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Evaporative Cooling

Posted on December 9, 2022 by - Sustainable Homes

As summer approaches, many of us are starting to feel the heat when it comes to finding the right cooling solution for your home. Our designers work with the environment, not against it, to keep your home summer ready.

Evaporative cooling units are a cooling option and AC alternative that can effectively cool the air inside the home and even offer a fresh breeze. Originally designed over a hundred years ago, its simple yet innovative design is perfect for Australia’s subtropical homes that need extra support to beat the heat. 

With fully customisable home plans, G.J. Gardner Homes offers a range of climate control options so you can find the right cooling solution for your home and your lifestyle. 

What is evaporative cooling?

Have you ever noticed that the air tends to be cooler when you’re closer to the water? Evaporative cooling takes full advantage of how water can cool air and lets us integrate this naturally occurring process into our home.

These systems work by converting the hot outside air into water vapour. With a water tank at the base of the unit, the air is cooled by filtering the outside air through wet filter pads. Once cooled and humidified, the air is then pumped back into the home. 

Whilst this may sound more complex than your ceiling fan, this process of using water to cool the air has actually been summer-proofing homes since ancient times. The technology at play with evaporative cooling dates back to before the invention of air conditioning and draws from a more simplistic process. 

Evaporative cooling in homes

To cool homes, evaporative cooling systems are installed on the roof. Once the air is cooled by the unit, it then enters the home via ducts or vents in the ceiling. 

The system continues to humidify and cool the outside air to then be pumped inside to help your home maintain a cool temperature when operating. Whilst many Australian homes opt for aircon or fans, evaporative cooling systems offer an ideal middle between the two. 

Benefits of evaporative cooling systems

Cost-effective

Due to the simplified process involved with evaporative cooling systems, they’re cheaper than aircon. Whilst aircons cost around 60c an hour to operate, evaporative coolers only cost 12c. With energy prices only set to increase, opting for a most cost-effective cooling option could help future-proof your home.

Environmentally friendly

Although not quite as environmentally friendly as fans, evaporative cooling uses over half as much electricity as air conditioning units. Less energy consumption can help boost your home’s overall sustainability. In addition, your space is cooled by humidified air rather than the chemical reaction of the aircon.

Low Installation And Maintenance Costs

Installation costs tend to stay low for evaporative units, and also require only little maintenance. Due to such a simplified process and minimal working parts, they tend to be easily installed onto your home’s roof and don’t require any major renovations. This can be of great benefit once summer hits, as you can quickly and conveniently install this solution. 

Disadvantages of evaporative cooling

Only offers cooling

Unlike an aircon unit, evaporative cooling lives up to its namesake and only offers cooling. This means you’ll likely only be using your evaporative cooling system over the warmer seasons, as it can’t be programmed to heat your home in the wintertime. With regards to the price, whilst evaporative cooling units are more affordable, they only offer around half the time of use each year. 

Can’t be customised

Both aircon units and fans offer settings that let you customise how they perform. Although more simplistic in fans, you still get to decide the intensity of the cooling. Evaporative cooling systems don’t offer this efficiency through their technology, which means you can’t personalise the system to your preference or climate. 

Filter pad cleaning

Just like with aircon units, you do need to clean out the filter pads of your evaporative cooling units. This is essential to maintain the air quality and ensure the polluted outdoor air isn’t pumped into your home. Due to their position on the roof, cleaning filter pads can be a difficult task. 

The GJ Way to energy

G.J. Gardner Homes is committed to sustainable building, and aims to build sustainability into the home from the ground up. Home orientation is one of the major elements of home design that G.J. Gardner Homes’ team prioritises to support a home’s energy efficiency. By looking at your home’s position in relation to the sun’s movement and natural breezes, you can enjoy passive heating and cooling.

This approach helps take the pressure off our units and systems during the summer months to save not only your energy bills but the planet as well. Evaporative cooling is a great way to cool your home this summer, and incorporating sustainable measures at every stage of building will ensure it can work at its best.

Get in Touch

Heating and cooling is a crucial part of your home’s function and feel. Our team of expert designers are committed to the longevity of your home, and want to make choices that’ll keep your home comfortable and convenient well into the future. Reach out to our friendly team today and learn more about sustainable heating and cooling options. 

Flat Roof Houses

Posted on December 12, 2022 by - Choosing your Home

G.J. Gardner Homes’ design approach extends to every part of the home, from the final touches to finding the right roof. 

Flat roofs offer a modern and updated take on the expected pitched style. Instead of two slabs inclining to meet one, a flat roof is a single slab flat over the home structure. The perfect finish to modern homes, a flat roof offers many benefits beyond just its aesthetic. 

Flat Roofs Explained

Originally, flat roofs were most common in warmer parts of the world as they offered additional space in the outdoors to be repurposed and used like a deck. But by the 60s, flat roofs became a fixture of modernist design. The flattening of the roof reflected a wider shift in home design, with this era seeing the rise of clean lines, minimalism and architectural looks. 

Today, a flat roof is the perfect finish to a modern and sleek-styled home. Whilst they offer plenty of function-focused benefits, flat roofs are celebrated for their aesthetic appeal. A roof like this is untraditional. By going against a classic pitched style, you bring interest and intrigue to your home from the outside in.

Types of Flat Roof

Skillion Roof

A skillion roof is the most popular of this style and is a flat roof in its truest form. Rather than using two slabs to create a roof, a skillion style involves one flat slab covering the home. These can be completely flat or at an angle.

Clerestory Roof

This roof style offers a modern middle ground between the skillion roof and a pitched roof. Clerestory features two slabs extending at different angles; instead of meeting in the middle to form a pitch, the roof reaches a vertical slab with windows. This allows for additional light to flow inside and offers two flat roofs. 

Butterfly 

A butterfly roof is an inverted-pitched roof. Whilst many butterfly roofs opt for a serious downline for a dramatic and architectural shape, they can also be designed to look almost flat. 

Benefits of Flat Roof Houses

Aesthetic

No matter the flat roof design you opt for, your home is guaranteed to have a unique and contemporary look. Flat roofs offer major aesthetic benefits by reinventing this classic home feature and contrasting it against the average home. 

Budget-friendly

Flat roofs are cheaper to install because they need less materials. Not using rafters and other features needed for pitched roofs can majorly reduce costs as well as the time is taken to install them. The cost of a flat roof’s materials themselves is a lot less than the materials needed for a pitched roof.

Makes maintenance easy

Due to their shape, flat roofs are easier to maintain. Their surface makes it more convenient and safe to walk over, ideal for cleaning and managing. However, a flat roof can cause standing water if the right drainage isn’t installed. Our G.J. Gardner Homes design team will be able to advise how to best customise a flat roof to ensure it’s ready to face the climate.

Solar panels

A flat roof maximises the absorption of solar panels and makes installing and enjoying this sustainable energy source more convenient. In the long run, an efficiency-minded home from the outside can save you thousands in energy bills. By opting for a flat roof, you improve the power of this renewable energy as the panels have more access to direct sunlight. 


Get in Touch

The exterior of our homes deserves just as much care as the interior. As one of the first things you see when you come home, the right facade can ensure your home is a joy to return home to each day. Our friendly G.J. Gardner Homes team can help you begin your home-building journey today, get in touch now.

The Benefits of Double Glazed Windows

Posted on December 12, 2022 by - Sustainable Homes

G.J. Gardner Homes is always looking for opportunities to make more environmentally friendly choices. Windows are an essential part of our home shell that can subtly have sustainability built into them. 

Double-glazed windows have long been a great solution to excessive energy bills. By providing insulation, double-glazed windows help regulate your home’s temperature to make heating and cooling easier. 

 G.J. Gardner Homes opts for double-glazed windows in our home designs so we can guarantee our clients a high-performing home. We consider quality materials and processes like this to be an investment in you and your home’s future.

So, how does this simple window technique have such a major impact on how a home feels?

What are double-glazed windows?

Double-glazed windows layer two planes of glass to make a single window but leave a small gap between each. This small gap is called the spacer and is generally only around 12 mm in width. By separating the two planes of glass, the spacer ends up reducing the transfer of heat or cold from the outside as well as noise. 

Just like classic home insulation, a double-glazed window captures air between its layers. To protect the quality of the window, you’ll likely find that the frame of the spacer is lined with some type of moisture-absorbing desiccant. This will help ensure your windows can efficiently insulate and not deteriorate.

By insulating the home, double-glazed windows can help maintain your home’s temperature from winter to summer. It’s a year-round solution that makes your home better prepared for the climate tick whilst reducing your reliance on heating and cooling units.

What are the benefits of double-glazed windows

Increased insulation

Did you know that double-glazed windows can reduce heat loss and gain by almost 30%? This extra sheet of glass and 12mm in width, majorly impacts how your home feels and performs. By using double-glazed windows, you minimise the transfer of heat or cold from the outside or the inside to make managing your home’s temperature so much easier.

Lower energy bills

With this improved insulation, double-glazed windows make your heating and cooling unit not have to work as hard, or even at all, to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. Double-glazed windows can help you save up to 20% on your energy bills every year. 

Since you’re not relying so much on aircon to fight the climate and heat or cool your home, those units are likely to last longer and require less maintenance as they’re not being regularly overpowered.

More comfortable living

A home that can regulate its temperature on its own makes for much more comfortable and convenient living. Double-glazed windows help to minimise the impact of the strong Australian climate and make even the coldest winters and hottest summers more bearable. 

Through this window design, you can enjoy the addition of plenty of windows and the natural light they bring without impacting your home’s temperature too much. They also let you enjoy times of the year with your aircon unit off and just take in natural temperatures.

Noise control

Beyond temperatures, the insulation of double-glazed windows also serves to disrupt the transfer of noise. Just like with hot or cold, the noise gets captured in the spacer. 

In urban areas, this can make your home so much more peaceful by reducing your exposure to outside noise. If your home design involves a central courtyard or a connected floor plan, these windows can help manage the noise within your own home as well.

Build sustainability into your home

Double-glazed windows have become a favourite in Australian buildings for a reason. Due to their powerful temperature and noise control, double-glazed windows are a modern home essential. 

Learn more about how G.J. Gardner Homes incorporates sustainability into every part of your home’s build today.

2023 Home Design Trends

Posted on December 12, 2022 by - Designing & Inspiration

A new year gives us the perfect opportunity to start thinking about our lifestyle and, especially, our homes. We’ll be embarking on a new era of home design as we discover new styles, preferences and ways of living. Whilst previous years have seen home trends cater towards lockdown living, 2023 marks an opportunity for Australian homes to set the tone of 20s design. 

Here are our top 5 trends we’re predicting to dominate homes this new year.

  1. Light leads

Home designs are getting creative with where and how we let light into our homes. From skylights to clerestory windows, 2023 is the year to maximise the opportunities for light in the home to brighten and freshen your space. 

Plenty of natural light in your home is not only good for appearances; by boosting your exposure to sunlight, you’ll feel benefits to your health as well. 

  1. Pops of colours 

Whilst sleek and white spaces have ruled for many decades, home designs are beginning to incorporate subtle sources of colour into the space. Colour through the form of statement walls, finishes, and cabinetry lets your home maintain a sense of minimalism but adds depth and drama. 

Our most recent homes have drawn on colour through tones like navy, grey and forest green to add more flair to our most used spaces like kitchens, laundries and bedrooms. As an added extra, these dark tones are more forgiving of stains and ready to help hide any wear or tear. 

  1. Resort style living

Home designs have been under the influence of our craving for travelling and holidays. Resort-style homes take inspiration from tropical spaces, designed to be open, bright and breezy. Through sprawling single-storey floor plans, as well as high ceilings and plenty of windows, resort-style homes bring the outdoors in. With a minimalist design, subtle materials and plenty of space, a resort home rivals a destination holiday. 

Ideal for Australian climates, these homes let you enjoy peace and relaxation from the comfort of your own home. 

  1. Australian coastal style

Hamptons-style homes have found their Southern Hemisphere equivalent with coastal-style homes. Where Hamptons’ styles were designed to reflect the norms and needs of American beach lifestyles, Australian coastal homes have made these beloved details our own. 

Coastal style is reflected through natural materials like woods and rattan, soft white tones and open spaces. These features work anywhere, whether you’re rural, urban or coast-bound, because they’re simple classics.  This design trend can also be effortlessly customised with your own personality.

  1. Open-plan bedrooms

The trend of open-plan living has officially expanded to the bedroom, as recent home trends opt for the bedroom and the bathroom to coexist in one space. 

An open-plan bedroom lets the space feel bigger and adds more details and features to the bedroom. Elements like a standalone tub, mirrors and vanities let your bedroom feel more luxurious and let you unwind in a personalised retreat. 

Learn more about 2023 home designs

Discover more about the designs and styles G.J. Gardner Homes is drawing from this new year. Our team of expert designers take inspiration from today’s current trends, home classics and real families to turn dream homes into reality.

Standard Ceiling Height Australia

Posted on December 12, 2022 by - Building with G.J.

Thanks to today’s design trends, many Australian dream homes include the luxury of high ceiling spaces. The right ceiling height can keep your home balanced and proportioned from literally the top down.  

High ceilings tend to make your home airier, lighter and bigger whereas low ceiling heights can leave rooms feeling more compact and cosy. Both come with their own benefits and disadvantages, ranging from the look, the cost and the performance. 

G.J. Gardner Homes’ plans have been expertly crafted by our team of designers to make sure your home functions and feels its best. By drawing from the NCC guidelines, G.J. Gardner Homes offer varying ceiling heights throughout the home so you can find one that’ll work for you. 

What’s the standard ceiling height

The standard ceiling height is a building term, and describes the length between the finished floor and the lowest point on any ceiling above. So, this measurement could go from the floor to a beam, a low of the ceiling slope or a duct. 

In Australia, the standard ceiling height is 2.4m. Any habitable room, like bedrooms, must be at least 2.4m to be considered up to code. Although this height is still recommended just for general comfort and look, kitchens, bathrooms or laundries have more leniency and have a minimum standard ceiling height of 2.1m. Despite the term having the word ‘standard’’, it actually doesn’t refer to the average or most common ceiling height. 

Due to design trends, things are looking up in this aspect of home design. Today, the average ceiling height has grown to 2.7m as we continue to invest more to convert our homes into sanctuaries. 

For future home-owners, increasing the ceiling height to 2.55m from 2.4m has a minimal cost difference. But these extra few centimeters will transform the feel of space in a room. This small increase makes for more functionality, as you can easily install features like ceiling fans and statement lighting without it encroaching on your living space.

How to find the right ceiling height for your home

Finding your right ceiling height comes down to the style of your home, your budget and your lifestyle. Ceiling heights can dramatically impact the look and feel of your home, and either streamline or complicate its performance.

All G.J. Gardner Homes’ plans are completely customisable, so you can always design your home with the right height for you. Here’s some tips for finding the right ceiling home throughout your home.

High ceilings: heights over the standard ceiling height

In most of G.J. Gardner Homes, the living space is celebrated through the addition of a high ceiling. By opening spaces up, high ceilings let rooms feel lighter and brighter. With hot air rising, high ceilings increase airflow and are perfect for warm summer days. As such a luxe home feature, high ceilings are bound to boost your home’s reselling value, adding a touch of luxury and spaciousness. 

However, high ceilings are also costly to build and maintain. The increased space makes the room expensive to heat and cool, whilst they’re also difficult to clean due to a lack of easy access. They also can make your home nosier, as sound travels easier through open spaces. 

Low ceilings: heights under the standard ceiling height

Rooms considered non-habitable by the NCC can be 2.1m high instead of the standard 2.4m. 

Of course, a room described as non-habitable in your home doesn’t sound quite right. But this term just refers to utility rooms, such as kitchens, bathrooms or hallways. By opting for the standard ceiling height in these rooms, you can save money by not having to handle the added cost and care that higher ceilings require.

However, a low ceiling in these spaces means they’re less likely to feel spacious and airy. Although they may be utility spaces, we end up spending a lot of time in them cooking, cleaning and unwinding. 

Learn more about ceiling heights

Finding the right ceiling heights might not seem like the most exciting part of the design journey but it can end up having the most transformative effect on your home. Our G.J. Gardner Homes design team can help you customise our home plans so you can enjoy ceiling heights that work with your home style and budget. Discover more about ceiling height regulations today.

The Best Home Plans for Corner Blocks

Posted on December 12, 2022 by - Choosing your Home

As many homebuilders will tell you, location is everything when it comes to building. The right spot will decide your future home’s view, community and landscape. Even the very spot on the block you choose to build will drastically impact how your future-home functions and feels.

This dynamic has made corner blocks one of the most highly sought-after home locations. In fact, corner blocks, on average, tend to cost 2.5% more than their neighbours, as these double facade homes boast plenty of benefits. 

When planning corner blocks, our design team takes a different approach to floor plans, amenities and orientation to serve this second side of the home. Finding a home plan that will help you get the most out of your corner investment is crucial. Learn more about corner block plans today. 

Benefits of the Corner Block

With its unique location, a corner block offers many benefits that’ll appeal to various lifestyles, families and living arrangements. Here are just a few. 

More Light

A regular home plot will, of course, have neighbours on either side. Whilst innovative design choices can help ensure you still access plenty of light, a corner block will only enhance this. With up to three sides of uninterrupted light, corner blocks tend to be flooded with natural light for a more expansive feeling home.

More Privacy

Your average home will likely have you surrounded by neighbours on three sides, but a corner block offers you at least two that are street-facing. By reducing your number of next-door neighbours, you enjoy more privacy with fewer people living close to you. With the right foliage, your home can enjoy total privacy and peace. 

Two Street Entries

As more Australians begin to opt for multi-generational living, a double-facade home could foster more streamlined living. Whether it’s older children or parents, an additional entry offers you the space to design your floor plan and give everyone their own space to live more independently. 

Customising your home for a corner block 

All G.J. Gardner Homes’ plans can be customised to suit your block and lifestyle. If you’re building on a corner, our design team can tailor the home so you can enjoy additional entryways or whatever additions the home needs. By customising with a side access, you get to enjoy the elevated functionality and convenience that only a corner block can offer.  

We work with the guidelines of your local council to edit our floor plans to ease the building process. It’s important your home takes into account the unique factors of a corner block as well as your location to ensure it can still function and feel its best.  Our fully customisable homes help ensure the final home has been built with you and your neighbourhood in mind. 

Our best home designs for corner blocks 

Coogee 427

Monash 450

South Bank 530

Looking to build on a corner block?

If your dream home is built on a corner, the G.J. Gardner Homes’ design team can help make that a reality. Once you’ve sourced your land, our team can help manage the one-of-a-kind designing and building process. Reach out to our friendly team today.

Display Homes: How to Take Virtual Tours

Posted on December 12, 2022 by - Choosing your Home

Virtual display homes let you tour homes from the luxury of your own. Take 360 virtual tours of display homes before committing to an in-person tour and begin to experience the full range of G.J. Gardner Homes. 

A virtual tour helps you get a taste of styles, floor plans and the design approach of our home plans. Nothing can beat the feeling of exploring your future home in person, but the virtual tour feature helps you decide on your favourite homes and immerse yourself in the G.J. Way at your convenience. 

Why start with a virtual tour

As much as we all love the convenience of online shopping, your future home is something you definitely want to try on for size. Using our 3D tour option, you’re transported into the home and get a real-life feel of how it’s been laid out and designed. By going from room to room, the virtual tour lets you begin to imagine your life in this new home.

With almost 300 of G.J. Gardner Homes’ designs available for virtual tours, you can start discovering what you’re drawn to and what you’re not. Taking a virtual tour through our homes is a great way to kick off your home-buying journey.

Although in-person viewings are always our recommendation to get the most out of the home-buying journey, with a range as wide as ours and display homes across the country, that isn’t always an option. Virtual tours offer a more engaging and lifelike experience than just a photo. No matter where you live, you can easily take a tour of a G.J. Gardner Homes display at any stage in your home-buying journey. 

How to take a virtual tour

To start gaining a 360 experience of G.J. Gardner Homes, you can simply need to click the ‘Virtual Tour’ option on the homes where it’s available. You take the lead when you tour virtually and can easily move around by simply clicking on the white circles. By dragging, you get to experience the room from any angle you want. 

On our newer homes, you can even opt for using your VR headset if you have one to take a walk through the home. 

South Bank

Sunbury

Freshwater

Once you’ve taken a virtual tour…

Reach out to our friendly team, who can help you take the next steps in your home-buying journey. Now that you’re more familiar with the G.J. Gardner Homes designs and approach, you’ll know the questions to ask and the insight you’ll need. 

European Laundry

Posted on December 13, 2022 by - Designing & Inspiration

Most of us would prefer not to think about laundry during the exciting time that is designing our future home. But your laundry design actually has the power to determine the 384 days the average person dedicates in their lifetime to completing the chore.

The European laundry offers a totally different approach to this utility space, keeping it compact, subtle and concealed. Designed originally for petite European city apartments, this laundry style opts for a cupboard over an entire room. Whether in hallways, kitchens or bathrooms, the European laundry can be hidden behind a cupboard door for easy access to a washing machine and dryer.

Since we spend so much time doing our laundry, the design of this space can enhance and ease your lifestyle. We know the option of hiding laundry is tempting, so learn whether a European laundry is right for you today. 

What is a European laundry?

A European laundry converts this utility space into just a cupboard rather than dedicating an entire room to the chore. It can be hidden with a sliding, cavity, bifold or pocket door to make for a seamless and undetectable look. The European style takes the small laundry design to another level,  just including the machines, maybe a sink and minimal bench space. 

This approach to utility design is a major change to Australian homes. Whilst Australia now leads as the builder of the biggest homes in the world, European city residents don’t have this luxury of space and have made design choices that maximise living and personal areas.

The European laundry lets you have the convenience of washing and drying in your own home without giving up the space for it. Once the laundry door is shut, the area stays out of sight and through sound-proofing and waterproofing, it can be forgettable. 

For small homes, the European laundry could be the ideal solution and lets you access just the essentials over a full-scale room. 

Where to put a European laundry

For the European laundry to stay accessible and functional, location is everything. Whilst you may have the convenience of being able to easily pack it up, there are a few factors that contribute to where to put this cupboard laundry. 

  1. Water access: for the machines to run, the European laundry still requires plumbing and water access. A location that can have piping installed will make for easier building and maintenance.
  2. Functionality: most Australians tend to make sure of the great weather, and air dry their clothes. Positioning your European laundry with easy access to your outside drying spots can save you from having to cart clothes across the home to finish your laundry.
  3. Minimise disruption: whilst it might seem ideal to place the laundry amongst the kitchen or bathroom cupboards, a laundry front and centre in these spaces can cause more disruption than ease. It ends up overloading the kitchen and bathroom by installing another utility space within one.  Off to the side, in hallways and removed from central hubs can help make things easier. 

What are the benefits of a European laundry?

The major benefit of European laundries is their minimal use of space. A European laundry is the ultimate small laundry idea and the most effective space-saving laundry solution. 

European laundry would suit:

  • Small home designs and dual occupancy homes: homes short on space can majorly benefit from the European approach. Dual occupancy homes tend to offer less living space, and a cupboard laundry makes this utility space as compact as possible.
  • Couples and small families: lifestyles with minimal laundry to get through are most compatible with this petite style. Due to the lack of bench space, European laundries work best for those who do few loads.

Why a European laundry might not be for you

Although laundry taking up little of your life might be the dream, for some homes, lifestyles and habits, it might not be the most ideal solution. If you tend to do multiple loads a week, rely on bench space or use your laundry for more than just its name, a dedicated room might be better suited.

With generous and considerate spaces, you can make these daily tasks easier and more enjoyable to complete. A luxe laundry lets your home’s deluxe feel extend to every area of your home. 

Get in touch

Home design, from living areas to utility spaces, can transform your daily life. Learn more about the G.J. Way and our approach to home design today. 

6 Reasons a Knockdown-Rebuild is Right for You

Posted on December 13, 2022 by - Knockdown Rebuild

If you’re looking for a new home, there are plenty of paths to take to turn this dream into a reality. From house and land packages to renovations and rebuilds, it’s important to find the right approach for you and your goals. 

For current homeowners looking for a fresh start, knockdown-rebuilds lets you keep all the best parts of your current lifestyle but in a new home. Here are our top 6 reasons a knockdown-rebuild is the right choice for you. 


What is a knockdown rebuild?

Knockdown rebuild is a type of home-building which involves demolishing an existing home and rebuilding another in its place. It’s most common for current homeowners looking to keep their plots of land but enjoy a new home. In other cases, home buyers might buy a home for its location, with the intention of knocking it down and building new.

Of course, knockdown rebuild projects have a few more steps than just buying and living in an existing home. But it also has a lot of benefits!

G.J. Gardner Homes’ decades of experience have let us streamline this process. Learn more about our 4 step process involved with knock-down rebuild projects now.  

Why it’s right for you

  1. Total design freedom

When it comes to rebuilding, you have total design freedom to customise the home to your taste and lifestyle. By starting anew, your home has one cohesive style and uses your finish, material and layout preferences throughout.

This design direction guarantees that your new home will feel like you and your family. By making these choices now, you also save yourself the inconvenience and time of future renovations to make your home more in sync with you. 

  1. Less maintenance

Knockdown rebuilds also offer you the luxury of less maintenance in the future, as all amenities, materials and builds will be brand new. 

On average, maintenance ends up costing around 1% of the home value every year, and with older or poorly built homes, this figure will only grow. By rebuilding, you ensure your home is ready to perform at its best and save yourself the major upkeep costs of replacing appliances and fixing damages for what could be decades.

  1. Up-to-code

All new home builds must follow the National Construction Codes to be deemed safe to live in. However, these guidelines aren’t applied the same to renovations or existing homes. Today’s codes don’t noticeably impact home appearances but ensure homes are safe, sustainable and accessible. 

With a rebuild, you can guarantee that you are following construction guidelines for a better-performing home and living experience. In the long run, up-to-code homes let you save more on energy by having to use energy-efficient design and features, as well as keep your home easy to live in as you age or life changes. 

  1. Keep your location and land

A knockdown rebuild project is a great alternative to moving home, as you don’t have to give up your location or land. For many of us, where we live majorly contributes to our daily life, such as schools, local hotspots and the commute to work. When we move, we often give up these beloved parts of our life. 

With a knockdown rebuild, you get the best of both worlds: a new home designed just for you but in the location you love. Another bonus is that you don’t have to say goodbye to landscaping like your favourite tree, flower beds or veggie patch. We can just complete the construction around it.

  1. A cost-effective new home 

In most cases, a knockdown rebuild ends up more cost-effective than renovation. With older or poorly built homes, the process involved with keeping the original structure and renovating ends up being an expensive process. 

A new home build is a better investment, as you avoid the added costs of renovation complications.

  1. Easier than you think

Whilst renovations or buying a new home may seem like a more convenient process; a knockdown rebuild doesn’t add major delays to your timeline. With G.J. Gardner Homes, our knockdown rebuild experts are experienced in the demolition and design process so you can enjoy your new home sooner. 

On average, the home buyer journey takes 22 months from initial thoughts to handover. With knockdown rebuilds, you don’t have to invest the time in looking at new properties, suburbs or land, and instead, you can just focus on the design. 

Get in Touch

If you think a knockdown rebuild might be right for you, contact your local G.J. Gardner Homes office today to receive an assessment.

Conveyancers Explained

Posted on December 13, 2022 by - Cost to Build

The journey of buying a home may be exciting, but it usually isn’t short and simple. Home- buyers need the support and guidance of lawyers, brokers, land sales or real estate agents and bankers to complete the purchase. One professional to get familiar with as a home buyer is a conveyancer.

As experts in transferring land ownership from one person to another, conveyancers play an essential role in completing the purchase. 

G.J. Gardner Homes has gained a wealth of knowledge in the process of home buying over their decades of building. We’re here to help you navigate conveyance and other legal steps involved.

What is a conveyancer?

A conveyancer is a professional who oversees the transfer of property or land as defined by the terms of the sale contract. 

Conveyancers can represent both the buyer and seller throughout the transaction. Their role is to guide and lead the legal processes involved with home buying or selling and facilitate all the right steps.  Your conveyancer is responsible for helping get the transaction across the line, and ensuring legal requirements are being met.

It’s recommended home buyers engage the services of a conveyancer before an offer is made. By seeking this essential service early in the buying process, you can avoid any major issues that could come from errors or missteps. For first-time home-buyers, the support of conveyancers ensures the purchase process goes smoothly, and your interests are considered. 

Conveyancers are responsible for the following:

  • Handling the paperwork and legal documents
  • Legally allowed searches of the property history
  • Review and negotiate the contract
  • Organising settlement
  • Maintain all documentation

What’s the difference between a conveyancer and a solicitor?

Solicitors are legal professionals who work with more complicated and high-value property sales. They can perform the task of conveyancing but also have a wide knowledge of other legal areas, which means their services are more expensive. 

In comparison, conveyancers are licensed with Fair Trading and specialise in only completing the conveyancing. These professionals end up costing less but perform a similar role to a solicitor. 

How much are conveyancer fees?

As with most costs involved with home-buying, the cost will always vary from case to case. On average, the cost of a conveyancer is around $1000. This final figure will depend on a few factors, like timeframe, property and the complexity of the sale. 

Do you need a conveyancer as a home buyer?

For every home purchase, conveyancing must be done to transfer the ownership of land and property. Whether it’s necessary will depend on where you’re located. New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania recommend using a conveyancer, whilst Queensland and Western Australia mandate the use of one. 

Home buying is a complex process that involves so many different legal and financial factors. A conveyancer helps ensure this process runs smoothly, your interests are represented, and the purchase is finalised. Their services are highly recommended. 

Get in Touch

Looking to start your home-buying journey today? Reach out to our friendly G.J. Gardner Homes team to begin the process and learn more about this life-making process.