the reno's. I'm a visual person so I can see all this laid out in my head, but it's nice to be able to put it on paper so i can get the idea across to everyone involved. especially early on when everything is being planned. I want to make sure hubby is in agreeance (yes, these plans are for both our tastes, not mine alone), and then also so architect and trades know exactly what i'm after. especially as we're not going for what most people do.
(gee, can you tell i like researching and planning?)  *kitchen* - looking towards mid 60's, black cracked ice laminate bench tops with extruded aluminium edges, probably teak front panels with silver boomerang handles. I want silver accents, as it will tie in with the modern appliances (we already have a double SS fridge), and planning on SS oven/cooktop and range. dishwasher I'm thinking to hide behind a panel, to limit the SS showing.
polished wood floor (dark walnut throughout house) - but I'm very very tempted to go for vinyl retro looking tiles in red/black/white.
padded breakfast bar with overhead glass wine bar cabinet and stools (we already have the stools)
white tiled splash back, white walls. 
we have a heap of red accessories and decoration dust collectors, so that will add extra colour too  *bathroom* - hexagon tiled floor throughout, with white butchers tiles on the walls up to about 1.2m dark jade/blue painted walls.
slipper style claw foot bath in either black or white, with stencilled swallows on the side. (DIY to match swallows wallpaper in main house)
old style white stand basin as a 'shaving' sink, with a mirrored medicine cabinet above, inset 1/2way into the wall, with retro style lights either side. extendable shaving mirror for close ups.
bath under the window, with overhead shower/invisible screen
opposite corner has a sit down ladies dressing table with triple angled mirrors and drawers. fluffy stool optional. :Tongue:    *main house* - mid-late 60's masculine. think don draper's new apartment. off white walls, darker furniture, browns, greys, black, with pops of bright bold colours. tangerine, slatey blue, mustard yellow. we'll keep the original wood varnished architraves and curtain boxes. i can't bear to paint over them, they're in such good condition.
we have a love of lowbrow art, so a lot of our tiki stuff and tretchikoff prints will be right at home.    *bedroom* - the seedier the better. enough said!   *exterior* - paint the bessa bricks / breeze blocks white, clean up the terracotta roof tiles. i would love to paint the roof white, but not sure if that's sacrilege or not. but it does look so delicious with a sweet buttery yellow house, white roof and brickwork and trims, and a bold red front door.
lots of bamboo, succulents, yucca etc...  
there's a lot of work involved, but hey, we're going to be living there a long time, right?

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## Cherrryrockette

these are my initial ideas for the layout and planning of the renovations. obviously not the final look, but just working things out. opinions/suggestions more than welcome. 
bathroom:  
kitchen:  
extension:

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## turnstiles

Great blank canvas! What's with the massive laundry? Were the previous owners taking in washing??! I was going to ask about the wasted corner space between the laundry door and the back door (we Librans don't like wasted space!!) but I now see it will become the entry into the extension bedroom. Looking forward to watching your progress.

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## Cherrryrockette

i think the bathroom is original 50's, and the laundry/toilet was added later. that little wasted corner next to the back door is i think just to create internal space so you don't have to go outside, then inside to get to the toilet? laundry only has small tub(bunnings) plus plumbing for washer/dryer, and newish tiled floor. it's clearly been reno'd at some stage before it was rented out prior to us. hence i have no hesitation in stealing all of it for bathroom space!

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## Cherrryrockette

Just finally got a few minutes to post some more update pics.
we pottered around on the easter long weekend. Overdue for a break and de-stress, so we didn't go crazy, but happy to just potter.  
just some pics of the other side of the kitchen for planning out the space.  
this is the front/side fence - going to paint it white. planning on borrowing my dad's spray gun though so i don't kill my hands from all that painting. any tips greatly appreciated-the fence is a big job.  
i painted the fireplace surround. with some help. the hideous orange/brown bricks are apparently original, but they really just are not to my taste, so they had to change to either white or black. i think black works really well - frames the old heater and makes it so much nicer to look at. used pot belly black heat resistant paint just in case.  
Jim smashed up a small concrete slab that was in the middle of the back yard. bbq maybe?? anyways, it was useless so a bit of smashy smashy with the big metal hammer and it was gone. took all damn day, but he did it. 
and i pulled down the crappy fence, which opens up the whole space so that we can put some garden beds in.  
these are our floorboards, anyone know what the wood is?  
someone 'helping' at the big green shed.  
and all the ivy i ripped out from behind the shed. that space is about a foot wide, and 10m long. and FULL of ivy. not anymore!  
tired monkey:  
so this weekend we're setting up the big trampoline so the little man can play while we rip up all the carpets and vacuum up all the hideous mess underneath them. and then we have about a thousand nails to hammer in i guess. lucky i have knee pads from roller derby, i think those are going to come in handy!

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## sundancewfs

Hmmm sounds like you need to get your skates on  :Biggrin:

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## Cherrryrockette

We Had the architect over on tuesday to measure up and look over the place. Thankfully we're on the same wavelength, so i think it'll work out well.
rough 'on the fly' plans he's come up with for us to muse on before he does up first draft scale drawings this weekend/early next week: looking good so far, i'm happy with the idea of changing old B2 into the WIR/ENS for the existing master bedroom, and adding on B3 &B4 (both 3x4m) at the back instead of adding master bedroom&WIR/ENS at the back. means that the kids are closer to the back yard/playspace as well as the big new family room (5x5m).
          The deck will go on the eastern side, adjoining the family room and dining/breakfast nook. no windows drawn in yet obviously, but looking at having big big windows and doors across the north and eastern walls of the family room, and possibly opening the dining up with doors to the deck as well.
         B3 will be our office, so happy for that to even reduce to 3x3m. putting tall vertical windows on the small jutting out wall sections, and then a high up wide horizontal window on the western wall, with frosting so we don't have to look at next door's house. (it's a bit ugly)
         Instead of a breakfast bar between the kitchen and dining, looking at adding a B-bar between kitchen and family room. and because the block is slightly angled towards the back, a step down from existing house into the extension. hmmm, maybe i can convince jim to have a sunken lounge! ha ha ha! 
the dusty roofspace. looks like that pump-in recycled paper type of insulation. anyone know the R-rating? it's pretty cool up in there, i guess because of the terracotta tiles too. not sure if we need to add much in the short term, but it's definitely a priority for me to have adequate insulation, since we're in melbourne. have to do the under floors as well.  
speaking of floors, i got grotty today and ripped out the hideous kitchen carpet that literally disintegrated in my hands as i was ripping it up.revolting stuff. a bit of leftover glue around the edges, but mostly it just peeled away, leaving the black rubber underlay in powder form and attached pretty gently to the boards. half a day on my knees with the scraper and it was all gone. hard to get under the oven though. who puts carpet under the oven??/!!?? wtf???
had to do it today while the little man is in daycare, i don't want him touching that revolting stuff.
thankfully it came up pretty well, only the one major oil spill that will need to be dealt with.lovely colour wood with the oil on it though! we're planning on staining dark walnut and then polishing with that tung oil/poly composite, so i don't think the stain should be too much of an issue. i hope!
Whoever did the ducted heating vents did a dodgy job though, that's some nasty work. and we'll have to lower the vents, as they're all 5mm above the edge of the wood, so the sander will tear itself to shreds if we leave them as they are. 
at least the rest of the house is newer carpet, so its not glued down. it has that 'horse hair' style of matting underneath, which is nailed down, not stapled, so time consuming, but hopefully not too hideous a job for next week.

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## Armers

That looks like a house near my folks in Blacky South. Kudos to you guys for scoring a nice full size block in a great area. Looking great, the place has so much potential! 
Cheers

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## Jim Carroll

If I can ask a question, are you having the tiolet in the bathroom or is it separate. 
We have the tiolet in the bathroom and it is a PITA as there is always someone in the shower when you need to got to the tiolet. 
Never again separate tiolets are the go.

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## goldie1

The hair jute under felt under the rest of your  carpet may contain asbestos. The chances are small but I would get it tested  
before you pull it up.  This type of under felt up to the 80s used a percentage  of recycled  material (hessian bags ) These were  
often old bags which were used to transport asbestos fibre from the mines to Hardies factories. When the bags were past  
there use by date they were shredded and added to hair /jute carpet under felt.

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## Cherrryrockette

@*Armers*: were on Brazeel street off Blackburn road. round the corner from your folks maybe? I agree, we were pretty damn lucky to score such a big block in the area, the other guy wanting to buy it was going to demolish and put up flats. So Im glad we were able to rescue it! Ive been following your thread, and the house is looking amazing, youve done a great job.  
@*Jim C*: Were looking at having the toilet in the bathroom, but with a sliding door/dividing wall to separate from the main area. (only a small space to put towards them both) But later on we will be adding in a small ensuite that will also serve as a powder room for guests. So there will be two loos eventually. The current wc is in the laundry, which is our pet hate. as we have 2 indoor cats, the litterbox stinks out the room and its not pleasant to go ourselves. I agree though, in an ideal world, separate loo to bathroom.  
@*Goldie1*: thank you for the heads up about the asbestos. Ive just gone back and read the stickies and posts in regard to carpet underlay and asbestos. I think ours looks newer (maybe late 70s, 80s ish) through most of the house. (Only the kitchen had original 50s carpet, and no jute underlay). Heres a pic, what do you think?     
We havent done a lot on the house this weekend, just a few trips to the garden centre to get some slightly established trees to try and get started on shielding the western side from the weather. So weve planted a row of silver birch on the south western corner in front of the window, which will look great in summer, and let the light through in winter.
And a stunning big read leaved thing (i forget the name) which will eventually take over the front yard in pride of place. 
Need to get a mower now, i think the lawn is due for a chop.
Also had the architect back to re-measure a few things and double check some wall alignments. Was really good, as he got to meet Jim and chat things out. Came up with some good concepts for the first draft plans which should be ready late next week, yay!

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## Armers

> @*Armers*: were on Brazeel street off Blackburn road.

  Ahhh hah, M&D are in highfield ave at the other side of blackburn south. Its a lovely area (even though i am heavily biased) I would have loved to have bought around there. As for the flats, as you drive around that area you'll notice thats what theyre doing around there. Its the large blocks these developers are liking. Cheers for the thanks we're happy with it at the moment, still lots to do  :Biggrin:  
Cheers

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## goldie1

Have a look here for some info about asbestos in under felt http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/wps/w...df?MOD=AJPERES 
Its impossible to tell by looking at it if it contains asbestos, it has to be tested. The axminister carpet in your 
pic looks to be from the 70s so it is the right age. From the pic it appears to be tacked down, tacking was being phased out late 60s early 70s  
when carpet gripper came in to regular use. Carpet under felt was quite often reused when the carpet was 
replaced so the under felt may even be earlier. The rubber backed carpet in your kitchen was from the late 60s and  
70s and did not contain asbestos. It used to be called "kitchen carpet"

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## Jim Carroll

> @*Jim C*: Were looking at having the toilet in the bathroom, but with a sliding door/dividing wall to separate from the main area. (only a small space to put towards them both) But later on we will be adding in a small ensuite that will also serve as a powder room for guests. So there will be two loos eventually. The current wc is in the laundry, which is our pet hate. as we have 2 indoor cats, the litterbox stinks out the room and its not pleasant to go ourselves. I agree though, in an ideal world, separate loo to bathroom.

  I did not think much at the time about having the tiolet in the bathroom till the kids grew into teenagers and we know how long some girls take in the bathroom. The Powder room is a good idea as long as not accessed from your bedroom, most people do not like going through another persons bedroom to go to the loo. 
May be time to teach the cats where their new home is Outside.

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## Cherrryrockette

> Have a look here for some info about asbestos in under felt http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/wps/w...df?MOD=AJPERES 
> Its impossible to tell by looking at it if it contains asbestos, it has to be tested. The axminister carpet in your 
> pic looks to be from the 70s so it is the right age. From the pic it appears to be tacked down, tacking was being phased out late 60s early 70s  
> when carpet gripper came in to regular use. Carpet under felt was quite often reused when the carpet was 
> replaced so the under felt may even be earlier. The rubber backed carpet in your kitchen was from the late 60s and  
> 70s and did not contain asbestos. It used to be called "kitchen carpet"

  Thanks Goldie1 for the clarification. I'll make sure we get it tested. I won't go near it till results come back, so thanks again.

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## Cherrryrockette

@Jim- the powder room will be external to our main bedroom, we're going to use the smallest existing bedroom and turn it into WIR/ENS. I know I'd feel weird going into someone's bedroom to use the loo!

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## goldie1

> Thanks Goldie1 for the clarification. I'll make sure we get it tested. I won't go near it till results come back, so thanks again.

   Certainly the best move. Most of this type of under felt has long since been  
removed by unsuspecting carpet layers and home owners. Since this has come to light over the last few years the WA health 
department has been able to locate only 12 samples for testing. Of these 1 has tested positive for asbestos so I would be  
interested to hear the results

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## newlywed1311

Would love to see an update on your home!

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