Knockdown Rebuild: Is It Better Than Renovating?

Cost Effectiveness

This is often the key measure when it comes to deciding whether to renovate or Knockdown Rebuild. Reconfiguring an existing floor plan can be expensive – and you can’t always achieve what you really want. Older homes often come with lots of small, awkwardly shaped rooms and usually don’t feature the open-plan living spaces modern families are looking for. While you can sometimes open up the living spaces in older homes, it can be tricky if you are dealing with load-bearing walls and you often end up with a mix of flooring, both in terms of materials and levels, both of which can be expensive to fix.

However, not every site suits a Knockdown Rebuild project either. Sometimes local councils will insist on adherence to regulations that did not exist when the existing house was built, which can compromise your design and occasionally the land will need more remediation.

It is worth sitting down and doing your sums right from the beginning – knowing that you need to include contingencies if you want to renovate. This checklist is a great place to start.

The chance to choose your dream home

Starting from scratch allows you to begin with a fresh slate. Create a list of your must-haves (and wants) and go from there. You’ve been dreaming of three bathrooms to give your teens some space? This is your chance. A butler’s pantry? Add it to the floorplan. While there will always be some restrictions because of budget or council guidelines, you have a much better chance to build exactly what you want without too much compromise.

“I think with renovation – and it will depend on the family undertaking the project – but you start with wanting to just do your bathroom, but suddenly that means, oh, we'll just do the kitchen,” says Lisa. “And then if you’re doing the kitchen, you may as well open the whole living/dining/kitchen space up, which means removing walls.

“And suddenly it's not just a small renovation project. It is effectively a whole home project. And in that case, a lot of customers do decide to start afresh with a brand-new home.”

Extra certainty

Working with Carlisle Homes adds certainty and confidence to your plans – in terms of timings and budget. Our contracts include all the information you need upfront to make an informed decision, essential if this is your first time building. We offer full transparency on home pricing, guarantees on build and completion timeframes, a 25-year structural warranty, along with warranties on all of your new fittings and fixtures. 

“It's the element of the unknown,” says Lisa.  “It adds cost, stress, anxiety, and with reputable brands such as Carlisle Homes, you've got a fixed price, your timings are all fixed, et cetera. It's all part of it.”

“So you've got that sense of control.”

Ongoing maintenance

A new home is so much easier to keep clean and well-maintained. Because everything is new from top to bottom, you won’t be facing regular maintenance for years – whether it is replacing guttering, deep-cleaning tiles or repainting.

And, with Carlisle Homes your new fittings and fixtures come with warranties, along with a 25-year structural warranty. You can relax and enjoy your new home – and get your weekends back!

Energy-smart 

From reorientating your home to take advantage of the winter sun, to adding in insulation and even double glazing, a new build with Carlisle Homes can be so much more energy-efficient than retro-fitting an older style of home.

“I think saving energy is one that probably doesn't get considered often enough when people are considering this journey,” says Lisa. “A lot of the older homes are built to not even a three-star rating and now we're at six-star, about to be seven.”

“There's all sorts of insulation through the home, making sure that we're meeting those guidelines, but it’s not just the thermal properties of the home itself. It’s also about the appliance and the fit outs of the home, like the refrigerative air conditioning units and the heating units that are placed inside the home. All of these things contribute to making sure that the home is running as efficiently as possible, really saving money in the long run.”