Laundry renovations
Laundries are one of the jobs we are asked for most in Unanderra, usually as a room on its own rather than as part of a whole-house renovation. We run the plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, cabinetry and tiling as one job on a fixed price, which for a room this size is the difference between a fortnight and a couple of months of waiting on trades.
Most of Unanderra was built in the post-war decades, when the steelworks was hiring, and in a lot of that housing the laundry was never really a room. It is in the garage, in a back porch that got closed in later, or in a lean-to off the kitchen. Which of those you have decides the job more than anything you would pick from a showroom.
A laundry in a garage can be done properly, and often should be, because the space is already there. It needs the floor graded and drained, a waterproofed splash zone behind the tub and machines, and its own ventilation, none of which a garage was built with. Leaving those out is why some of them smell damp by the second winter.
The alternative worth pricing is bringing the laundry inside. Where there is a corner off the kitchen or a hallway cupboard near existing plumbing, moving it in can cost less than making the garage work properly, and you get a room you will use in July. More on the scope is on the laundry renovations page.
Sunroom extensions and closing in a patio
We build them, and closing in a patio is usually an extension rather than a cheap way of avoiding one. As soon as the space is sealed, insulated and heated, it is a habitable room, and it has to be built as one to work like one. Our post on sunroom extensions and enclosed patios compares the two.
The idea comes up a lot around here because so many of these houses already have a roofed patio or pergola sitting on a concrete slab out the back. It looks like most of the work is done. What is actually there is a slab laid with a fall so water runs off it, often with no damp-proof membrane underneath, and a roof that is a single uninsulated sheet.
That is where the money goes. The floor has to be levelled or replaced, the roof insulated and lined so it does not drip condensation onto new plasterboard, and the old external wall opened up, which on these homes usually carries roof load and needs an engineered beam. The glazing is the cheap part and the part everyone budgets for.
Aspect decides whether it is worth doing at all. Facing north with an eave over it, an enclosed room is comfortable most of the year for very little running cost. A large area of unshaded west-facing glass gives you a room nobody sits in after two in the afternoon in summer. See home extensions.
Bathrooms
Bathrooms in the same post-war houses run on the same one-team approach. Waterproofing has to cure before tiling, and a single builder keeps that step from being squeezed. Details are on the bathroom renovations page.
Nearby
Figtree borders Unanderra to the north and Farmborough Heights to the west. Unanderra is in Wollongong City Council, and you can see photos of finished work in the gallery.
Questions from Unanderra
Who builds sunroom extensions in Unanderra?
We do. Closing in a patio is usually an extension rather than a cheap alternative, because once the space is sealed and heated it has to be built as a habitable room. Floor, roof insulation and the old external wall all need work.
Can I turn my Unanderra garage laundry into a proper room?
Yes, but it needs a graded and drained floor, a waterproofed splash zone and its own ventilation. A garage was not built with any of those. Pricing the alternative of moving the laundry inside is worth doing alongside it.
Is it worth enclosing a west-facing patio?
Usually not without shading. A large area of unshaded west glass gets very hot in summer afternoons, and cooling it is expensive. A north-facing patio with an eave over it makes a far better room.
Can I add a second storey on an Unanderra house?
Often, once an engineer has assessed the existing footings and walls. The number of rooms you can add depends on what the structure can carry. We start with that assessment before design.
Do you provide general building and construction in Unanderra?
We build granny flats, extensions, renovations, decks, new homes and duplexes. Formwork for suspended concrete slabs is a different trade and not something we take on, so that needs a specialist contractor.