Five renovation projects worth doing on your house

At the top of Johnny’s list is something he’s passionate about: decking.

“Add a new deck to your house. This is a great way to add value to your home because you double the living area. It’s just awesome.”

Decking is seasonal, and summer is his busy time.

“Especially because we’re coming into summer, [we’ve] got heaps of decking enquiries,” Johnny points out,

“which is awesome because my background is decking and I love it”

Johnny puts the bathroom second on his list and his reason is resale.

“This is money that you’ll definitely get back on your renovation,

There’s a catch, and he raises it before anyone asks. “Quite often you’ll see on social media that you can do a major bathroom reno for under $10k, with full strip out, new tiles, all consented.

But unfortunately this is often a misconception,” says Johnny.

“It gives homeowners an unrealistic idea of what you can get.”

His proudest moment so far is a bathroom too: a consented bathroom and ensuite, the acrylic shower out and everything tiled in.

“Working with the council — that’s a whole nother like rigmarole in and of itself,” is how Johnny puts it.

Soft furnishings come third, because they shape how a house feels the moment you walk in.

“It would have to be carpet and curtains,” Johnny says.

“These are easy things you can do,” Johnny explains.

It’s also work he’s happy to hand straight back to the homeowners. “Pick the curtains that you want.

You can hang them on a weekend. It doesn’t take very long [and] makes a massive difference to the overall feel of the home.”

Johnny rates paint for how far it goes.

“Fresh coat of paint, almost a brand new house. Goes a long way.” Johnny says.

He’s all for doing it yourself, with one note. “The painting’s actually what you see. So at the end of the day, you want it to be done really well.”

Johnny’s last pick is the wildcard.

“A bit of a niche one, but I’d recommend adding a bit of character. Make a secret door,” Johnny says.

“I’ve done some of these in the past.”

The secret door is the most personal pick on the list, and there are plenty of other ways to add character to a house.

For anyone looking at all five and feeling stuck, Johnny’s advice is to take them one at a time.

“It can be a little daunting because sometimes you look at the list of what needs to be done and there’s a lot of steps. But you just cross them off the list. So the first one is finding a builder.”

From there, Johnny reckons, your builder will guide you through the rest, from lining up the subcontractors to getting the job booked in.

Whichever of the five you start with, post your job on Builderscrack and connect with verified tradies in your area.

Thank you to Johnny from Johnny’s Fix and Finish for sharing your expertise and delivering awesome results for our community.