The Start

So we have started.


If you are going to follow this post series, then I will use this post to give an overview of who we are and the home-building project journey we are setting out on.


A bit about my wife and I. We've been married for 9 years and we like to kid ourselves that we have done this house-construction thing before. Well, sort of. The first house we bought together was an un-loved art-deco Californian bungalow in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Like many first-home buyers, we purchased the house we could afford in the suburb we could afford and we worked really hard to make it our own. We painstakingly restored all the art-deco features, renovated it and did an extension to the house as owner-builders. Being owner-builders meant that unlike most renovation projects, where the house owners hand the project (and a load of cash!) over to a licensed builder, we had to take responsibility for everything and needed to be much more hands on.

Our first building project (photo taken at about the time
we had spent all the money we originally budgeted)

And how did our first extension project turn out? Well, we learned heaps about building and construction, we made plenty of mistakes, spent way more than we ever thought possible, and ended up with a house that we absolutely love.


It is also important to know that this experience did not make us renovation junkies, eager to audition for the next home-improvement reality TV show. By the time we were finished, we swore that we would never (ever!) do another building project and that we would happily live in our beautifully restored, renovated and extended art-deco home until we were old, grey and needed dentures.


But life doesn't work that way. We were able to stick to that plan for about 2 years, and then we started having children. Five years further on, three sprogs and a dog have appeared and suddenly our house is looking smaller and smaller as our kids start to grow up.



So we have made the big decision and we are going to do it again. The big differences this time are that (i) we are definitely not going to do it ourselves and (ii) we are definitely not going to renovate an existing house. The former because with three children, we just don't have the time to do it. And the latter because the first big lesson we learned (years ago) about renovation is that it is an act of love, not economics and it is often cheaper to knock down and rebuild an old house.


To that end, we have bought a old house in a leafy eastern suburb of Melbourne, and we plan to knock it down and rebuild on the site. The chances are we will be having our house built by one of the big "volume" builders from an off-the-shelf plan


Why am I writing? Well, I am writing it because it will hopefully help keep me sane as we go through the process of creating our new home.


So who should both to read this blog? I am hoping that these posts will be of use (or mild entertainment) to anyone who aspires to follow us down the path of building a new house.


How frequently will I post? Meh, who knows...