House Reno - Asking for a Friend

[Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 21:23
Last edited 29/10/2019 - 21:23

Hiya,

I'm not good with intros, so we'll just skip to the good bits :p

This was a house that I was considering buying earlier this year but didn't. A mate bought it instead and is moving in shortly. I no longer have the actual floorplan , if I ever did, but I've modified an existing one that we've found online. Here it is.

My main concern at the time was how dark and claustrophobic the hallway was and not having a proper laundry room. There's probably other things that are wrong with the house that we haven't spotted. Would love to get some input on what these could be and how to turn this place into a warm, cosy, homely lovenest :)

Cheers,
JJB

Home & Garden

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 21:36
    +1

    That laundry lay out is a love it or hate it type of thing. Most people will probably never know until they live in the place.

    Human tendencies are difficult to change and I've learnt that it is easier to change my house than get my residents to do things to best fit the house. For example, I had to change my secondary entrance as practically no one wanted to use the dedicated mud room entrance and would rather go to the kitchen entrance so I had to place all my decontamination equipment closer to the kitchen.

    If the family doesn't like using the dryer and is used to sun drying, I can foresee a lot of grief with that layout. The cost to move the laundry close to an exit is going to be unfeasible. The cost of adding water in, out, waterproofing and electricity is simply not financially feasible for a house this size.

    To me, this is a micro format home that is fit as a rental only. It's certainly no long term home.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 21:43

      Agree, which is why we didn't get it. He's a first-home buyer who's been looking for a while and jumped on this one after he saw the size of the garage and a patch of lawn. He negotiated hard for it though and has about $30k to work with.

      • [Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 21:49
        +1

        $30k will disappear before the furnishing is complete.

        • [Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 21:53

          He's got all the furnishings courtesy of his parents , in-laws and friends…. but yes, $30k will not go far if he wants to make structural changes.

  • Glenningvalley on 29/10/2019 - 21:43

    Main problem with the ldry is the ventilation - dryer without a heatpump/proper ventilation to the exterior is going to cause long term problems
    smallest bedroom is 3.5x3.5m which puts it at the large end of a standard bedroom, which makes me question the scale of the whole drawing making it
    hard to pass comment on the rest

    • [Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 21:50

      The drawing is not to scale. The bedrooms have the BIR in the room which takes space so that the 3.5 m x 3.5m room would not fit a double bed with 2 side tables.

      I wonder if the laundry can be moved to the garage. Another option could be to get rid of the ensuite and use it as a laundry room , which would affect the resale value of the property

  • lgacb08 on 29/10/2019 - 21:48

    looks like a very convoluted layout, if it were me i'd move the laundry and toilet out to get them closer to the backyard (swapping with the lounge?) but I reckon 30k won't cut it.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 21:56

      Convoluted layout because it's one of those property with a house at the front and one at the back . His driveway is private though.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 22:19
    +2

    A European laundry is bad (no natural ventilation)… a European laundry located in the centre of a house is the worst.

    Subject to budget and cost, possibly look into relocating to the garage? And then convert old laundry to a study!

    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 30/10/2019 - 09:10
      +1

      Agree with this. Ditch the laundry. Even better than a study, turn it into a butler's pantry.

      Stack washer and dryer in corner of garage. Problem solved.

      • poboy on 30/10/2019 - 09:50

        The only issue is that the garage is a dirty/dusty place which doesn't mesh well with clean laundry.

        • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2019 - 10:20
          +1

          Fairly easy to do seal the concrete and walls. It significantly reduces off dusting.

        • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2019 - 10:26
          +1

          It's a brand new garage. It was originally a carport and the previous owner has replaced it with a garage/workshop.

          Actually, the whole place has been renovated but with the intention of maximising the sale price rather than livability.

  • qwerty on 29/10/2019 - 22:38
    +1

    I would make 1 toilet more accessible to family and guests so they dont walk past the laundry and 2 other rooms to use it

    • [Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 22:49

      Turn the ensuite into a laundry /half-bath combo? Not ideal plus ensuite was recently renovated by the previous owner and looks brand new.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/10/2019 - 22:41
    +4

    Put a whirlybird in the laundry and a skylight in the hallway.

  • elgrande on 29/10/2019 - 23:10
    +3

    I would save the $30k and just live in it as is.

    • elgrande on 29/10/2019 - 23:11
      +1

      And by the way.. how dare you ACTUALLY ask for a friend, a real friend ..

      • onetwothreefour on 30/10/2019 - 06:16
        +4

        It's never a friend, even when they say it is.

        • pegaxs on 30/10/2019 - 08:57
          +1

          Correct. OP seems a little to overly invested in a house that is not theirs that someone else bought.

          • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2019 - 09:15

            @pegaxs: I feel ever so slightly responsible as I told him about that property which wasn't on the open market. He asked if he could tag along to have a look, fell in love with that patch of lawn, the oversize garage, the location, which is walking distance to the beach and train station, and made an offer, after I said I wasn't interested.

            I probably should have gone more in details about why I wasn't interested…

            • pegaxs on 30/10/2019 - 10:21

              @[Deactivated]:

              fell in love with that patch of lawn, the oversize garage, the location, which is walking distance to the beach and train station, and made an offer, after I said I wasn't interested.

              If it's your "friends" house and they are "in love" with it, then why are you trying to spend their money to upgrade it to your tastes?

              If your "friend" only has a limited amount of money, why are you trying to spend it for them?

              Number one rule of online forums…

            • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2019 - 10:21

              @[Deactivated]:

              fell in love with that patch of lawn

              Uh… What lawn?

              Surely you don't mean that small patch of grass? Hardly qualifies as a smoker's corner.

              • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2019 - 10:28

                @[Deactivated]: Sorry, "lawn". I was quoting my mate and the previous owner.

        • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2019 - 09:06

          Sadly, the OP only has a limited amount of money and there's only so many properties he can buy :)

  • jjjaar on 29/10/2019 - 23:30
    +1

    If you open up the laundry in the hallway to become actual hallway, you can extend the bathroom into the hallway a fair chunk and relocate the laundry into the bathroom.

    As you haven’t given dimensions, I’m not sure what space is available so I have removed the bathtub and used a shower, but if it was wide enough you could install a shower/bath combo if your mate wanted the bath. Potential for a separate laundry sink too if there’s space, but once again without dimensions…

    Hallway = purple
    Bathroom = green (yellow is an optional door to outside)
    Hallway linen cupboard = red

    https://ibb.co/rHghHqv

    • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2019 - 06:19

      Thank you. That's genius! :) Although, I personally find shower over bath a bit yuck.

      • jjjaar on 30/10/2019 - 08:21
        +1

        Yeah not everyone loves it. I quite like it but I can tell it wouldn’t be good if I was older and more susceptible to falls.

        The other option is if you can extend that bathroom into the space between the fence (I see it done in Melb all the time for en-suite extensions). That would give a bit more room to play with and may be able to have a shower and bath in it then. May need to relocate the door from the hallway though. (That may help with floorplan options anyway)

  • empty456 on 30/10/2019 - 04:39
    +1

    How big are the master bedroom windows? Some old houses have floor to (almost) ceiling windows; if so, that one can be turned into a sliding door for easy access from laundry to backyard. Potentially extend the paved area as well.

    Otherwise I would just be buying a condenser dryer, installing an exhaust fan from laundry, and/or adding a skylight in the hallway. Save the rest of the money for real repairs/renos that need to be done which will probably come up once your friend actually lives there.

    • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2019 - 06:28

      Thanks.

  • brad1-8tsi on 30/10/2019 - 08:23
    +1

    I've had cupboard laundries at 4 houses (inc the current one). I like them. You might consider a vent to ceiling or even external. Possibly a low wattage or solar fan.

    I'd put another skylight in the hall - maybe 2.

  • holdenmg on 30/10/2019 - 09:29
    +1

    I dislike answering a question with a question…
    .
    .
    .

    that said…
    .
    .
    .

    drumroll…
    .
    .
    .

    "What would Dammo do?"

    • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2019 - 09:32
      +1

      Build a sex-appeal balcony?

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