Need advice for renovation of bathroom, kitchen and garage

Hi all,

I just bought a double brick home near Beverly Hills, Sydney and need some advice on renovation

Bathroom
The bathroom is tiny, around 1.5 x 2. I want to extend the wall by 50cm to make the bathroom 1.5 x 2.5. This will require closing existing door and opening new door for the bedroom next it

Do I need council approval for the work?
Any recommendation for good structural engineer and builder in Riverwood, Beverly Hills area?

Kitchen
I plan to change all the cabinet and have gas meter installed and hire gas plumber to connect gas pipes to the house.

For the cabinet and stove, im not sure who would be the best kitchen rennovator to hire? I thought about IKEA. They seem to do kitchen design

For the gas connection, if i only stay in the property for 10 years, is it worth it in terms of reducing energy cost?

Garage
The garage and shed are in bad condition with asbestos roof. roughly 10m2 for both

Do i need council approval to demolish?
Did anyone have experience with this and how much was you quoted?

 

Check the LEP whether demolition requires consent

 

The issue with gas is the supply costs (assuming you mean natural gas not bottled gas). Gas is common in Melbourne for cooking and heating. The monthly supply costs for me are much more than the cost of gas usage (I use gas only for hot water - but used to have a gas stove and gas heating - so might have been better value with more appliances).

Renew/ATA did a comparison a couple of years ago and found (I vaguely recall - please do your own research) that the overall cost of gas for cooking, heating is getting closer to the cost of electricity if you use efficient electrical appliances - especially if you only use gas for one thing - as you are still having to pay the supply charges!

Unless you already have gas to the house in which case there was a slight advantage (from memory - but I seem to recall that was the gist - as I was quite surprised. Note that this is using energy saving electric hot water heater (heat pump) etc.

But it all depends on the way electricity prices are going compared to gas.

Re. The garage - I suggest considering having the cladding/roofing replaced. It’s expensive to build a new garage. If the structure is a bit wobbly - get a carpenter or builder to repair it.

I got rid of two carports at my place and now really regret getting rid of the second one!

 

I'd never go back to gas unless I was living in a very cold enviroment, for central heating.
For most locations of a more temprid climate the supply charge of gas easily exceeds any savings to be had over electricity .
If you are talking bottled gas, forget any savings !

 

I'm not in Melbourne.
I have natural gas, for me it's worth it to sill be able to cool if the power goes out.

 

From AGl, the supply cost for gas is 0.6 cent a day. I plan to use gas for cooking and hot water. Do you guys have bill comparison between using gas vs electricity?

 

How would you compare gas-electricity use unless you had two seperate households ?

It's been over 10 years since I had gas, supply charge was $45+ a qtr back then, so your $0.60 cents a day isn't all bad "if you actually use the gas".

I had solar hot water with gas boosted and gas ducted heating, so only really used gas for 4 months a year (mostly in winter for ducted heating), the supply charge always exceeded the use charge, so any savings by using gas were eaten away by supply charge.

Am not anti gas, more anti blanket supply charges in general,
Example: my pensioner neighbor runs their AC near 14 hours a day, I can tell by the sound of it if its on heat or cool cycle (heating morning/evenings and cooling from 11am) so their use is high everyday and we are often out and use very little power and pay the same supply charge (no user pays pro rata to consumption).

Inverter reverce cycle AC and other appliances have become more energy efficient than ever, throw a few panels on the roof (for what it would cost to have run & gas connected to a property) and you are miles in front

If you live in Portland or Warrnambool Vic then gas heating is probably essential