Nobody buys a Queenslander for the kitchen. You buy it for the verandah, the ceilings and the street, then spend years working around the rest. Whether we raise it, extend it or replan it, we keep what you bought it for and rebuild the rest.
COORPAROO, 2025 · A CHARACTER HOUSE REPLANNED INSIDE, NEW KITCHEN AND TWO BATHROOMS
THE STREET FACE IS UNTOUCHED. BEHIND IT, THE PLAN IS NEW.
COORPAROO, 2025 · THE ORIGINAL CEILING KEPT OVER A NEW KITCHEN
What the renovation involves
Every Queenslander renovation starts with what the house keeps: the verandah, the front rooms, the VJ walls, the ceilings, the roofline, and anything the character overlay protects. Then the block and the brief decide the method. Bedrooms on a tight block: raise and build under. Living space with a yard to spare: extend at the rear. Right size, wrong plan: redraw the rooms inside the footprint. Re-stumping, re-wiring and re-roofing happen in the same job, once, while the walls are open.
WHAT USUALLY CHANGES
The kitchen, the bathrooms and the back half of the house, almost always. A living room where the sleepout or enclosed verandah was. Doors and windows that open the house to the yard. In a raise, a whole new level below the original floor. What changes least is the front: the street facing rooms and roofline are what the character overlay protects, and what most owners want kept anyway.
/02
A Brisbane Queenslander before and after renovation
Before and after
BEFORE
The original kitchen, tucked in a back corner behind the fretwork arch
AFTER
COORPAROO, 2025 · THE NEW KITCHEN IN THE SAME ROOM, BLONDE OAK FLOORS AND A TIMBER ISLAND
Why Stark for a Queenslander
/03
Old houses hide their problems until the linings come off, and after two generations of Queenslanders we have seen most of them. We know what is worth keeping, what has to go and what the frame can carry, and we design around that from the start.
FLETCHER FRASER
MANAGING DIRECTOR
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER
DESIGN AND BUILD, ONE STUDIO
Our architectural designer and our builder work on the drawings together, so the plan we show you is one we have already priced and know how to build.
TWO GENERATIONS OF QUEENSLANDERS
We have been raising, extending and reworking timber houses in Brisbane's inner and middle suburbs since 1989, 68 of them so far. We know what is behind a VJ wall before we open it, and what a pre-1947 frame will and will not take.
ONE CREW, FIXED PRICE, WARRANTED
The same people from strip-out to handover, a fixed price set once the drawings are complete, a detailed construction program with monthly meetings, and a seven-year structural warranty behind the work.
4.8
QUEENSLANDERS RENOVATED
68 in Brisbane
SINCE 1989
A NEW BATHROOM IN A QUEENSLANDER DUG OUT, BUILT UNDER AND EXTENDED
WOOLLOONGABBA, 2023
COORPAROO, 2025 · THE ARCHED MIRROR AND FLUTED TIMBER VANITY, NEW WORK IN AN OLD ROOM
How it happens
The Queenslander renovation process, from consult to handover
Consult
1–2 WEEKS
An hour at our Fairfield studio. Bring photos and a rough list of what does not work about the house. We talk through what can move, what should stay and what it is likely to cost, and you leave with an estimate. If you would rather we see the house first, a site visit is $450.
Design
12–18 WEEKS
Our architectural designer draws the method the house asked for: the new level under a raise, the extension at the rear, or the rooms replanned inside. Either way the plan is built around what you keep, where the light comes in, and how the new work meets the old joinery and ceilings.
Plan
6–8 WEEKS
Engineering, soil testing where the footprint or the height changes, energy compliance, the character overlay check and the building approval through a private certifier, all arranged by us. The fixed price is set once the documentation is complete.
Build
6–12 MONTHS ON SITE
One crew from strip-out to handover, with a detailed construction program. Normally you cannot live in: families move out for the whole of a raise and almost always for an extension, and an internal replan can only sometimes be staged around you. We tell you which at the estimate.
04 BUILD · FINISHED
WOOLLOONGABBA, 2023 · THE NEW KITCHEN UNDER A SKYLIGHT, IN THE EXTENDED UPPER LEVEL
WOOLLOONGABBA, 2023 · BRASS AND MARBLE AGAINST TWO-PAC JOINERY
What a Queenslander renovation costs in Brisbane
/05
Three stages, priced in the order they happen. Design and planning are fixed fees. The build is two rates: new floor area per square metre built, and the existing house per square metre reworked. Our project minimum is $500k, and most Queenslander renovations land between $500k and $1m all in, depending on the method, how much of the old house is reworked and the level of finish. All figures include GST.
WHAT MOVES THE RATES
Which method the house needs, how much of the old house is replanned, how many wet areas are rebuilt, the state of the frame, stumps and roof once the linings are off, slope and soil if the footprint or height changes, whether the house is in a character overlay, and the level of finish. Each is answered in the questions further down.
01 DESIGN
$10–20k
Concept to construction drawings
02 PLANNING AND APPROVALS
$10–15k
Engineering, soil testing, approvals, for one fixed fee
03 BUILD · TWO RATES
NEW FLOOR, BUILT
$5,000–7,500 / m²
New floor area: an extension at the rear, or a new level under a raised house, with structure, enclosure, services and fit-out to match the house. A raise sits at the top of the range, because the lift, steel and footings are in the rate.
$2,500–4,500 / m²
The existing house: strip-out, the new plan, wet areas, wiring, plumbing, linings and finishes. Wet areas and moved walls set the rate.
170 m²
REPLANNED INSIDE
The kitchen, two bathrooms and the back half replanned inside the original 140 m², with a 30 m² addition where the sleepout or enclosed verandah was.
30 m² new and 140 m² reworked. Our project minimum is $500k, and this is what it buys.
01 DESIGN
$10–20K
$10–15K
03 NEW FLOOR 30 M²
$150k
03 REWORK 140 M²
$350k
ALL IN, FROM · AT THE LOWER END OF EACH RATE
180 m²
EXTENDED AT THE REAR
A 100 m² kitchen, living and deck extension at the rear, with 80 m² of the original house reworked to meet it.
100 m² new and 80 m² reworked. Priced in full on the home extensions page.
01 DESIGN
$10–20K
$10–15K
03 NEW FLOOR 100 M²
$500k
03 REWORK 80 M²
$200k
ALL IN, FROM · AT THE LOWER END OF EACH RATE
180 m²
RAISED AND BUILT UNDER
The house raised to legal height and a 100 m² level of bedrooms and a second living room built under it, with 80 m² above reworked.
100 m² new at the raise rate and 80 m² reworked. Priced in full on the raise and build under page.
01 DESIGN
$10–20K
$10–15K
03 NEW FLOOR 100 M²
$550k
03 REWORK 80 M²
$200k
ALL IN, FROM · AT THE LOWER END OF EACH RATE
Replan, extend or raise your Queenslander?
/07
Three ways we renovate a Queenslander. The block decides which.
All three keep the house and its street face. Compared on the four things that decide it: footprint, cost, time and what survives.
REPLANNED INSIDE
Footprint unchanged, or a small addition, with the plan redrawn inside it
Lowest total of the three, set by wet areas and moved walls. From $500k
6–9 months, usually out of the house
You keep the whole house, and the street face exactly
HOME EXTENSION
Footprint grows into the yard, the old rooms replanned to meet it
Higher per m² than rework and a little under a raise. From $500k
6–9 months, usually out of the house
You keep the house, one side opened to the new extension
RAISE AND BUILD UNDER
Footprint unchanged, a whole new level below
Highest per m², the lift and steel are in the rate. From $500k
9–12 months, out of the house throughout
You keep the whole original house, lifted to legal height
In their words
/08
What Brisbane clients say about their Queenslander renovation
We had an absolutely seamless and enjoyable experience with Stark Builders from start to finish. From the very beginning, their professionalism, honesty and commitment to quality were clear. The entire project ran smoothly and was completed on time, exactly as promised.
SAM & CHARMAINE
WHERE WE RENOVATE QUEENSLANDERS
BRISBANE’S CHARACTER SUBURBS, WITHIN 7 KM OF OUR FAIRFIELD STUDIO
From the journal
/09
Renovation advice from the Stark Builders journal
Open plan kitchen, dining and living in a Queenslander
Taking the walls out of an old house is the most common renovation in Brisbane and the most often done badly. What holds the roof up and where the kitchen goes.
Design
28 Nov 2024
READ — 3 min read
What the engineer actually decides on a Queenslander renovation
Raising, building under and extending an eighty-year-old timber house is mostly a structural problem. What the engineer decides and what we brief them on.
Plan
15 Sep 2026
READ — 4 min read
Is your Queenslander ready for it?
/10
If three or more of these are true, it usually is.
Not every old house needs a full renovation, and we will tell you if yours does not. But the ones that reward it share a few things, and most of them you already know from living there.
The kitchen is in the wrong place
Usually a back corner, away from the light and the yard, where the 1920s put it.
Small rooms, one door each
The original plan was for sleeping and not much else. Living wants one big room, and a growing family often wants a level of its own.
One bathroom, or two bad ones
Wet areas are where old houses fail first, and where a renovation pays back.
The back of the house is a lean-to
Enclosed verandahs, sleepouts and 1970s additions are the cheapest part to replace.
Re-stumping, re-wiring or re-roofing is due anyway
Doing them while the walls are open costs less than doing them twice.
You want to stay in the street
The house, the block and the neighbours are right. Only the plan is wrong.
Before you start
/11
Character overlays, height and flood rules for renovating a Queenslander in Brisbane
Four things worth knowing before you call anyone.
None of them rule a renovation out. They decide the approvals path, the program and where the money goes.
01
CHARACTER OVERLAY
Pre-1947 houses in the Traditional Building Character overlay can be raised, extended and replanned behind the street face. Demolition is controlled, so the street-facing form is protected, and anything visible from the street needs a planning check.
02
WHAT IS BEHIND THE WALLS
Stumps, wiring, plumbing and frame are only fully known once the linings come off, and many post-war linings and eaves contain asbestos. We inspect early, allow for the frame in the price, and licensed asbestos removal is priced in from the start, not found later.
03
HEIGHT AND FLOOD
A raise has to sit under Brisbane’s 9.5 m height limit, and most do. On a flood-affected block, raising is often the cleanest answer and can change your insurance position. Both are checked before we draw.
04
LIVING IN
Normally you cannot stay. Families move out for the whole of a raise and almost always for an extension. An internal replan can sometimes be staged around you, but the kitchen and bathroom stages usually cannot, so plan to be out.
WOOLLOONGABBA, 2023 · THE NEW ALL-WEATHER DECK ON THE EXTENDED UPPER LEVEL
The house you bought, working the way you always wished it did.
Common questions
/12
Queenslander renovation questions from Brisbane homeowners
How long does a Queenslander renovation take?
Six to twelve months on site, after four to six months of design, documentation and approvals. An internal replan sits at the short end, an extension in the middle at six to nine months, and a raise and build under at nine to twelve.
Can we live in the house during the work?
Normally, no. Families move out for the whole of a raise and almost always for an extension. An internal replan can sometimes be staged around you, but the kitchen and bathroom stages usually cannot, so plan to be out. We tell you early if yours is an exception.
Do we need council approval?
For work behind the street face, usually not: a private certifier issues the building approval. Changes to the front facade on a pre-1947 house in a character overlay, or a raise that goes past the 9.5 m height limit, need a planning check, which we handle in the Plan stage.
What does a Queenslander renovation cost?
Our project minimum is $500k, and most Queenslander renovations land between $500k and $1.5m all in. The method sets the band: an internal replan from $500k, an extension around $720k for 100 m² of new floor, a raise and build under around $770k for a new level. Wet areas and moved walls drive the rework rate; the lift and steel drive the raise rate. We price off the drawings, so the figure is fixed before anyone starts.
Can you match the original details?
Yes. VJ boards, breezeways, fretwork, casement windows and profiled timber are all still made or salvaged, and we detail new work to sit alongside the old rather than copy it badly.
Will you re-do the old services at the same time?
If it is due, yes, and we recommend it. The walls and floors are open once, and a raise exposes every stump, bearer and joist anyway. Wiring, plumbing and roofing are cheapest to replace during the renovation.
Do you handle the design as well?
Yes. Our architectural designer and our builder are one team in the Fairfield studio. The drawings are costed as they are made, so the design you approve is the one that gets built at that price.
Should we replan, extend or raise our Queenslander?
It depends on the block and on what is missing. If the plan is wrong but the size is right, replan inside. If you need more living on one level and have the yard, extend. If you need bedrooms and the block is tight or flood-affected, raise and build under. We will tell you which the house is asking for at the first meeting, and the comparison above sets the three side by side.
Ask us directly.
A short call is usually the quickest way to work out what your Queenslander needs, and what it might involve.
ONE STUDIO
We design, and we build what we design. The same people draw the house, get it approved and build it.
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FAIRFIELD QLD 4103,
AUSTRALIA
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