Knockdown vs Renovation Pt. 2

The Real Benefits and Drawbacks Every Surf Coast Homeowner Should Know

So you've decided you need to do something with your property—but now comes the harder question: what exactly should you do?

Deciding whether to knock down and rebuild or renovate isn’t always simple. Each site has its own quirks, constraints, and opportunities. In this post, we’ll walk through the factors we discuss with clients all the time, to help you figure out what’s going to work best for your place.

Sometimes, the choice is obvious: maybe your home’s under a Heritage overlay, or you already know you want to preserve part of it. But the biggest factor, more often than not, is cost.

The Cost Reality: It’s Not Always What You’d Expect

Rebuilds often mean higher upfront costs, with demolition, removing services, and new footing installations all part of the equation. Renovations seem cheaper at first—but it’s rarely that simple.

Here’s how the numbers can play out: investing $350,000 into a big renovation might give your home another 20 years. A new, well-built energy-efficient home could last 40 or more. So at $700,000 for a rebuild, the long-term cost ends up roughly the same.

The upside of a renovation? You can do it in stages. It’s more flexible if you’re planning around other life stuff or want to spread out the investment.

Project Duration: Approvals and Build Time

Renovations usually move through approvals faster, especially if you're staying within the existing footprint. Planning departments often allow for small concessions that help retain elements of the original house. But things can get messy once you're on-site. Older homes sometimes hide problems—rusted steel, dodgy waterproofing, bad insulation—that take time (and money) to fix. Coastal properties, in particular, are prone to surprises.

Rebuilds face stricter planning rules upfront, so approvals can take longer. But once construction starts, you're working with a clean slate and a predictable timeline. You’ll need to move out, but you’ll probably have a clearer idea of how long for.

Either way, things run best when you’ve got a team who’s done this before and knows how to keep things moving when plans shift.

Design Freedom: Work With It or Start Fresh

Renovations come with constraints. Your designer or architect will need to work around the structure that’s already there. You might not get to raise the ceiling or shift that window as far as you'd like. But if you’ve got a good team, those limitations can push creative solutions.

One of our favourite recent builds on the Surf Coast came out of a heavily constrained site. Because the limitations were clear from day one and factored into the design, the final result was better than expected.

A new build gives you freedom. You can design for better orientation, bring in natural light, improve thermal performance, and choose materials without having to patch around the old stuff. It’s a bigger commitment, but the trade-off is control.

Sustainability: Long-Term Thinking

Renovating can be the more sustainable choice—less demolition, less landfill, and a second life for existing materials. But sustainability isn’t just about reuse. If a renovation cuts corners on waterproofing or structural work, you’ll be back fixing it sooner than you’d like.

Durability matters here. If you’re going to invest in a reno, it’s worth doing it properly. That starts with getting your builder in early to flag anything that might shorten the life of the building.

Energy Efficiency: Surf Coast, Geelong and Mt Beauty Considerations

Boosting the energy efficiency of an old house is possible, but it’s not always easy. Orientation, glazing, insulation gaps—these are hard to fix after the fact.

We often use NatHERS software to measure a home’s performance before and after renovation, to see what’s actually changing. For more ambitious upgrades, PHPP software and the Passivhaus EnerPHit standard can help model how much energy you’ll save.

In climates like Geelong, the Surf Coast, or up in Mount Beauty, orientation matters. North-facing living spaces, minimal west-facing glass, and tight thermal control make a big difference.

New builds give you more control here. You can plan for continuous insulation, air tightness, passive solar gains—things that are much harder to retrofit into an older structure.

What Our Surf Coast Clients Say About Our Approach

“We engaged Keystone to largely demolish and rebuild our house at Anglesea during 2024-2025. We found them to be a truly professional outfit from start to finish of the project. They provided a competitive and well-researched quote. Iain Wiebenga helped refine the specifications for the project with his outstanding industry knowledge, including of quality building products and suppliers. His assistance with getting the project started was invaluable, including his assistance navigating the building surveyor and other approvals.

The project was completed ahead of time and within budget. The quality of the work is quite simply superb. Site supervisor Peter Gordyn is a tradesman who strives for and achieves perfection and expects the same from all of the tradespeople on site.

Quite simply, we could not be more pleased with the outcome and could not recommend the Keystone group more highly. They are outstanding builders and, as a bonus, they are very nice people to deal with.”

Making the Right Call for Your Place

There’s no one answer. It depends on your home, your goals, and how much complexity you’re up for. Our advice? Talk to your builder early. Get real about what you want to keep, what you’re willing to compromise on, and what’s going to cost you in the long run.

Thinking through the options for your Surf Coast, Geelong, or Mt Beauty property? We’ll help you weigh the pros and cons, run the numbers, and figure out the best approach—without the guesswork.

Contact Keystone Construction to chat through your next move.