# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  Two story extension to 1960's suburban house

## Cheltenham3192

We're undertaking a two story extension to our 1960's cream brick house in suburban Cheltenham, Melbourne.  Ground floor of the extension will have a kitchen, walk-in-pantry, dining and living area, and upstairs a 'retreat', main bedroom, en suite and walk-in-robe.  
The project commenced four weeks ago with the demolition of the garage, sun-room and half of the rear wall of the house.  Framing for the first floor is about to commence. 
I'm blogging progress, see Cheltenham Home. 
We're using a local builder, Makay Constructions. 
At present, we're in the process of having the kitchen and walk-in-pantry designed.

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## Cheltenham3192

Our first floor has had the Colorbond roof installed.  The gable roofed verandah has transformed the appearance of the front of the house, converting a flat roofed (converted) pergola into something that we think is more stylish! 
This weekend we're meeting the electrician on site for the first time.  We'll have to make a decision about whether to proceed with LED lights or not very soon.

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## Cheltenham3192

Our decision about downlights hasn't been made.  Checked out LED downlights in stores today, and tomorrow our builder has arranged for us to visit another of his projects so we can seem some installed in a home. 
I was pleased with the one I saw today, in a darkened room off from the showroom of a shop that supplies electrical hardware to contractors.

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## Cheltenham3192

I thought that some before and after photos would show the transformation that is underway! 
From this:  
To this:  
We've now rendered the first floor, and replacing the existing roof with a Colorbond roof is about to start. 
Inside, we're going to install LED downlight's through our living and dining area, and CFL downlights elsewhere (verandah, ensuite).

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## jago

Looks good ....not something I have followed,yet ; try and take the pics from the same spots to  dramatise the changes. :2thumbsup:

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## Cheltenham3192

Thanks Jago.  Unfortunately I can't take the photos from the same spot because the extension has come so close to it that I can't fit it in the photo  :No: .  Even moving back to the fence doesn't allow me to.  However moving to one side, with the odd angle of our back fence (we're not on a rectangular block) I can squeeze it in. 
The white framed window on the left edge of both photos is the same window.

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## Black Cat

You even managed to improve the weather! Well done!! lol 
Looking good - will be interesting to see how you have fitted the stairs internally and the way the overall floor plan has changed - good choice on the roofing material, and the change to the hipped roof - it makes all the difference to the proportions of the place!

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## Cheltenham3192

Hi Black Cat, here's part of the Ground Floor plan, oriented to match the photos.  
The stairs are within the old kitchen, and the walk in pantry is the former meals area.  We've kept the original rooms, but rejigged doors and hallways to suit the new layout. 
We're also putting a gable front on the house, but it will remained covered with tarps for another few weeks.

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## Cheltenham3192

Our Colorbond roof for the ground floor was started this week, and will be finished later next week.  Today the roof tiles from the 'existing' house were removed and replaced with Colorbond, and the tarps were removed for the first time in many weeks from over the new verandah roof. 
This photo shows the rear of the house, mid-week.   
This photo shows the front of the house, today.

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## Cheltenham3192

Since my last post we've achieved 'lock up'.  We extended the existing heating and cooling ducting into the extension.  The walls and roof have been insulated, the wiring completed within the walls, and the plumbing extended to the new kitchen.  We've also had a natural gas pipe put through to the rear verandah for a future patio heater. 
Last Friday the plasterers started work, with the plasterboard placed by midday today (they worked some of Saturday). 
The crushed rock has also been laid on the front and back verandahs, ready for concreting - probably tomorrow.

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## Black Cat

Very nice indeed - you have transformed the place from a dowdy, and very ordinary building into something really lovely - well done you!

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## Cheltenham3192

During the week our stairs were installed, and the floor boards laid.  The electrician has cut holes for the lights, GPO's and switches too, and the builder is fitting our internal doors.  http://www.renovateforum.com/members...tom-stairs.jpg  http://www.renovateforum.com/members...eing-boxed.jpg 
Last week the concrete was laid for the front and back verandahs and we ordered the pavers for them too.

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## Cheltenham3192

Our bathroom has been tiled, and the laundry floor tiles laid.  I've also nearly finished extending the heating and cooling into the house extension. 
The doors have been hung too. 
Today our walk-in pantry cabinetry was fitted.  I've put a video on our blog.  Next week our kitchen cabinets will be installed, then a few weeks later the benchtops. 
Our builder has brought forwards our completion date by two months, with most work to be finished by Christmas and a few items in the first two weeks of January  :2thumbsup: .

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## pb02

Love the pantry! Wish I had the space to do something like that. Heaps of storage and good bench space too. Was that all organised by the builder or did you get someone in to do that seperately?

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## Cheltenham3192

> Love the pantry! Wish I had the space to do something like that. Heaps of storage and good bench space too. Was that all organised by the builder or did you get someone in to do that seperately?

  Thanks pb02! The pantry is our former meals area, which was our idea to convert. Our building designer helped enormously. It was originally bigger and we took space from it to create a wider corridor lined with shelves. 
Our kitchen is being done by a friend.  I am confident our builder would have done similar and done it well; our choice was only that we wished our friend to do it.  We could have gone higher-spec with the finish and splashback but were limited by our budget (we actually have enough cabinetry for two kitchens).

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## gray71

I enjoy and lookforward to reading your blog everyweek. We are about to start adding a second level as well and it has given me inspiration. Thanks

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## Cheltenham3192

> I enjoy and look forward to reading your blog every week. We are about to start adding a second level as well and it has given me inspiration. Thanks

  Thanks gray71.  Good to know someone is reading our blog.  If you have any questions then please use the blog comments - I check that every day, whereas this forum is usually only weekends. 
Good luck with your project! 
PS I went through someone else's two story extension the other day.  They installed a laundry chute from their upstairs 'common area' between the children's bedrooms, straight into their laundry.  A simple, inexpensive idea that could make life so much easier! Too late for us though.

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## jago

> They installed a laundry chute from their upstairs 'common area' between the children's bedrooms, straight into their laundry.  A simple, inexpensive idea that could make life so much easier! Too late for us though.

  I spoke to council about doing the same and they wouldnt pass it due to saftety concerns, so  I looked at a dumb waiter kit $12k for the kit plus install ..you got off lightly. :2thumbsup:

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## Cheltenham3192

This week our kitchen cabinets were installed.  They look brilliant!  We've ordered handles that aren't in stock, so we should get them in about two weeks.  The bench tops will be fitted in about two weeks too - the photos on our blog show the MDF templates in place. 
Through the rest of the house, the carpenters are continuing with the detailed work (skirting boards, locks on doors, architraves, etc) and the painters have finished the undercoat.

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## tengals

what is the project cost?

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## Cheltenham3192

> what is the project cost?

  Hi tengals, I'd rather not say in a public forum.  If you PM me, I'll send you my builders contact information, or try to answer some specific questions if you have them.

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## Cheltenham3192

I haven't posted an update for a while.  Our Caesarstone bench tops have been installed, and the kitchen and laundry tiled.  The internal painting and outside rendering are complete, and the front and back verandah's have been tiled too. 
A water leak in the kitchen has delayed work - the plumbers got something wrong and now we have to wait for the floor to dry back before it is sanded and sealed. 
It is pretty well just the floors and the electrical work that remains. I can't wait to see the living area when the LED downlights are switched on. 
I've posted many more pics on our blog.

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## Cheltenham3192

We're now close to moving back in to our extended house.  In the next three weeks the floors will be sanded and polished, the showerscreen installed, carpet laid in the master bedroom, and we'll move in after Australia Day.  There's also electrical work to be finished, and some minor carpentry.  It is looking like a big month is on the way. 
We've also found some photos from when we bought the house, in 2003, when the previous owner was still in it.  Here's two examples....     
We've put more in our blog, with some later photos from the middle of this year before we started the extension. 
If anyone is feeling down about progress, or where the money is going, then I suggest pulling out old photos and remembering where you started.  We've had no major problems, but it is still comforting to see the changes we've made in such a short time.

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## Cheltenham3192

We have been effectively locked out of the house for over a week now while the existing and extension floors have been sanded and polished.  We had access for one day yesterday to have the carpets laid upstairs (Smartstrand IQ150), and today the final coat is being applied to the downstairs floorboards. 
We move in next week.  Even though Wednesday is the Australia Day public holiday, we have the following scheduled during the week:  finishing the electricalplumbers completing the ensuite toilet, moving a tap and fixing a hot water outlet broken by the renderersrenderers fixing some damage from other tradiespainters finishing paintingFoxtel being installedOptus phone and internet reconnectedShowerscreen and mirror in ensuiteReplacement aerial on roofChippies finishing isolated items (door locks, stoppers, etc)Site clean upCleaningRemovalist on Thursday.
It will be an interesting week!  The end is in sight.

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## gray71

Good Luck! I will miss reading your blog. We start our 2nd story extension in two weeks, wish I had the motivation to do a blog as well.

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## Cheltenham3192

> Good Luck! I will miss reading your blog. We start our 2nd story extension in two weeks, wish I had the motivation to do a blog as well.

  Hi gray71.  No fear that the blog will end soon.  I plan on keeping it going, although perhaps at a slower pace, because there is so much more that we want to do as money permits.  As you can see on the blog, we started posting in 2006.  Our future plans include:  carportovenfridgedownstairs blindsother new pieces of indoor and outdoor furniturealarm systemlots of landscapingwater tanksgrey water systemmore chickensdogrenewing the vegie patchnew drivewaypathsBBQ areaLED lights in the pantrymaybe a swimming pool (perhaps a dream!). 
Enough to keep us going a little longer. 
It is refreshing that someone is actually reading our blog too.  Thank you.  
I hope you blog your project, or use the forum to do something similar. 
(PS I should put this information in our blog as a reminder list!)

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## keen renovator

Thanks for posting stage by stage development of your ext'ion project
As I am thinking of a similar renovation do you or any one else with similar experience want to share the cost involved in drafting the plans and also the building cost per sq metre.  I am planning 2storey extension on floor area of 5x10m.

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## Cheltenham3192

> Thanks for posting stage by stage development of your ext'ion project
> As I am thinking of a similar renovation do you or any one else with similar experience want to share the cost involved in drafting the plans and also the building cost per sq metre.  I am planning 2storey extension on floor area of 5x10m.

  Hi keen renovator, sorry for the delay in responding.  This week we moved in to our renovated home and we have a lot of unpacking to do. 
With a renovation and extension it is difficult to give accurate costs.  Including our building contract, variations and things we purchased ourselves, I estimate our costs at about $2,800 per sq.m.  That includes reroofing the whole house in Colorbond, rebuilding the front of the house to give it a gable end, the kitchen, fitting out a walk in pantry, plumbing for future rainwater connections to the toilets, LED lighting throughout the main living area, carpets upstairs, paving a large outdoor area, second hot water heater, insulating the roof space of the whole house, rendering the whole house etc. Check out our photos in this thread and our blog to get the scale of what it includes.  However, I have excluded the verandahs from the area calculations when determining the rate. I have not included any new furniture costs. 
We obtain several quotes and the chosen builder was 10% cheaper than the rest.  He has almost pretty well finished two months ahead of schedule. 
We will probably spend more to get our home to where we would like it to be.   
I hope the above helps.

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