Hi All,
Just need to ask this question. We (me and my wife) are bout to start our renovation journey and bought the renovation toolbox. Its great and we are trying to predict the cost of rendering and landscaping on a say 20sq home.
Some on this site, say it can cost up to $8000 others $150. So im a a bit confused. What questions do i need to ask?
Also we have no exp on landscaping. Can some one tell us a rough figure on what to expect. Pros and Cons.
We have put in an offer on a property.
Thanks [biggrin]
Vluu75
Hi Guys,
I’m in the same position. We need to render our house in a few months. Ours is a two storey 32sq house. I have also been given different prices and we need to decide if its best to get someone professional to do it or try it ourselves. We don’t want to stuff the exterior up so am leaning towards going the professional way.
Cheers guys,
Ems [biggrin]It’s a bit hard to compare apples with apples when talking of landscaping – different plants, different sizes, how many, the design, how much paving, retaining walls, lights etc, etc.
If you are handy and have the time, you could do it yourself and can make it look great. Something really elaborate may require the pros.
As for rendering; I had a PPoR built back in ’91, and it was rendered. I watched the guys doing it and I wouldn’t even try to attempt it. It is a real skill, and done wrong would look crappy. Get the pros to do that.
Cheers,
Marc.
[email protected]“we get sent lemons; it’s up to us to make lemonade”
Hi Vluu75,
My fiance and I have just had our lowset brick/tile 3 br rendered by a professional. He did an amazing job. We saved money by purchasing the render cement ourselves, we prepared the house ourselves, (in the afternoons after work which took us several hours all up). This included purchasing the plastic edges which get glued on to all edges like windows etc. Then cutting them, and glueing. We also taped the windows etc to ensure a clean finish. It was fun and quite easy.
We assisted him by mixing the render cement to the required consistency as he performed the task. We saved money in prep time, and not having to have a ‘gang’ of workmen.
I would not recommend you tackle this job yourself. It is a practised art. Get quotes, negotiate on price by offering to do the prep work etc. Ask to join the renderer on another job so you can learn how to do the prep and see what is required when mixing the render mix. Probably not a job for someone without a bit of strength. And they may not be keen to agree to this ‘deal’ unless you are obviously going to be able to work at their pace, and work hard for maybe 2 to 3 days.
The job was completed for around $2200 including around 20 litres of paint! The render mix and plastics and glue were around $700.Hope you get something from this.
GOOD LUCK!
O.P.M.PS. We had to order the render mix and have it delivered to us. We used Mitre 10. Your renderer will help you estimate how many bags you require.
Dear vluu75,
I got my house fully rendered couple of years back. I cannot remember the exact cost but I think it was around $36 per sq mt. I’d say the cost of rendering will probably be close to $8000 (professionally done).
Looking at the amount of time and effort required on the work, I will not think about doing it myself. If you are a accomplished handyman then its a different thing.
Hope this helps
Sanjiv“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.†– Nelson Mandela
Thanks all for your replys. Helped tremedously. MMM damn..still quiet expensive.
Will let u know how i go.
Btw. My offer has just been accepted. So here I go.
I’m nervous but watch out for my post in the coming months.
Happy new year everyone.
vluu
If you need the place rendered, definetly go professional. How bad is it? You may be able to get away by using texture paint. That is a lot easier to apply and you could probably do it yourself. You will need to get some professional advise.
Next time you plan a reno before you put in an offer I strongly recommend that you pick up the yellow pages while going through your list and ringing five or ten places for each major trade.
Many trades can often give you rough square meter prices over the phone. I would take those prices and add at least 20%-50%. But at least it gives you a benchmark.
The trades that are probably hardest to estimate are electrician and plumber. But when you are serious you can ask the agent if you could show them through before making an offer. They can then check the place out and give you a firm quote or at least a fair estimate.
A point of warning. It is very hard to save a lot of money on your budget, but very easy to go substantially over.
I would strongly recommend that you allow about 50%!!!! extra over your quotes until you get really experienced.
Old houses have the tendency to have a series of unpleasant surprises in store for you.
I believe the main trick when doing renos is to think outside the square. Come up with good looking solutions that do not cost a lot.
When landscaping the place there are huge opportunities. Eg Put down a mixture of nice gravel and bark chips with some raised flowerbeds scattered in between. This is very simple, cheap and looks fantastic. Talk to lots of people/nurseries/garden centres/hardware shops to get ideas.
Congatulations on you first Project and Good Luck
My brother is a renderer and will charge up to 50/mtr for a difficult or intricate designed house. This may be reduced if you have a simple house, with little surface prep required and no hire of scaffolding is reqd. In this case, it would be around the 35/mtr. I would suggest that be careful buying your own materials as you wont be getting trade price (even if they say it is) as the real tradesman will be buying crate loads per week as opposed to a one off! Oh and I have seen a number of houses rendered by the owners and they are terrible. There is a reason why these guys are tradesman, its not as easy as it looks!
Let me know if you have any further questions
[email protected]
If you are in SE QLD he would probably do it for you anyway.
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