How much to renovate?

Hi
We're looking at renovating in the future (have to save up first :doh:) and i'd just like to get a rough idea of how much it would cost to add on a room? We're thinking of adding on to our sunroom which faces the backyard so we have heaps of space if we need it. Our home is about 1meter off the ground and we are considering adding a sunken lounge room (ie the lounge room would be at ground level, not the level of the house) around 6 meters by 6 meters. Not sure if this would be more expensive than an add on at the same level of the house??
Anyway just after some rough figures so we have a goal to save towards. Also share any experience you might have with renovating. Cheers :D

It would be a good idea to get a builder in the give you a quote. So much depends on the materials that you want to use - brick, weatherboard, stone, haybales! Any plumbing etc. Try word of mouth for a builder, I think thats the best way. ;)

Hi there

About 3 years ago we added on a family room to our home 6mx5m- my DH did all the work, although we did get professionals in to do the roofing and gyprock. It took about 6 weeks and all up (fully furnished, floor boards, painted, new lounge, rug etc) cost us $16000.....

4 weeks ago we got a builder in to add yet another study/computer room onto the family room we just built........, and build us a decking. The size of this room was 5mx2.5m. We also got him to replace all the arcatraves in our home (except the bedrooms) and he made some of our walkways more open (rather than those mousey type entrances). All up we spent $33000.........
Get lots of quotes from builders, request to see their work. And when you do find someone, ensure you go thru the contract with a fine tooth comb. THere are a lot of scumbags out there just waiting for people like you and i.......whilst we were quoted one sum for the work we wanted, at the end of the job we ended up paying more coz he added on things that were not in the contract......also set a date (realistic) of when you want the job finished. We didnt have one, and we were very much put out of our comfort zone for 2 weeks (me and girls had to live at mums .....grrrrr).

We are going to renovate/extend later this year too.....but i guarantee you my DH will be doing it. Fair enough it may take twice as long, but its twice as cheap, and we found my DH put a bit more lovin into the craftsmanship than what a builder would.

Good luck - its fun, but a PIA if you know what i mean......

The cost of renovations depends on your location and how busy the trades are in your area. I think the figures that are bandied about are $1200 - $2000 per square metre. I know where I live its at the high end of the range. Maybe with the downturn in the economy, builders maybe easier to come by and you won't have the "well I didn't want/need the work, so I'll quote an outrageous amount" factor.

If you are going to be the main one dealing with the builder - make sure you like him. Oh how I've dealt with some PIGS.

A friend of mine wanted to extend a bedroom to make it the main bedroom, and add an ensuite and walk-in robe to it. She also wanted a new brick fence at the front. She called MANY builders and the only one that would bother coming out for a quote quoted $180,000!! This was about 6 months ago in Perth.