Categories
Home Renovation Project Updates

Anstead Project Photo Update

A photo update from our home renovation project under construction at Hawkesbury Road, Anstead.

Designed by Local Concepts.

This project involved removing some walls from the ground floor level of an existing house and replacing load bearing walls with steel beams and new columns.

Structural engineer : Cornell Engineers Brisbane.

Categories
Project Updates

Our Samford Valley New House Project is Finished

Now that our Samford Valley, Brisbane project is finished, here’s some photos of the construction process.

Building design by NEO Building Design, Brisbane.

Builder: James Maguire Construction

Structural engineer: Cornell Engineers – Structural engineers Brisbane.

Categories
Bathrooms

Bathroom Renovation

It’s time to renovate your bathroom. One of the best way to add value to your home is to renovate your bathroom or to add an ensuite.

Check out this great photo gallery of bathrooms for some inspiration.

These are the reasons your bathroom renovation project might need a structural engineer:

  • You don’t want your classic claw foot bath to fall through the floor. The weight of a classic claw foot baths sits on just 4 ‘feet’. Don’t overload your floor or floor joists. Get us to check the capacity of your bathroom’s floor or ask us to strengthen your bathroom floor.
  • You want to put your sink in a new location and you have to cut your concrete slab to lay pipes in a trench. Reinstating concrete after it has been cut should be done with galvanised steel dowels to tie the new concrete to the old concrete. We’ll specify the size and spacing of the dowels and let you know if you need slab reinforcement.
  • The tiles in your bathroom are drummy and you are worried about how to fix them. When tiles become loose in the bathroom, we’ll help you determine if there is slab movement of a problem with water seepage.
  • You want to make the bathroom larger and need to remove or relocate a wall. Load bearing walls can be demolished once the roof has been re-supported and any bracing loads have been transferred.
  • The window in your bathroom is too small. You’d like to install full height louvers instead. Louvers and new windows look great in bathrooms. If the opening doesn’t get any wider you might be ok otherwise we can help by specifying the lintel over the window and the number of jamb studs beside the window.
  • You’d like the tiles of your bathroom floor level with your timber floor. New or old floors can be set down so that the tiles in the bathroom are at the same level as the rest of the house. We specify the work needed to remove the trip hazard at your bathroom and toilet doors.

Call us to Get a Quote or ring for a chat. We’re here to help.

Cornell Engineers. We’re structural engineers for Bathrooms!

 

Categories
Home Renovation

5 Must-Have Features of a Home Renovation

I’m Matt Cornell. I love structural engineering.  When it comes to renovating, these are my 5 must-have features for any home renovation project.

High ceilings

When the air-conditioning isn’t on, the next best way to improve the ambiance of a room is to have beautiful high ceilings. High ceilings allow air-flow and dramatically improve the feel of a room.

If you are raising an existing house or adding a building extension, don’t feel that you have to match existing wall heights. Aim for a 2.7m wall height if you can. If you’re feeling really luxurious then you definitely must have 3 metre high ceilings.

High ceilings in a living room or bedroom drastically make a home more appealing and more valuable to me.

Built-in Ethernet cabling

Televisions and computers (and soon fridges) need high speed internet to make them really useful, and high speed internet is best and most securely served by traditional blue or yellow cables.

Wireless is fine for Ipods and tablets, but to get the most out of your leisure time, open your electronic gadgets up to the world of fast internet. The best time to run these cables during a renovation is before the wall cladding goes onto the walls. After that getting internet to your 3 televisions and 4 computers becomes a lot more difficult and expensive.

Connect every bedroom and every living area with Ethernet cables for the absolute best value. Run all of your cables back to a central location, install a data switch and a small rack next to your modem and experience the benefit of having a connected house.

Exposed Hardwood

There is nothing as beautiful and warming as a solid hardwood feature in a house. I love hardwood staircases and hardwood flooring. Use recycled timber for a more timeless aesthetic feel. Carpet and tiles look wonderful, but feature hardwood timber to add big value for me.

Street Appeal

Having a luxurious house hidden behind a dingy façade is a little old fashioned. A beautiful house starts with a front elevation that has a huge wow factor.

Big WOW means different things to different people, but for a building to have WOW factor it must have a commanding presence. It must have shapes and overhangs to shade the walls. It must have windows positioned to provide privacy to the internal spaces. It must have a link to heritage and character of the street and yet be unmistakable in its presence.

Great street appeal adds huge value for me.

Reverse cycle air-conditioning

When renovating in Queensland, adding air-conditioning is a “must have” because air-conditioners add big value to homes. Better still it must be reverse cycle air-conditioning.

Air-conditioning is affordable to everyone now that energy efficient air-conditioners are available. I prefer split systems over ducted systems because I am only in one room at a time and I’d prefer to only heat or cool that room.

In your next renovation throw out the old window wall air-conditioners and get a professional to install split systems into every living room and bedroom.

Conclusion

If you’re planning a home renovation or a new home, how many of these features will make it onto your features list? Speak to your building designer and Cornell Engineers about how to add real, timeless value to your next home renovation project.

Categories
Home Renovation Project Updates

Corinda House Renovation Photos

I did the driveway slab pre-pour inspection at our Corinda, Brisbane job yesterday.

I used the opportunity to take a few photos around the site. The builder is James Maguire Construction.

The building designer is NEO Building Design.

Structural engineer is Cornell Engineers – Structural Engineers for Queensland.

Back slab and rear wall
Build in under rear view
Front stairs
Build in under new stairs
Back stairs
Build in under back patio
New wall
Build in under front view
Internal stairs
Build in under internal stairs