Practical Guides for Smarter Renovations

Plan a carport enclosure as a complete garage renovation. Assess the existing structure, approval pathway, door clearances, drainage, ventilation and

Turning a window into an external door can transform the way a room reaches the garden, but removing the sill

Keeping a detached garage while rebuilding the house can preserve useful storage, parking and embodied material. It can also place

An existing basement can be the most valuable part of a rebuild and the least visible source of risk. Its

Keeping a valued front façade while rebuilding the house behind it is one of the most demanding forms of retention.

Keeping an existing concrete slab during a partial house rebuild can avoid demolition and preserve useful embodied material. It can

Replacing two narrow garage doors with one wide opening can make parking far easier, but the central pier may carry

Closing the open sides of a covered alfresco can look like an efficient way to gain an indoor room. The

A garden shed may look like an economical home office because the walls and roof already exist. Yet a structure

An attached granny flat can become awkward when a household’s needs change. Rooms that once provided independence may now sit

An extra bedroom or a larger living area can make an existing granny flat much more useful. The challenge is

An existing outbuilding can make a granny flat seem like a renovation waiting to happen. The walls and roof are