Rear battle axe Subdivision- Retain and Build

Distinct Renovations recently completed a retain and build subdivision in Craigie.

The subdivision involved a full renovation and extension to the front house. Distinct completely renovated the place and put in new windows, carpets, new open plan kitchen living area, new bathroom, extended the main bedroom adding on a timber frame ensuite.

The ensuite tied in well to help give the place a new contemporary look with a skillion roof and BGC Nuline cladding to the exterior.

A modern skillion roof carport and alfresco were constructed to the front and exterior of the home to give extra outdoor living space out the back and undercover parking out the front.

The front house had gone from an tired old 3 x 1 to a lovely new 3 x2 with newly sprayed roof, texture coat render on the exterior and fully painted throughout.

To gain access to the rear property an old asbestos and brick carport was dismantle and new paved drive was put in place.

Rear Timber Frame Home

The rear property consisted of a brand new 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom and 2 car garage timber frame home.

The home was built using non-standard WA materials and techniques in mind. Being previously from Queensland we wanted to bring a little of the sunshine state appeal to WA to show what else is possible when constructing new homes other than the standard double brick homes built here today. The home has been likened to those down in the South West, typically Margaret River and Busselton.

Timber frame construction allowed us the flexibility to build such a home. The main feature of this home is the giant 4 meter skillion roof which slopes down to a 2.7meter ceiling to create a large open plan living space. The highlight windows in the open plan living along with the high roof really do justice to opening the space up making it seem  larger than it is.

The home is made up of three bedrooms with a walk-in robe and ensuite to the main room, which is off to one side of the living area.

Down the hall on the other side of the living space is a main bathroom with bath and shower and two more bedrooms each with large built in robes, the two bedrooms are separated by a kid’s activity room/study. This allowing the home to have two generous living spaces.

The kitchen consists of lovely stone bench tops with an island bench in the middle and plenty of cupboard space along with a large pantry. The laundry is off to the side of the kitchen with plenty more storage which could also be used as a scullery. The laundry then leads to the double car garage which has an extra storage space added on to create even more storage.

For a small block the house packs a lot of punch and you really feel like you are in a much larger home. The home is 134 square meters of living space with a 43-square meter garage.

The exterior of the home was cladded in BGC Duragroove painted in white with a BGC Nuline feature cladding to the entry painted in charcoal. Also, the Alfresco area has a large exposed and stained timber beam which completes the homes incredible looking façade.

This home reflects three benefits of building with timber frame construction, number one is the time to build. From slab down to completion this home took just under 4 months or 16 weeks in total!

Benefit number two is the flexibility of timber and how easy it is to work with such intricate designs. And the final benefit in this case was cost. To build this exact home in double brick would have cost significantly more due to the complexities of heights and the holding costs while building would have been much higher due to timing.  When building double brick vs timber frame construction, it takes significantly more time.

The above strategy is great if you are living in a rezoned area here in Perth or your current block allows you to subdivide.

 If you are sick of living in your old home, you could build this in the back all while you stay living in the front home! Once moved into the back you can either rent out the front house for extra income or sell and pay down some of your mortgage.

If you are looking to build a new home and thinking of building a timber frame home contact Distinct Renovations now and find out how we can help.