renovating pitfalls

I caught up with Sami and the gang on Radio Real Estate yesterday and we briefly covered how and why to develop a design masterplan.
You can hear what we chatted about here. If you want to engage someone to do such a design concept for you, you could try Archicentre. It offers a Renovation Design [...]

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When it comes to building, close enough usually just isn’t good enough. When my neighbour’s builder made a mistake of 100 mm it meant he had to pull down part of the renovation and start all over again.
You might remember from my first Neighbour from hell post that I said the challenge would be making [...]

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The last instalment on RealEstate radio also went unrecorded - because I forgot to press ‘record’. (Blonde moment!) However it was all about the missing third step from last time. Here’s roughly what we covered.
In the three budgeting steps we looked at before you worked out what you wanted and roughly how much that would [...]

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Just when you’ve dragged yourself through years of the grit, grot and gross insanity that can be renovating hell, your neighbour decides it’s his turn. What do you do when he wants to build a McMansion extension in a street of little terraces?
I’d always wanted to buy the house next door if it ever came [...]

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Each fortnight I’m joining Sami and the gang on Radio Real Estate on Hot 91.1FM. Sami, Dan from Ray White, Rob from Adenbrook Homes and me, are taking a journey through The Renovator’s Survival Guide - picking out the very top tips.
Listen to this episode where we discuss the top three problems to avoid.

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To the layperson, a 30mm shortfall in the length of a roof sheet may not seem like much. To an expert, it’s a key ingredient in causing moisture damage that could cost thousands.
Homeowner Steve Jackson renovated his 60s Castlecrag home in Sydney about 2 years ago. At the time, his builder installed a totally new [...]

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Or if I say it another way, The (renovating) World According to Me.

When I sat down to write The Renovator’s Survival Guide I was intent on helping people avoid some of the simple mistakes I know it’s so easy to make. I felt that if the book were going to appeal to people just like [...]

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While the makeup person was giving me a new face before my interview on 9am’s David and Kim yesterday, she told me about her own renovation experience. It was yet another example of the pitfalls involved in getting friends and family involved …
This renovator’s ex-father-in-law was a builder and when she and her ex-husband wanted [...]

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The Renovator’s Survival Guide is finally out. In case you missed this 40 second trailer that gives you a quick insight into what it’s all about, here it is again!

The Renovator’s Survival Guide is OUT NOW! from RENOVATION SURVIVOR on Vimeo.

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