Load bearing brick wall - budget estimate to move

Discussion in 'Renovation & Home Improvement' started by But Why?, 12th Sep, 2021.

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  1. But Why?

    But Why? Member

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    Hi All

    In the beginning stages of planning a renovation on the home (PPOR) before engaging an Architect.
    Just wanting to put together a generous budget to include a 25% buffer.
    Looking to extended the width of the back part of house.

    Some info on the property:
    • Live in Sydney (not sure if being in the North, South, East or West will make a difference)
    • House - L 20m x W 11m
    • Foundation - Concrete Slab (including the Outdoor Ent. Area)
    • Roof - Terracotta
    • Exterior Wall - Brick Veneer
    • Interior Walls - Timber/Gyprock (except the one where the sliding door is from 'Dining' to 'Living 2' this is brick and runs the width of Bedroom 3)

    Planning on having a large open plan area which would be Dining, Living 2, Bedroom 4 & 5 + Outdoor Ent. area combined to be Kitchen, Dining, Living and this will flow out to a new outdoor entertainment area (haven't decided on the size/depth yet). See virtual image Open Plan 1a.

    Ignore the living area (in the virtual image) as still working on that but if anyone has interior design ideas on that space am open to anything and everything. Looking at putting in a fireplace as you can see in the image.

    Change roof from Terracotta to something lighter like Insulroof (or other) and have a vaulted ceiling (not sure if this is possible)
    Remove brick wall 1 (Red) - L 13.5m x H ~2.44m
    Remove brick wall 2 (Red) - L 3.1m x H ~2.44m
    Remove all other walls (those are timber/gyprock)

    Keep all walls that are highlighted green and build new brick wall (brick veneer) on the right side of Outdoor Entertainment area.
    The wall in blue we would like to have as bifold doors and trust we would need support at the top right corner and may even need shorten this if more support required.



    Wondering what the potential cost would be to remove the walls (Red) and extend out to the Outdoor Ent. Area and add those bifolds with any required support?

    We have budgeted $140,000 just for that.
    Q. Are we being too generous with the budgeting for the wall/bifolds (incl. labour etc basically start to finish)? OR are we way off the mark and need to budget more?

    We've got a spreadsheet with costings/budget and will definitely be asking about those a bit later.
    Example:
    Not sure what to budget for the Insulroof yet but thinking ~$40,000 (incl. labour etc).
    Kitchen ~$40,000 - $50,000 (right down to the costs of taps etc)

    All costs I am trying to factor in as 'start to finished product + 25% buffer'.
    Understand appliances etc can make a big difference. So happy to let you know what we are looking at.

    I'd rather over budget then be hit with any surprises.

    Any information anyone needs please ask me. I know there would be a stack of variables.

    Cheers
    B
     

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  2. Trainee

    Trainee Well-Known Member

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    So you turn it into a 3 bed house with a odd shaped living space running the entire length of the house?

    also outdoor entertainment areas are great unless its next to a main road or something. Enclosing everything seems strange.

    not sure if you are thinking resale but thats an odd configuration.

    would combining rooms 2 and 3 and maybe even half the outdoor area into the kitchen so that you get a large squarish area make more sense?

    also that laundry is outside and not very accessible. If you could absorb that and add a toilet….
     
    Last edited: 12th Sep, 2021
  3. But Why?

    But Why? Member

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    Looking to wall off the Living 1 to be a bedroom with small ensuite and keep laundry there.
    So ideally 4 beds and 3 bath.

    But as I'm not a designer of homes (or any sort actually) just trying to get feedback on anything really.

    First thing we want to do is expand the width.
    The layout of the house we are open to.

    If we can keep Bedroom 1 through to the 2nd bath that would be great. But open to removing the 2nd Bath.

    Or should we look at potentially a full redesign of the layout?

    We ideally want open space that flows out to the back where we would like to have a generous undercover outdoor area. The current layout is awful and lacks open space.

    The property runs North (front of house) - South (back of house).
     
  4. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    I'm having trouble picturing what you are trying to acheive. Can you just post a plan of what you want the finished product to look like?
     
  5. But Why?

    But Why? Member

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    Excuse the random lines but along the lines of this we think...

    But as mentioned we can change the layout.
    Ideally we just don't want what the previous owner had in the 2nd photo.

    We are after a layout that has more space
    Open Living
    Entertainment/Outdoor area
    4 beds would be ideal
    The land size total is L 70m x W 21m so we have a bit of room to play with.
    Would love to keep the house around the 20m x 15m (including single garage to the right side)

    Again if the layout is weird or just doesn't work we are just playing with ideas for layouts so totally open to suggestions and recommendations.

    Also to get an idea on whether say $250k is what we should budget for or $650k is more realistic.

    I would hate to start enquiries with an Architect and just give an unrealistic budget to work with.
     

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  6. But Why?

    But Why? Member

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    oops sorry @Trainee saw the rest of your post...

    * unless its next to a main road or something - no main road and actually we are in a very quiet area.

    * Enclosing everything seems strange - good to know. This is exactly what we're after as there are so many photo's and things you see but trying to lay it out it hard for us to envisage.

    * not sure if you are thinking resale - nah it will be the forever home until we need to move closer to medical facilities as we get older

    * would combining rooms 2 and 3 and maybe even half the outdoor area into the kitchen so that you get a large squarish area make more sense? - attached what we thought of earlier in the week, what do you think?

    * also that laundry is outside and not very accessible. If you could absorb that and add a toilet…. - definitely open to that. The laundry is within the floorplan we had earlier (attached)
     

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  7. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    OK, that's a dramatic change. You are basically removing the entire side of the home, so it will be very expensive. No idea of costs. I think the way I'd approach that is to get a couple of rough quotes from Builders before getting plans drawn up.
     
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  8. qak

    qak Well-Known Member

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    The existing plan is pretty odd - none of the walls line up?
    If you can budget up to $650K I'd be wondering what a knockdown-rebuild would cost in comparison.
     
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  9. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    I was thinking the real budget was more like the $250k, and the figure of $650 was an example of what wouldn't be acceptable.

    Still....if you DO have a spare $650k to throw at the property, knock it over & start again with what you want.
     
    But Why? likes this.
  10. But Why?

    But Why? Member

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    Thanks for the comments and yeah currently we "were" budgeting along the lines of $250k but that looks to be a dream considering the brick wall part may be expensive - just not sure what the cost of the brick wall removal would be ie. 50k, 100k, 150k, 300k hence may need to increase budget to $650k. But that wouldn't be ideal.

    100% the current layout is odd.

    Basically it was built as follows:
    1 - original build 1969
    2 - extension mid 1970s
    3 - extension early 1980s

    This due to family increasing in size.

    20210913-1 Original Floorplan.JPG

    Building & Pest reports shows brick, concrete and gyprock/timber frames no asbestos which is great news.

    We're trying to figure a way to maximise the length and width of the house but no idea how to budget for that brick wall (right and back).

    Looks like a few quotes may have to be done by the sounds of it.
     

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