# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  Double Fronted Victorian Rebuild/Extension

## travelislife

Well after reading a lot of the threads on here it is probably time to start my own! We have recently purchased a very run down Weatherboard Victorian property in Melbourne's inner West. We settle in early October, but in the meantime we are getting a lot of our plans together. General gist though will be to retain the front half of the house and lop the back off and start again. 
Look forward to getting plenty of tips and sharing our (most likely quite slow!) journey. 
First time I have uploaded images so bear with me if they don't seem to come up right.     
Will have a lot more photos after this weekend as we are visiting the property to take a heap of measurements and photos for our planning.

----------


## webtubbs

Looking forward to seeing your reno! We have a similar cottage that we are in the (slow) process of renovating. 
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

----------


## travelislife

So we went to the property on the weekend for the first time since purchasing it to take some photos and get some measurements. It is in a bad state that's for sure! Luckily we are gutting it so the condition didn't concern us too much. What was people's obsession with concrete, not looking forward to cutting all that up and removing it! 
The backyard has been covered in corrugated iron to stop the grass growing  :Shock: ! It is currently tenanted by the room so is 'interesting' to say the least.  
Survey is getting done this Friday so will then be able to get drawings drafted up and prepare for submission to the council. Will be wanting to get the demolition/strip down happening ASAP on settlement. Will have to get it checked out for asbestos as I reckon there could be a reasonably high chance of it in the kitchen/bath area of the house.

----------


## plum

At a guess, are you around the Yarraville area? I'd love to get stuck into a project like yours, but after doing 3 of them, I know what takes precedence in my life these days.  Good luck.

----------


## OBBob

Ha ha, one of mine was like that with the concrete ... and then there were bricks underneath!  
What are your plans for it?

----------


## David.Elliott

That's quite a sweet cottage you've got there. I'd love to get my hands on a projesct like that so long as I could do it rather than my day job...

----------


## travelislife

> At a guess, are you around the Yarraville area? I'd love to get stuck into a project like yours, but after doing 3 of them, I know what takes precedence in my life these days.  Good luck.

  Close for sure! But not in Yarraville. 3 of them, geeze you have done well! Other than some minor renovation works on an investment property this will be the first full blown renovation I have undertaken. But I thought at 29 it was now or never as life changes down the track!    

> Ha ha, one of mine was like that with the concrete ... and then there were bricks underneath!  
> What are your plans for it?

  Haha, yea 'hopefully' it is just a 150 or so concrete slab. Though in saying that I have heard plenty of horror stories of people finding all manner of things buried in backyards. It seems it was a common repository for all excess building materials back in the day. 
Plan is to hopefully retain/renovate the front 4 rooms and knock the back off. Getting some preliminary drawings done up at the moment. Will post when we are closer to locking down a floor plan.   

> That's quite a sweet cottage you've got there. I'd love to get my hands on a projesct like that so long as I could do it rather than my day job...

  Yes that is going to be the interesting bit. Trying to keep the day job and life ticking along at the same time!

----------


## OBBob

You'll be right. You find you get drawn into and if your dedicated it'll progress fairly quickly. The layout is quite good, often the kitchen is tuck somewhere in the middle ... but you generally have the services where you want them already. Look forward to following.

----------


## David.Elliott

For a number of years my FIL, as a builder in a partnership, made quite a good living buying, fixing, selling for a profit..until the partner emptied the bank account and pi##ed of back to the US...Clyde never quite recovered from that. 
One worthwhile tip that he gave me years ago,  
Top and tail first, ie: get the foundations and roof right first of all, otherwise everything you do in the middle is potentially wasted...

----------


## SilentButDeadly

I'd go with tail first... 
In fact I'd strip that sucker right back to the frame, including floor, ceiling & wall cladding.  Just so you and your builder can see what you need to deal with both in and especially under the part of the building you want to keep. Then do your plans...and only then knock what you don't want (kitchen, bathroom, laundry) down. 
Failing that....you can easily fit a Cat 9 through that gateway in the front fence.

----------


## OBBob

> Failing that....you can easily fit a Cat 9 through that gateway in the front fence.

  
It's all personal preference ... but you may want the D9 to take the front fence too.  :Smilie:

----------


## SilentButDeadly

> It's all personal preference ... but you may want the D9 to take the front fence too.

  Nah...they could use the fence to pave the front yard. :2thumbsup:

----------


## travelislife

> I'd go with tail first... 
> In fact I'd strip that sucker right back to the frame, including floor, ceiling & wall cladding.  Just so you and your builder can see what you need to deal with both in and especially under the part of the building you want to keep. Then do your plans...and only then knock what you don't want (kitchen, bathroom, laundry) down. 
> Failing that....you can easily fit a Cat 9 through that gateway in the front fence.

  Good that we are thinking along the same lines. Yep definitely stripping the whole thing right back (actually really looking forward to that!). Though I was thinking to knock the back off as soon as possible just to do it all in one hit and clear the block out so we start building up again. 
Plan was then to get the front bit re stumped (dependent on what we find) and clad back up. 
Also I will be the 'builder' as this will be run as an owner build.   

> It's all personal preference ... but you may want the D9 to take the front fence too.

  Haha, that front fence is definitely going!

----------


## seriph1

Congratulations on your purchase  -  great to see another Victorian cottage rescued. 
I'll be pleased to provide some guidance/advice if needed. Old homes always reward the owners every time they have something done that breathes new life into them. If you're wanting high-end appliances and tapware for the kitchen and bathrooms I have a number of items in storage from projects that are no longer continuing. Most appliances are used but heavily discounted, seeing as the business is no longer operating. If you want a real period style kitchen with all of the mod cons fitted in sympathy to the Victorian spirit, and none of the garbage kitchen firms will try to sell you, let me know. Every client I dealt with got great results and saved serious cashola ... no other cabinet making firm could come close to what we did, for what we charged. Anyway, happy ot help with referrals etc. But check me out on here or the various other ways people get checked out and make your own mind up   :Smilie:  
examples of some projects can be seen here - I'm out of fireclay sinks finally, but I still have maybe 10 imported true period style taps left and maybe 6 ovens and 15 cooktops, mostly Miele and gaggenau "domino series (30cm wide individual units, including Wok, BBQ, Steamer, coffee machine etc):  http://tinyurl.com/SteveAdesignProfile

----------


## travelislife

> Congratulations on your purchase  -  great to see another Victorian cottage rescued. 
> I'll be pleased to provide some guidance/advice if needed. Old homes always reward the owners every time they have something done that breathes new life into them. If you're wanting high-end appliances and tapware for the kitchen and bathrooms I have a number of items in storage from projects that are no longer continuing. Most appliances are used but heavily discounted, seeing as the business is no longer operating. If you want a real period style kitchen with all of the mod cons fitted in sympathy to the Victorian spirit, and none of the garbage kitchen firms will try to sell you, let me know. Every client I dealt with got great results and saved serious cashola ... no other cabinet making firm could come close to what we did, for what we charged. Anyway, happy ot help with referrals etc. But check me out on here or the various other ways people get checked out and make your own mind up   
> examples of some projects can be seen here - I'm out of fireclay sinks finally, but I still have maybe 10 imported true period style taps left and maybe 6 ovens and 15 cooktops, mostly Miele and gaggenau "domino series (30cm wide individual units, including Wok, BBQ, Steamer, coffee machine etc):  AAslideshow Slideshow by Steve_Ansell | Photobucket

  Steve, thanks for the tips. Tried to send you a PM but your mailbox is full.

----------


## goldie1

Love it.  You have certainly got it all in front of you. As others have said stumps and roof are your 
starting points. I am in the middle of a 30s weatherboard. All I salvaged was the original frame,  
a fireplace,  floors and ceilings in three rooms,  a few doors and four windows.  
 Some pics in this thread might interest you  http://www.renovateforum.com/f84/vic...se-116458/#top

----------


## travelislife

Just a couple of ideas we are starting to develop. 
First off is a potential 2 story version.   
Secondly keeping it all one level.  
Obviously it would be cheaper to stay single level but I am interested in peoples thoughts on where the extra costs lie in going up a level. Also interested in any feedback people might have. These are obviously just sketches to be developed further.

----------


## OBBob

Personally I find it a lot easier to do work yourself (if that's the plan) if it's single story ... although the land saving can be beneficial. Keep in mind staircases take a lot of room and I'm not sure the one you have drawn looks long enough to reach the second floor. Also, 3.2m is a fairly small bedroom after going to all that trouble.

----------


## travelislife

> Personally I find it a lot easier to do work yourself (if that's the plan) if it's single story ... although the land saving can be beneficial. Keep in mind staircases take a lot of room and I'm not sure the one you have drawn looks long enough to reach the second floor. Also, 3.2m is a fairly small bedroom after going to all that trouble.

  That's a really good point. If going to the extra hassle really should be making it a good sized space. 
Yeah a lot of the work will be ourselves so it could be a pretty big trade off, but also the trade off of reducing the backyard size! So many options!

----------


## OBBob

If you plan for it it's fine ... but you'll need scaffolding and that sort of thing, so it can just make whipping around to finishing or fix a few things a little more challenging. But don't listen to me too much ... I don't like heights and my current place is two story. In terms of cost it will add more because any trades will cost a bit more at that height, engineering (beams, bracing, etc.) a bit more, future maintenance a bit more, etc.  
Also, if you are only 860mm from the boundary then I suspect you won't be able to go straight up with that wall. There's a chart that shows the offset from the boundary required to build to a certain height (council may also have rules). That's why you often see houses with a step in on the second level ... another beam LOL.

----------


## travelislife

> If you plan for it it's fine ... but you'll need scaffolding and that sort of thing, so it can just make whipping around to finishing or fix a few things a little more challenging. But don't listen to me too much ... I don't like heights and my current place is two story. In terms of cost it will add more because any trades will cost a bit more at that height, engineering (beams, bracing, etc.) a bit more, future maintenance a bit more, etc.  
> Also, if you are only 860mm from the boundary then I suspect you won't be able to go straight up with that wall. There's a chart that shows the offset from the boundary required to build to a certain height (council may also have rules). That's why you often see houses with a step in on the second level ... another beam LOL.

  Yeah I have got that setback in there from the council docs which is the notes up the top. Hmm...it is sounding like it will be a lot more work, scaffolding, etc. Essentially need to balance the needs and the wants, the wants list is always longer than the needs list!

----------


## travelislife

Okay, so have stalled a bit here just trying to get the ideas locked down before proceeding with a full layout for planning approval. 
Single Level - 2 Options
Approximate living area 135m2 plus decks.
Doing up budgets I reckon I could do this for 150k-160k. So approx $1100-$1200/sqm.
The second option attempts to make better use of the North side light with the wall predominantly sliding glass doors. 
Double Level - 2 Options
Bottom Level is either of the 2 options above and top level has 2 options (only one shown below at the moment). 2nd one is larger with a rumpus area.
I reckon going up will add another 60k or so. Though it is essentially turning it in to a 4.5 bedroom house as opposed to a 3.5 bedroom for the single level.

----------


## OBBob

I guess with Northern light comes heat in Summer. You'd want to think a bit about what sort of glazing you'd be using there and if you can shade those windows in the hotter months. I put roof windows on the North side of a place in Melbourne thinking I'd grab the North light, they were triple glazed and still the heat that came through in Summer was quite a lot. In reality there would have been plenty of light and reduced heat by putting them on the Southern side of the pitched roof. 
Same goes for that deck ... if it's going to be covered then consider air flow and how to make sure it's ventilated and not too hot in Summer.   
Are they your neighbour's windows on that Northern side? You may have to consider strategies so they don't reject it for overlooking.  
Exciting project!

----------


## travelislife

Thanks OBBob. I am actually finding this the hardest part! When the options kind of seem limitless. Once we have locked something down I am happy to get on with it as I know where we will be going. 
Good points about the Melbourne summer heat, as with everything there are pro's and cons.

----------


## OBBob

I guess the point was not to do away with your windows ... just that there are things that can help, which are much cheap when building rather than retrofitting. For example ... perhaps you want double glazing or low-e glazing. Or, maybe you can come up with a pergola roof that has slats at just the right angle so that Winter sun is allowed through but Summer sun is blocked? The sun angle charts for your location are not hard to come by.   
Yep, planning (especially with all the info available these days) is the hardest bit.

----------


## InsaneAsylum

congrats - can't wait to see the progress. also Inner West is Best!! 
and being from european background, I wont be offending anyone when I say it will look amazing once it's been "de-wogged"
aluminium windows + concrete + excessive amount of sheds + brick fence all has to go

----------


## OBBob

How can you have an excessive amount of sheds? I don't get it ...

----------


## David.Elliott

Yeah, I'm with you OBBob... 
How can "excessive" and "sheds" be in the same sentence? 
Just not possible...we got four, and a lean to, could do with one more though...just* one* more...

----------


## InsaneAsylum

nice on guys, part of me knew that was coming  :2thumbsup:  
personally I don't like clutter, I have 1 shed in the back corner. if it gets full, I get rid of things I don't need  :Smilie:

----------


## OBBob

Ha ha... I'm the same but that doesn't make it right.  :Wink:

----------


## David.Elliott

You see thats where we differ...
One shed is where SWMBO does her stained/leadlight glass
One shed is where I do my cabinetty/woodworky stuff.
One shed is the garden shed
One shed is the firewood shed
The lean to is for timber/project storage
Another one would be for the cars...
Oh and we have the chook shed, named by FIL the "Chook Mahal"

----------

