How long does a full renovation take in Lane Cove?

Most full internal renovations run 16 to 30 weeks on site. Design and any approvals happen before that: a CDC takes about 4 to 8 weeks, and a DA can take up to 6 months, depending on council. We give you a programme with the quote, not after you have signed.

Can I live in the house during the renovation?

Sometimes, if the work is staged and at least one bathroom and kitchen stay operational. For a full internal renovation we generally recommend moving out. It is faster, cheaper and safer, and the cost of six months of rent is often less than the cost of the delays that come from working around an occupied home.

Is renovating my Lane Cove home cheaper than knocking down and rebuilding?

Usually. The solid brick homes across Lane Cove typically renovate for 30 to 40 per cent less than a knockdown rebuild, and the sloping blocks make rebuild siteworks expensive. Where the existing house genuinely fights the block, a rebuild can compete, and we will tell you honestly which one your house is.

What kind of building contract do you use?

We use a fixed price (lump sum) building contract, agreed before signing. The scope is documented, the inclusions and exclusions are itemised, and any provisional allowances for items that genuinely cannot be priced until walls are opened are listed openly rather than hidden in the total.

What happens after I enquire?

We review your enquiry and call you within 24 to 48 business hours to arrange a consultation at your Lane Cove home. A builder walks the property with you, then prepares a written, itemised estimate. There is no cost and no obligation at any point before you choose to proceed.

How will I know what is happening during my renovation?

Two ways. You get a weekly update from the builder running your job, whether or not there is good news in it. And you get access to our client portal, where you can log in any time to see your documents, selections, variations and job status. No chasing, no phone tag, no wondering.

Are you licensed and insured?

Yes. Strava Group holds NSW Builder's Licence 487370C and carries public liability insurance and Home Building Compensation Fund cover on all residential work over the statutory threshold. You can verify the licence directly through Verify NSW at verify.licence.nsw.gov.au.

Freshly plastered living room with curved ceiling bulkheads

Home Renovations · Lane Cove

Home renovations in Lane Cove, done properly.

Complete home renovations for Lane Cove homeowners by a licensed builder. A typical full transformation runs $180,000 to $450,000, itemised quote, honest programme, one builder from concept to handover.

Get Your Renovation Assessed Call 0450 605 080

NSW Licensed Builder
487370C

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Lower North Shore localNSW Builder’s Licence 487370CItemised quotesClear inclusions & exclusions0450 605 080

Complete transformations

More than cosmetic updates.

A home renovation is an opportunity to completely redefine how you live. Strava Group delivers high end home renovations across Lane Cove and the lower North Shore, transforming established homes into refined, contemporary residences, managed as complete projects from concept through to completion.

Rather than renovating room by room, we approach each Lane Cove project as a unified transformation: layout reconfigurations, designer kitchens, luxury bathrooms, flooring, lighting, windows and street presence, all working together. On blocks this good, the house should live up to the setting.

Lane Cove homes sit among trees on some of the best residential land on the lower North Shore, and plenty of them still run interiors from the sixties. The renovation gain is pointing the house at the bush and the light it has always had.

Walnut floating vanity with zellige wall tiles, globe wall lights and copper tapware

Quick Answer

Ground floor renovation work runs $2,500 to $4,500 per square metre, with roughly $30,000 in preliminaries (design, engineering and council approvals, plus site set-up) on top. A full internal renovation of a typical Lane Cove home generally falls between $180,000 and $450,000, with the value of the land here tending to justify projects toward the middle and upper part of that range.

Renovating in Lane Cove

What shapes a renovation in Lane Cove.

Lane Cove is ridges, gullies and tree-lined streets, with housing from Federation to mid-century on valuable land. Here is what shapes a renovation locally.

Council

Lane Cove Council

Lane Cove is its own council area. Internal renovations that keep the structure and footprint often need no approval at all under Exempt Development. Structural changes usually qualify for a Complying Development Certificate through a private certifier, except in the heritage conservation precincts and on bushfire affected blocks backing the reserves, where a DA applies. We confirm the pathway for your property before quoting.

Housing

Federation to mid-century among the trees

Federation and interwar homes near the village, a broad stock of 1950s and 60s full brick and brick veneer on the slopes, and architect designed homes on the bush blocks. Solid structure throughout, dated interiors throughout: compact kitchens, single bathrooms and living rooms turned away from the outlook. Exactly the stock where a complete renovation transforms the whole house.

Structure

Sound brick on sloping sites

Mid-century Lane Cove brick is structurally honest, and the older full brick and Federation homes need engineered openings and careful propping. The sloping blocks mean suspended floors and split levels are common, and new floor levels have to meet old ones exactly. We check and rectify the structure before anything goes back on.

Layout

Turned away from the bush

The classic Lane Cove miss: living rooms facing the street while the trees, the gully and the north light sit behind the house. The renovation gain is in the flow: opening kitchen, dining and living into one space and pointing it at the outlook the block has always had. Most of those walls are structural, and we engineer them out properly.

Services

Original services approaching their limit

Homes of this vintage often carry original switchboards, aging wiring and galvanised plumbing. A full renovation is the one moment these can be replaced without ripping open finished rooms, and we assess them up front rather than mid build.

Value

Lower North Shore land, protected demand

Lane Cove has the village, the schools and the bush setting keeping demand strong, and the land value justifies doing the house properly. A solid home with a renovated interior pointed at its outlook is exactly what buyers here pay for, and the transformation costs far less than trading up once stamp duty and agent fees are counted.

Thinking bigger than a renovation? We also build second storey additions and home extensions in Lane Cove, and staging them alongside a renovation costs less than doing them years apart.

Start here

Tell us about your Lane Cove home.

No sales pitch, no obligation. Here is exactly what happens when you enquire:

One at a time, takes about two minutes, so the first conversation is about your project rather than the basics.

Start Your Enquiry Call 0450 605 080

The Strava standard

How we build differently.

We build for longevity. That sounds like a slogan until you see where it costs us money. On every Lane Cove renovation we run:

The existing structure gets rectified, not covered

Plenty of renovations put new gyprock over old problems and hope for the best. We do a full screw off and re-brace the whole house, tying new and existing structure together so the frame moves as one and future cracking is designed out, not painted over.

Furring channels for a dead flat finish

We install furring channels throughout, creating a perfectly level plane for the new linings regardless of what the old frame is doing behind them. Flat on handover day, still flat in raking afternoon light years later.

Waterproofing is a documented hold point

Wet areas are inspected and photographed before a single tile goes on, to AS 3740.

Blocking installed at frame stage

Extra noggins and fixings go in where vanities, TVs, handrails and shower screens will hang later, not chased in afterwards.

Every new-to-existing junction properly detailed

This is where most renovations crack. It is almost always a detailing shortcut, not settlement. Ours get a proper flashing and movement detail.

Everything photographed before it is covered

You receive the record at handover, so in ten years you know exactly what is behind your walls.

Honest numbers

What a renovation costs in Lane Cove.

Most builders will not put numbers on a website. We will, because the alternative is wasting your time and ours across three meetings before anyone mentions a figure.

Item	Typical range
Full internal renovation, typical Lane Cove home	$180k–$450k
Ground floor renovation work	$2,500–$4,500 /m²
Work at first floor level	$3,500–$5,500 /m²
Preliminaries, on top of build cost	approx. $30,000

Lane Cove projects tend toward the middle and upper part of the range: the land value justifies the spend, and the sloping sites and older structure add engineering work.

How many of the walls you want gone are structural is usually the largest single factor, followed by the number of wet areas, since a bathroom carries more trades per square metre than any other room in the house. Older homes frequently need switchboard and plumbing upgrades, priced up front rather than discovered mid build.

Every project is quoted properly after a site inspection. These ranges are here so you can decide whether it is worth a conversation.

Good to know

Lane Cove renovation questions.

From our clients

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We had Strava Group complete major renovation works on our property and were blown away with the quality. The attention to detail and overall finish were amazing.

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Renovate your Lane Cove home properly.

Ready to transform how your home works?

Tell us about your property and what you want to change. We respond within 24 to 48 business hours with honest advice and real numbers, no cost, no obligation.

Get Your Renovation Assessed Call 0450 605 080