DON'T RENOVATE WITHOUT A DESIGNERS HELP!
by Dwell Building Services | August 2020| Custom Home Design/Renovation
In the past, we’ve attended various building and pest inspections that included “custom construction” inside the properties. By “custom construction” we’re referring to the home owner making substantial modifications to their home without consulting the experts. We’re not talking about replacing the kitchen cupboard doors or a fresh coat of paint…
Renovating your home yourself, for aesthetic or practical reasons can be tempting. Without professional advice, in many instances, ad hoc renovations do not actually improve the dwelling itself. Overall, the effect is that re-sale value dips, and the actual renovations, during a building inspection, are considered defects to the home.
We completed a building inspection in Molendinar on the Gold Coast that had been renovated by the owners themselves. The customisation was the addition of a cat door embedded into a second storey wall instead of to an external ground floor door. Design-wise, this is considered wrong for a few different reasons, but mainly because with the position of the door. Moisture, not to mention vermin could enter the home easily. With nothing to stop the outside from coming in, this cat door seriously detracted from the effectiveness of the wall, not to mention the stability of the property.
Another instance of a customisation gone wrong was not the result of an ill-conceived renovation, but an architectural flourish that went too far. The building inspection was in Kingscliff on the Tweed Coast, and again, the defect centered around moisture. The owner had installed a timber slat platform inside the shower recess that must have appeared exotic at the time. However after thousands of showers, the timbers had started to show serious moisture damage and also served to trap moisture, preventing the shower recess from draining properly and damaging the tiling/grouting underneath.
These are just two examples of renovations gone wrong.
Before you decide to make a statement through renovation, or when you’re building your property make sure you make building decisions with these factors in mind:
* The future re-sale value of the home – will this be of value to others?
* Will there be any repercussions for the actual building – could this renovation be considered damage?
Most importantly, with all home renovations, it is important to weigh up the cost of planning and project management (“good” costs) vs. future costs to rectify damages (“bad” costs). We would always recommend you consult a master builder or interior designer when it comes to making changes to your property.
