Why Can it Cost More to Renovate my Home Than Build New?

​When going down the path of a home renovation you always ponder the thought of what if…..and what should we do…
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The questioning of should we just demolish the existing home to make way for a new built home or simply selling up and buying a block of land to build is a valid conundrum our homeowners are faced with.
 
Once you start to sketch out your renovations and home extensions you soon start to realise how quickly the price of a renovation can add up. Especially if you are extending up and building a two-storey home.
There are several reasons why a renovation can cost similar and if not more than a new build.

​Demolishing existing part of the home 

When demolishing existing walls and existing parts of the home whether it be ripping out old kitchens, bathrooms or pulling up old flooring the cost to do this can get quite high. When you demolish a home the level of care is much lower than when you are demolishing a wall to make way for a bigger or new space in the existing home.
Ripping up old tiles is quite a hard and VERY messy job that also takes care not to damage the sub floor or slab underneath.

In older homes they tended to have the rooms closed off the Kitchen and Living and Dining in some of the older style homes were three separate zones and, in some cases, fully enclosed rooms.
 As we prefer these days, it is not about hiding in the kitchen to cook dinner but more about cooking and entertaining at the same time all around the island bench or mum and dad cooking dinner while chatting to the kids who are busy doing their homework on the dining room table.

Large open plan living spaces are a must have in most home renovations that we do for our clients.   
Also, most homeowners love the idea of a walk-in robe leading into or right near an ensuite for the master suite in the house. Back in the day it was generally one bathroom for the whole house… Unbelievable I know!

So, couple all the above together and you have around $10,000-$30,000+ of demolition work and you have not even started the renovation.

Now what does it cost to demolish a house these days in Perth- around about $17,000-25,000. Depending on the house itself. So, consider this and compare….

But before you jump to conclusions check out this blog which explains whether to demolish or build new.

We therefore at Distinct Renovations always try to avoid the least amount of demolition to the existing house as possible to avoid this unwanted cost.

​Make good old areas

This next cost is a lead on from the last but is certainly not needed in a new build.

That is, making good the old areas that may have being demolished or need repair. Once you have demolished the old walls and certain areas of the home, you need to make them all good. That will involve several trades such as plasters, carpenters, and painters.

You may also need to sand back the existing floors or even patch some areas in where the demolition work has taken place.  For example, a lot of the older homes we renovate we will turn a kitchen into a bedroom. In some of these homes where the oven was, the ground is concrete underneath i.e., the timber sub floor did not carry through, so we need to patch in the ground and then re sand the entire existing house to ensure it all ties in together as much as possible.
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 “Making good” old areas can be a costly expense, but also an expense well worthwhile as it can bring some spaces back to their old glory and really show off the character features of the home. 

​Extra electrics and plumbing 

When doing any home renovation, you are required to disconnect the electricity and plumbing. This again is not really required in a new build as you are starting from scratch.
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This expense is not significant however if you are required to re wire the house due to faulty or ancient wiring that is not up to code or deemed safe, then you could be in for a large increase in the cost of electricity when comparing it to a new build.
 
Also plumbing can skyrocket if you are required to provide new pipe work for some of or all the plumbing works. Or if you are changing the locations of fixtures and fittings in a bathroom renovation or kitchen renovation the cost to drill through floors or walls to re route the plumbing can be quite high. 

Unwanted surprises

This one is the reason why MOST if not all builders and trades would rather work on new built homes over renovations.

And that is, unwanted surprises….. They are unknown until they rear their ugly head, and then they become an unwanted surprise that must be dealt with to complete the renovation.

These surprises normally happen when certain areas get demolished i.e., walls removed, kitchens ripped out or ceilings come down.
 
These suprises can be a range of things from termite damage, through to damp and water damage or terrible foundations under a timber sub floor. Moving some parts of a ceiling could cause the whole ceiling to fall.

​The list goes on, and as stated above nobody wants these surprises but all homeowners must prepare b having a contingency aside to cover any unwanted costs. 

Conclusion 
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There are several reasons why you should or should not renovate your home, demolishing walls in your home individually soon add up to a larger overall demo cost that is not required in a new build.

Then making those walls good again or any aspect of the home that requires restoring can add on to the cost of a renovation.

Couple this with the added electrical and plumbing expenses and any unwanted surprises and you can soon see why a renovation may and could cost more than a brand-new built home.  
 
However, one thing to be mindful of is when you are comparing a new build price with your new home renovation and extension make sure you are comparing the cost of the same size floor plan and the same specifications.

As the specification chosen for your tailored home renovation may be different to the builder’s standard range of fixtures and fittings he has allowed for in his advertised price.

At Distinct Renovations we like to get involved from initial design stage right the way through to practical completion so that you get the home that is designed right for you and your budget.

If building new is a better option we can also assist here. We are happy to sit down and discuss your options and weigh up the cost of both fell free to contact us now for more information.