25 Jul Every question we’ve ever been asked about home renovations
With the success of shows like The Block, Fixer Upper and House Rules there are more and more people becoming interested in home renovations. All of us here at Titan 360 think that’s wonderful as everyone should be able to live in a home they love and be able to make the changes they want to their homes.
Whilst the renovators in TV land can make it look easy, we also know that renovating a home is a lot of hard work and requires experience that some people don’t have. That’s where a renovation company like Titan 360 can help. Not only can we assist with helping you plan and discover the potential renovations available to you, we can provide the materials, tradespeople, tools and experience to make it happen.
During our 30 years of experience, we’ve been asked a whole lot of questions about home renovations. We understand that you might have questions too so we’ve compiled every question we could think that customers have asked us and create this article to hopefully help you get some answers!
How much does a home renovation cost?
This is the question we get asked most here at Titan 360 and our answer is always the same… “How much work do you need done?”. As you can appreciate there’s no single answer to this question. It’s like asking how much food do you need to eat to feel full? It’s going to change depending on many different circumstances.
A renovation project can literally be anywhere between one thousand and one hundred thousand dollars depending on the amount of work that needs to be completed, the cost of the materials used and a range of other factors.
There are certain things that will impact the cost of your home renovation that you may want to take into consideration when thinking about remodeling your home.
Location and access
If your home is in a rural area at the end of a 5km dirt driveway, that’s going to be a different logistical challenge to get materials and supplies to than an inner city suburban block with easy access. The ease or difficulty to firstly get to your home and then access it can impact the cost, hence why exactly the same two jobs can differ in cost depending on the location and access to the houses.
Materials
You know that beautiful granite benchtop and stainless steel kitchen you’ve seen in your favourite home reno magazine? That’s going to cost much more than a stock standard pre-made kitchen from Bunnings. The types of materials you choose in your renovations can make a big impact on the overall cost. 75c per tile extra may not sound like much, but if you need 600 tiles for both bathrooms, that’s an extra $450 in materials.
The type of home
A single story, square, brick house with easy access is going to be a different type of job to a pole home with curves in the architecture and built mostly from wood.
Scope Creep
This happens with any project whether it’s a home renovation or not. As you get into the project you start thinking about additional items you want added to the job. Adding extra to the items to the project adds extra bulk to the price.
Surprise!
Sometimes issues may be found (like termites, structural damage, etc) that needs to be addressed. Obviously we do everything we can to try and catch any items like this before work starts, but sometimes we can get surprised at things that would have been impossible to discover until the project was underway.
Asbestos
If there’s asbestos in your home this will need special consideration and certain requirements if it’s to be broken, knocked down or removed.
Where do I start when wanting to remodel my house?
This will all depend on what you’re wanting out of your renovation. Are you remodeling your home to live in it or are you renovating to sell? Usually it’s a good idea to think about the most obvious things first. Does the house need a new coat of paint, do the floors need re-doing or are you going to start knocking out walls and adding extra rooms?
By figuring out where you want to go with your renovation (the end result) you can start to map out how to get there. Sure there may be a few detours and side trips along the way but that’s the nature and the fun of house renovations!
What home improvement need permits or council approval?
This will depend on two things. The renovations you’re getting done and which local council you live in. Brisbane City Council has slightly different requirements to say, Moreton Bay Regional Council. If you would like more information please feel free to call us on 0481 536 900 or you can visit some of the following council websites:-
Brisbane City Council – Extensions, raising and renovations
Moreton Bay Regional Council Getting building approval
Noosa Council Certification & Approvals
Ipswich City Council Building Approvals
Building Information – Lockyer Valley Regional Council
Logan City Council – Is building approval required
City of Gold Coast – Building works
Redland City Council -What approvals do I need?
Plumbing and Building Approvals – Sunshine Coast Council
Are home improvement costs tax deductible?
This will depend on a couple of things and the requirements change depending on how you’re approaching your renovation. If the house you’re renovating is your primary residence that’s different to a rental and different again if you’re looking at purely ‘house flipping’.
If you would like some more information about this we highly suggest talking with an accountant familiar with this area of tax or check out the following links:-
ATO – Building or renovating your home
ATO – Expenses deductible immediately – management, maintenance, interest
What are your favourite home improvement shows on Netflix?
Sounds weird but we have been asked. We asked around and some of the guys are Team Grand Design and others are team Reno My Reno and we even get the odd ‘Find it, Fix it, Flog it’ thrown in 🙂
Will Medicare or the government help pay for home renovations?
On a more serious note if you’ve been involved in an accident, become sick or disabled and require modifications done to your home, this can have a large impact not only on your life, but on your bank balance.
There are some government programs available like the Queensland Government Community Care Program and the Australian Government Carer Gateway that provides assistance with things such as modifications to your home.
These are all the questions we could think of that customers have asked us over the years and hopefully we’ve covered most of the more common enquiries people have.
If you have a specific question to would like to talk with us about home renovations, remodeling or maintenance, please feel free to call us on 0481 536 900.
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