Measure twice, cut once.

My grandfather, Bill Seward, always told me to measure twice and cut once.  I have discovered when you apply this principle to developing plans it's more like measure fifty times, pace things things out at least thirty-two times, draw it on the ground with chalk and try to envisage what furniture would fit where twenty times and then have about seventeen anxiety attacks that perhaps the economy is stuffed and you shouldn't be renovating at all.

So that's what James and I have been doing recently and is the reason you may have noticed my blog has been quite of late.  However, we think with a few tweaks the latest iteration of our plans will give us what we need. Plus the economy needs building industry needs stimulating so we might as well be the trendsetters.

You may recall in my last instalment I had to tell our building designer that whilst his plans were great they weren't going to work for us. About a fortnight ago we received new plans, straight away we were much happier - the whole thing seemed to provide us with the space and the requirements we wanted and was along the lines of what we always thought would happen to this house - basically a box on the back.

Click on the picture to see the plans clearly.

Peter Latemore said to have a good think about it all and get back to him.  You might be interested to know the approach James and I took to considering the layout and functionality of each room. It may seem over the top but remember I am anal and James is a business analyst...you put these things together and you get this...a spreadsheet which lists each room and the things we needed to think about for each room eg light, security, storage, entry/exit, heating/cooling etc.  You can see the spreadsheet here and the list of things that that we came up with here.

Once we felt that we had measured, paced, discussed and debated enough we made a time to meet with Peter and ran through what we thought needed to change.  The main things are that the pantry will swap places with the laundry, the drying area will move to the side of the house and the screen that divides the deck into two areas will be removed.  One of the windows in the kitchen will be removed to make space for a hutch for the kettle etc.  There are few other things - I guess we will get another plan soon that I can show you.

So now we are approaching the stage of the working drawings being produced and council approval.  We also need to start confirming the cost  - that will be the topic of my next post and I guess what has been worrying us most of all - BUDGET!!

How big is yours?

Do you know how big yours is?

According to our building designers, Latemore Design, today ours was big and wet.

Getting the house measured is a big box ticked - the first step in the design process. Like anything in life it's hard to make a plan until you know really what you are working with.  Today was Peter Latemore and his team's chance to understand just how big the sow's ear is.  Now they just have to turn it into a silk purse!

Peter & Andrew measure the dining room that will become a bedroom

I asked Peter if he could explain to me what happens at a "measure" because I let them in but then had to race off in the rain to work.  This is what he had to say...

"My boutique building design firm, Latemore Design, turned up today to measure Clarissa and James' house.  Three of us, plus a deluge of rain.  Luckily, because we always engage a surveyor to do a detail & contour survey, we did not have to measure the ‘yard’.  So we only got quite damp, not drenched.  We find it is better to measure regardless of the weather, otherwise things can bank up. 

Poor Andrew was the sketcher, and the 100% humidity meant he had to use several sheets, as each would nearly disintegrate from the dampness.  

We did it in just under 3 hours, as planned, so we did ok.  We use a laser measuring device, plus traditional tape, because the laser cannot deal with those smaller spaces or things like windows and doors.  We took hundreds of photos, as they help so much.  Julie wandered the yard with camera in one hand and an umbrella in the other – what a trooper!

We need to measure a building quite thoroughly, well I think so anyway.  Because everything depends upon that accuracy.  We produce an existing model of the house in the computer, and with a Queenslander this can include things like bearers and joists, the belt rails, door posts, vj walls.  We use that model to then ‘demolish’ and add ‘new’ things.  

It can be quite strange to measure someone’s house.  We have to open a cupboard or two, enter all parts of the building, so we are almost invading someone’s privacy.  We are always quite mindful of this and are very careful what we do with those photos.  I feel it is a privilege to be someone’s building designer, as you get to be involved in a major aspect their lives – their home or haven as I sometimes call it.  I love being able to influence a family’s well-being by designing a great house or wonderful extension and renovation."

Thanks for the insight Peter - I hope piles of unwashed laundry didn't fall out of the cupboards...everything at my house looks neat on the outside but it's all terribly messy when you open things up - perhaps this sums up my personality!  I am sure we will get to know each other very well during this process.

What kind of relationship do you have, or have you had, with builders/designers or anyone that does work in your home?  Got any advice?


DISCLAIMER !!! Please note I work part-time as Communications Manager for Timber Queensland.  TQ represents everyone from the growers of timber to end users eg architects and growers.  I'm fortunate that I will have access to people that might help answer some of my questions during the renovation.  However, it's important to note that this blog is my personal opinion piece and does not represent the opinions of Timber Queensland.