News

Dec 15, 2023

Restoration Australia host Anthony Burke has seen all the renovation traps. Here are his tips for avoiding building pitfalls

It's the running joke of home renovation shows. No-one ever seems to deliver their project – big or small – on time or on budget. But as host of Restoration Australia, and a professor of architecture,

It's the running joke of home renovation shows. No-one ever seems to deliver their project – big or small – on time or on budget.

But as host of Restoration Australia, and a professor of architecture, I'm here to tell you it's not the only area where would-be renovators come unstuck.

Here are my tips if you're thinking of picking up the paintbrush, chucking on the work boots and giving it a go yourself.

They say building a home is one of life's three big events (the others being marriage and children) and in many ways, it is.

So, before you commit to a project, take a step back and ask yourself, honestly, are you ready for this?

Consider carefully if now's the right time, and whether there's space in your life.

Maybe a new job or starting a family are more important to you right now than jumping into a build that will dominate your dreams and waking thoughts for the next six to 18 months.

Still keen to ride the emotional rollercoaster? The journey is predictable.

There'll be enthusiasm and optimism as you design and move to breaking ground.

Then comes the demo, before the dawning reality of learning just how much work and money is needed to put something back together.

This usually brings a moment of despair as you realise you can't have everything you dreamed of, it's a lot harder than you thought, and there are unanticipated costs piling on, which inevitably happens about three-quarters of the way through the build.

But as they say, the night is always darkest before the dawn and the good news is the pay-off is a long tail of satisfaction.

Once the builder hands over to you, the first few weeks of bliss become a series of minuscule dissatisfactions ("I didn't see that scratch in the tiles before, but I can't not see it now!") before you settle down into your lovely new home, smiling as you reflect on how wretched your life was before your renovation or build.

For some people, like me (and Jess and Krys with their miner's cottage in this season of Restoration Australia), the whole process is actually energising.

I love getting into the nitty gritty and solving problems with the contractor on site, but for most, this constant pressure is far from enjoyable.

Remember, design doesn't stop once your plans are stamped for construction.

You're designing right down to the last finish. In fact, it's been estimated there are over 40,000 decisions to make in a typical residential build, so you need to be prepared to be involved. Very involved unless you're willing to accept the house your builder wants to build, rather than the house you've designed.

So, get yourself and your relationships psychologically match fit before the first soil is turned.

One thing that inevitably leads to problems — partners fighting, contract squabbles, cost blow outs — is not having your priorities clear before you start.

Anthony Burke follows the progress and pitfalls of single-minded restoration enthusiasts who stop at almost nothing to revitalise their beloved buildings.

One of the many benefits of working with an architect is they'll help you work out what you really mean when you say "dream home", and the difference between what you think you want, as opposed to what you like, and what you actually need.

That won't always be clear when you're flicking through the pages of a glossy magazine, or scrolling through Pinterest.

Remember, magazines make their money on inciting a new round of FOMO every month and they're good at it.

So, rather than letting yourself be seduced by the latest must haves, you need to analyse what's really important to you, and your unique situation.

What will make the house work is more important than the paint colour.

When push comes to shove, and it will, where is the line that you simply cannot cross, and where are the lines of change more negotiable?

This is so important to get right at the beginning. As we see time and again on renovation shows, changes made part way through a build almost always add cost and complexity to your project.

Many home owners prepare for their renovation by hitting the magazines, but this gets you style over substance, fashion over fundamentals, and the fundamentals are where you need to be clear and spend your money first.

Sure, getting a card in soccer isn't a good thing, but if you're intending to do any work at all yourself (and let's face it, it's a tempting cost-saving measure) you'll need a White Card, a basic site safety training certification.

Rolling up to the local hire shop and grabbing yourself a nine-inch concrete saw for the weekend is not something you should be taking on without serious preparation and skills.

Equally, dragging a ladder around the site to paint a hard-to-reach gutter in the sage green you've had your eye on is more risk prone than it sounds.

We all think we can do it alone, and many try it, and regret it.

A White Card won't take long, and won't cost much, but will make you think twice, which might just be enough to ensure you're able to enjoy the home you're making into the future.

Let's be honest, most people just don't need a third bathroom. There, I said it.

One of the fundamental mistakes made in projects is building too much.

Last time I looked, Australia had the unenviable title of having the biggest homes on average in the world.

No, we're not giant humans, and our family sizes are by comparison quite small.

So, why do we need homes that are twice as big as a French home, or three times the size of a home in Portugal?

I can already hear you saying "but Anthony, resale demands we maximise the potential of the block size".

Let's stop there, and unpack this concept of "maximising the potential".

Maximising the livability, enjoyment and fit of a home is not the same as maximising the resale.

Are you going to live in this home, or sell it?

If "the potential" is to build the most comfortable, efficient, healthy, and inspiring home for your family, then maximising potential means making the house work hard for you and not a market-average home buyer.

Efficient planning and clever nuanced design will maximise utility and performance, so leverage the sun, the garden and the breeze to do the hard work, while you save on power bills and concrete.

Because our houses have become such important financial assets, we put up with more space of poorer quality, building for the return on investment that you imagine after you've spent 10 years rattling around in an unused echo chamber you call the good living room.

Unless you and your family are market average (and trust me, you're not), then you want to make your home unique to you and worry what the market wants later.

While I'm on the topic, there's growing research that suggests a bigger home doesn't actually improve our happiness, and better design does maximise efficiency and minimise costs over the long term.

While there is a link between house pride and happiness (only marginally and predominantly for males), stop worrying about aspirations you're fed by the real estate section, and be proud you've saved the extra square metres and put the dollars back into your family.

One area I would recommend not skimping on is the garden.

Set a good budget, isolate it and don't dip into it halfway through the build when pennies get tight.

Get the garden in as early as practicable and for every dollar spent on the green, you'll see a financial and lifestyle payback that's the best on offer.

There are so many advantages — physically, environmentally, psychologically and aesthetically — to considered green spaces, you can't go wrong here.

Most home owners leave this to the end, nip up to the local hardware store's garden section and pop some palms in terracotta pots and lay some turf (or worse artificial turf).

Starting a new garden can be a very exciting time, but before rushing in, a bit of planning and observation can save you time, money and maintenance down the track.

But think of it this way, what else physically cleans the air you breathe, cools the temperatures you sit in and psychologically and chemically actually makes you feel better and more relaxed all at once?

A garden is like an air-purifying, air-conditioning, therapy session with natural anti-anxiety medication all thrown in.

If the budget allows, spend good green on the green and talk to a landscape architect or other expert to get your outdoor space tightly tied into your home design.

You'll reap the rewards.

Watch Restoration Australia now on iview or on Sunday at 7.30pm on ABC TV.