# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  Next Renovation - Country Cottage style

## namtrak

This time I am tracking all the renos on our house in Queanbeyan.  There will be a few differences.  Because it cost so much to purchase the house, we will conduct our renovations with a mind to maximise capital return and minimise costs.   
The house is a four bedroom weatherboard (alum. cladding now), with timber floors, one bathroom and an '80s kitchen.  It is quite spacious and the block is over 800 sqm. 
Our priorities will be to refurbish the kitchen, put in an ensuite, re-line the walls  in 3 of the rooms, establish the gardens, kit-out the sleepout and if money allows convert the tile roof to iron. 
We have already sanded the timber floors and I am halfway through shelving the study.  The overall theme will be country cottage - suggestions are more than welcome. 
The house cost $415,000.  I think in this area the most we could get for a good 4 bedroom house with ensuite would be around $550,000.  Above that people are expecting a little more that I think will would be impractical to provide (pools etc)  We can value add the sleepout a bit, by putting in a bathroom and kitchenette (I think potential buyers would be attracted to the extra $150-$200 pw rent they could get). 
Photos to follow, hopefully I won't take quite as long as I did with our first reno!!

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## dazzler

> and an '80s kitchen.

  Orange benchtops? Yellow Handles? Fake woodgrain finish  :Tongue:

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## namtrak

Cream benchtops, but 2/3 aint bad!

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## sports fan

yea i dont know how popular a pool would be in quenbeyan! must be freezing their be now, are you going to keep the alum. cladding?

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## namtrak

> ....are you going to keep the alum. cladding?.....

  I think so, it looks fine and is maintenance free.  If when we are said and done, it detracts from the overall value of the place then we'll look at it but at this stage I see no reason to remove it. 
Personally, it is not something I would put on a house, but now that it is here......

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## Jappa

I am really looking forward to following your renovation. I am under way with ours now and have set up a blog for it

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## namtrak

This was the first job.  We got Larry McCully to sand the floors throughout the house.  The boards in the lounge, hall and front bedrooms was Ironbark.  The boards were all set about 3-5mm apart, I think to try and save money on coverage?  So we decided to try and create a shiplap effect with a mix of Poly/Lime/Oxide - Looks great but there are some cracks, as the night we ran the mix over the floor the temperature dropped to 3/4 degrees below zero - that was a bit of a frig.  So we decided not to do the lounge that, but just sand and coat it as normal. 
The rear bedroom was radiata pine, which we stained with a Walnut stain and sleepout was straight Baltic which we just sanded and coated. 
I have put up some before and after shots of the hallway and lounge - which may have some of you thinking the original looked better!!  But we are very happy with it, and I think it will suit the overall plan for the house better than the ratty old carpet which was there.

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## namtrak

I am currently working on the study, which will be a bit a##e about face.  To do it properly I should be ripping out the internal lining and recovering the whole room.  However, because I am time poor and the kids need somewhere to be doing their homework, I am putting the benches and bookcases in first and the lining will come later. 
The benches are made from Studleys structural packs, and the bookcases are being made from the Studleys reject flooring packs.  I coated the benches with a floor poly and will probably oil the bookcases. 
I dont have a before photo as such, however because I am only halfway through this job you can sort of take these as before photos - hopefully. 
I am having some problems, as everything in this room is out square, its a bit like an Alice in Wonderland journey.  I am trying to square things up as I go, so cornices, architraves and so on become easier to repair down the track.

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## lazydays

I see the fishtank made the move up north OK

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## namtrak

Good spot!  We had to give the fish away before we left, I just gave them back to the fish shop they came from because I liked the guy. 
Up here though, we've had a few deaths - think despite the heaters in the tank that when we are away for a few days and the temp drops too much then some of the little buggers pay the price.

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## namtrak

17 months later and back at it. 
Got the new walk in pantry sorted, retiled the kitchen splashback, halfway through laying flooring throughout the house (grey gum in the bedrooms and blackbutt everywhere else - cover grade as well), new linen press and bulkhead cleaned up. 
Jobs to do include, 
Painting entire house, rendering front wall, sanding floors, lights in a few places, extra book shelf, tiling front steps. 
Anyway heres a couple of pics to keep you interested (waiting until I sort out the pictures flipping sidways?) 
We are considering moving again and renting this one out also, or maybe just sell it - not sure yet.  I think it depends a bit on where the market is when we are finished and how tired we are!! 
Cheers

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## namtrak

All done and dusted. 
Installed new floors, retiled kitchen, painted house, tiled front steps, rendered front of house, rewired house. 
Moved back to Albury, sold house at maybe square ..........   
More pics to follow.........

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## namtrak

As for the maths. 
Bought 2008 $415,000
Renos $30,000 
Sold 2012 $480,000 
Sold at the wrong time, but we felt the stress of the extra mortgage was not worth the impact on our lifestyle

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## Bloss

Probably a good choice - those floor are just great! Good luck back in Albury.

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