If you and your family love where you live, but your house is just not ticking all the boxes, have you ever thought it might be time to knock it all down and start again?
A ‘knockdown and rebuild’ has some terrific advantages that are well worth considering. The renovation process on an old home can sometimes be exasperating, expensive, and it may even be difficult to find builders willing to do the work, particularly as old homes weren’t designed to today’s standards. Starting afresh also gives you complete freedom to build as you please, free from compromise – and in keeping with today’s building and safety standards. Plus, you get the golden bonus point of staying in your ideal location.
When your house is just not right, ultimately, you can do one of three things:
If you’re not sure which direction to take, here are five reasons why starting afresh may be the better choice.
If you’re relying on your current structures to renovate or extend, you’re relying on your perceived ideas of what lies underneath (or behind) – which may be quite different from reality. There may be dodgy electrical or structural problems, ‘surprise’ problems with rising damp, leaky pipes or other plumbing issues or even worrisome discoveries of unwanted material such as asbestos.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, sometimes knocking everything down and starting afresh can save you money. Building on your existing structures can be an expensive exercise and a time waster. And, a knockdown and rebuild could also save money in the long run, too. Given that your new house will be up to today’s standards (and hopefully including some good passive design elements – using the sun and the wind to provide heat, cool and light to your home), it will be warmer in winter and cooler in summer, allowing you to save a considerable amount on costly electricity bills. Further, by using clever energy-efficient products and appliances in your home, you could save far more again.
If you want to look at numbers, here’s some good approximations. As a rule of thumb, home builders allow around $1000 to $1300 per square metre for a new home build. Renovation companies, however, quote on around $2500 to $3000 per square metre to renovate your existing home. So it depends on how much work you require (and how deep your pockets are)!
Speaking of money, if you live in a desirable area, then it’s likely that you may be enjoying – or about to enjoy the capital growth in your area. As population density increases, the inner suburbs, that are wonderfully close to shops, schools, business districts and amenities – are only going to increase in value.
Today’s home designs are quite different to a lot of older ones. Unless you’ve lucked upon a mid-century masterpiece (think: loads of open-plan living spaces with plenty of indoor/outdoor flow) your existing old home probably has several small, pokey living areas that aren’t compatible with today’s lifestyle. For example, formal dining rooms are quickly becoming a thing of the past, replaced by far more welcoming breakfast bars, flow-through kitchen-dining areas – and quite often – alfresco areas. Likewise, the traditional ‘lounge room’ does little more than collect dust in most homes these days, and has consequently found itself replaced by the more popular entertainment room.
Sometimes there are emotional or practical reasons for loving where you live, such as enjoying the ambience (think: coastal breezes, wildlife, green, leafy suburb), nearby activities, or proximity to neighbours and friends, parks and shops. By knocking down and starting again, you avoid the dramas of moving and enjoy staying put. Plus you can forget about having to drag your kids out of school or worry about possibly having to commute further to work.
Always check with your council before getting too excited about any building ideas. See what’s possible – or allowable – first. For example, heritage overlays may thwart your plans of a knockdown. Or there may be height restrictions or certain design requirements for your suburb that must be adhered to. So check with your local council, and talked to a reputable building company about the possibility of building your dream home on your existing block.
Recognised as one of Perth’s Leading Custom Home and Farmhouse Builders, JFK Custom Homes builds homes for the Perth Region including the Perth Hills.
