The Ultimate Guide To Renovation Course - Module 8: Cosmetic Renovation Case Study Part 2

The lining boards are removed one by one until the timber frame becomes exposed. This leaves the way clear for the plasterer to turn the archway into a square opening. The old skirting boards in the dark room and lounge room are also removed. These will be replaced with larger MDF skirting boards in the half splayed profile. Here in the laundry, work begins to remove the old shelves and bench top. We will be replacing the old shelves with new melamine shelves and also be replacing the bench top with a new sheet of melamine. The bench top will then be resurfaced in the same color as the kitchen bench top. In the bathroom, the vanity is disconnected and temporarily removed. It will be reinstated after the tiling has taken place. The shower screen is also still in good condition and in a cosmetic renovation. At this level, I'm trying to reuse every possible item that I can. First, the silicone joins are cut away. Then the rivets are drilled out to make it possible to remove the shower screen in sections. Piece by piece. The shower screen is dismantled. Next, it's on to the tile removal. Whenever you're using a hammer around tiles, be sure to wear eye protection. Small shards of broken tile can and do shoot out at random. Thankfully, the tiles can be removed in one go. By removing the villa board and the tiles simultaneously. And before you know it, we are back to timber frame. It's now that we can take a closer inspection of the water damage that was visible on the other side of this wall. Although it looks bad, we've got to it just in time and the damage caused to the timber joists below is only minor. Meanwhile, on the outside, the rendering has started. Because of our painted brickwork, acrylic render was needed to be used. Acrylic render contains an adhesive that allows the render to stick to painted brickwork. Acrylic render is not as thick as traditional sand and cement render and therefore several coats needs to be applied to straighten the wall or make the surface flat. First a base coat, then a second coat. The polystyrene float is used. The final coat will have the paint color mixed in with the render, which also saves on additional painting. Before the renderer began, the old brick window sills were removed and the gap was filled with a mixture of sand and cement. Back inside and the plastering has been completed in the lounge room. Bye bye 70s archway. The total cost of the plastering, $450. Also in the lounge room, the old ugly brick fireplace is giving you life with a coat of render. In the bathroom and kitchen villa Board has been installed over the timber frame. Waterproofing has taken place, ready for tiling. We are now into the finishing stage of the renovation. This means that nearly all of the jobs that create dust have been completed and the finishing works are, such as painting and fit out, can begin. Preparation also begins on the kitchen cupboards and bench top. One of the things I'm often asked, especially from people who haven't renovated before, is where do I start? You know what I do? I start from the top down and it kind of makes sense. You don't want to go and polish your floorboards and then have all the trades come and walk all over them. You don't want to go and polish your floorboards, put down new carpet and then start painting your ceiling. So I work top down, paint the ceiling, paint the walls, then deal with the flooring. That way you're not damaging the flooring whilst you're moving things around. You're not damaging the walls while you're putting dishwashers in and getting big boxes in. And you're actually looking after the property whilst you're renovating it. So if you want a quick tip on where to start, start at the top, work your way down now to the kitchen. After sanding, filling and cleaning, the kitchen cupboards and bench top are now ready for resurfacing. For the cupboards, we are using a product called White Night Tile and Laminate Primer, which will be followed by White Night Laminate paint. First, the edges and corners are cut in using using a paintbrush. Then it is simply applied like normal paint using a small 100 mil foam roller. Because of the difficult hinge arrangement of this kitchen, we opted to leave the doors attached. But you may find it easier, however, to remove the doors altogether. One option is to lie them flat on something like a trestle at a comfortable working height. Two coats of laminate paint are required, with a recommended drying time between the coats of 24 hours. For the bench tops, we're using a product called Rust Oleum Countertop Coating. In this case, we opted to go for a solid color, but we could have instead chosen a speckled finish to imitate a stone bench top look. The colour we have chosen is called Onyx, which is a dark granite colour. Before we start applying the paint with a roller, we must first cut in the corners using a foam brush. The bench top paint is then applied in a thick coat and spread out using a small foam roller. Starting at one end and working in one direction, the paint is applied and then gone back over to Achieve a line free finish. It's important here not to take the roller too far back over a finished area. The paint does dry quite quickly and you may risk leaving a roller mark again. The paint is left for 24 hours to dry and then a second coat is applied. Back in the bathroom. And the bath has also been resurfaced using a rust oleum product called tub and tile in pure white. You'll remember the bath itself was in perfectly good working order. It was just an ugly color. Now for a total spend of $20, we have a great looking bath. On the outside. The old dodgy steps have been replaced and the veranda has been painted using paving paint in the Dulux color of monument on the veranda. We also replaced the original iron uprights with new timber posts. The outside cleanup and landscaping is also underway. Floor sanding has been completed using a Jarras stain. And now it's time for the carpet to go down. In the bedrooms, the carpet itself was purchased as end of roll stock from Fowles Auction House. The name of this carpet, Marina View in Linen Carpet is calculated by the broad loom meter, which really just means the width of the roll, which in our case was 3.6 meters by one linear metre. We paid $25 per broad loom metre. On top of that, the cost of installation was $20 per broad loom metre, bringing us to a total cost of $582 for all three bedrooms. That's great Bang for buck. Custom blinds in charcoal colour were fitted in the lounge room, dining room and kitchen for a total cost of $380. Now all that's left to do is the furniture staging and we will return to see the finished product. Very short.