If you own a home in Perth, there is a very good chance it is double-brick. For decades double-brick has been the default construction here — cavity-wall masonry with a brick leaf on the outside, an air gap, and a brick leaf on the inside. It is a fantastic system for our hot, dry summers and stable, sandy soil. It is also a construction type that brings renovation quirks most interstate builders have never dealt with. Knocking down a wall, widening a window, adding a second storey or running new services all require specific thinking on a Perth double-brick home. This guide is a plain-English introduction to what homeowners should expect, what is possible, and what makes double-brick renovations different.
Why Double-Brick Became Perth’s Default
Perth’s sandy coastal plain, predictable weather, termite pressure and abundant local clay made double-brick the logical construction choice from the post-war years onward. The result is housing stock that is genuinely solid, thermally stable and low-maintenance once built. The downside is that every wall is effectively two structural brick skins, making them far heavier, slower and more expensive to modify than a typical timber-framed interstate home. Knowing this early sets realistic expectations for a renovation timeline and scope. Our broader Perth renovation planning guide covers the general process, but this article focuses specifically on the construction type.
Removing Internal Walls
The single most common request from Perth homeowners is to open up a closed 1960s or 1970s floor plan — typically knocking down walls between the kitchen, dining and living areas. On a double-brick home this almost always involves steel beams, piers and proper structural engineering, not the lightweight LVL work that would do the same job in a timber house. The inside skin of many internal walls is load-bearing, and in older homes even non-load-bearing walls are full-thickness brick, meaning waste volumes and dust levels that surprise first-time renovators. A good Perth renovator will sequence prop-up, cut and installation across a few days to keep the home safe while the beam goes in.
Enlarging Windows and Doors
Modern buyers want bigger glazing — sliders onto the alfresco, picture windows looking across the pool, and wider openings to brighten dark rooms. In double-brick, widening an opening requires new lintels, careful removal of bricks one course at a time, and match-brick work that tradespeople with heritage experience handle best. Bricks from the 1960s and 1970s are often no longer available in their original size or colour, so either secondhand “demolition” bricks are sourced, or the external wall is rendered after the modifications to hide the transition. Plan ahead on this if you want to keep a face-brick look.
Second Storeys and Upper-Level Additions
Adding a second storey to a Perth double-brick home is absolutely doable, but it is rarely as simple as framing on top. The existing footings were designed to carry one level, so an engineer will need to assess the slab, walls and footings before an upper addition is signed off. Many Perth second storeys are built in lightweight construction — timber frame with cladding — to keep the new load manageable and the cost sensible. Done well, this hybrid approach gives you double-brick downstairs for thermal mass and lightweight upstairs for speed and flexibility, without any compromise on appearance.
Running New Services Through Brick
One thing that catches newcomers is how hard it is to run new electrical cables, plumbing, ducting and data through double-brick walls. There is no convenient wall cavity to fish a wire through — every run needs to be chased into brick, concealed in a bulkhead, or routed through the ceiling. This has implications for reno cost and for design choices like where to place a new bathroom, a kitchen island, or retrofit ducted air conditioning. Experienced Perth renovators plan service routes early and often choose lightweight plaster-on-batten ceilings to give themselves space to hide the new runs.
Insulation and Energy Performance
Unrenovated Perth double-brick homes usually have little or no wall insulation, because the original cavity was there primarily to stop moisture transfer rather than heat. During a renovation, this is an opportunity. Polystyrene beads, pumped foam or injected bonded fibre can be added into the cavity to lift the wall R-value dramatically. Combined with ceiling insulation, reflective roofing sarking and improved glazing, it transforms the summer comfort of a double-brick home without changing its character. Many Perth homeowners find cooling costs drop significantly after these upgrades.
Kitchens and Bathrooms in Double-Brick
Kitchen and bathroom renovations are the bread and butter of Perth renovating. The key double-brick considerations are service routing (see above), waterproofing where new shower walls meet old brick, and the often-forgotten issue that old rendered or tiled walls may hide cracks, patches and repairs accumulated over decades. Budget some contingency for what you might find behind tiles and splashbacks when they come off. On the upside, solid brick walls give you incredible flexibility for heavy wall-mounted items — cantilevered vanities, large-format mirrors and substantial range hoods all hang securely without needing timber blocking.
Extensions: Matching New to Old
Single-storey extensions on Perth homes are often still built in double-brick for consistency, but lightweight timber-framed and clad extensions are also popular for their speed and design freedom. If you are extending in double-brick, make sure the new footings are tied structurally to the old, that the damp-proof course is carried through correctly, and that any face brick is blended rather than exactly matched (the eye picks up near-matches as mistakes; a deliberate tonal change reads as a design decision). Rendering the whole house afterward is a common way to unify old and new.
Heritage and Character Homes
Many of Perth’s most desirable suburbs — Mount Lawley, Subiaco, Maylands, North Perth, Nedlands — have heritage or character area overlays that influence what you can and cannot do to a double-brick home. Front facades are often protected, while the rear is open to more creative work. A renovator who has worked in these suburbs will know which councils are strict about tuckpointing, verandah detailing and window proportions, and will guide your design accordingly. Plans are rejected most often where homeowners tried to maximise the footprint without respecting the character profile.
Timeline, Mess and Living On-Site
Double-brick renovations generate more dust, more waste and more demolition time than comparable timber-frame jobs. Plan whether you will stay in the home or move out during demo and framing. If you are staying, agree on dust barriers, a nominated “clean zone” and a schedule for noisy work. Most Perth renovators can sequence a whole-home renovation in stages so you keep at least one bathroom and a working kitchen at all times, though this lengthens the overall timeline.
Work With a Renovator Who Knows Perth Construction
Double-brick is not harder than any other construction once you know it — it is just different. The right builder will have done dozens of these renos before, will know which trades to bring in for engineering, bricklaying, waterproofing and rendering, and will set realistic expectations on what is possible within your budget and timeline. If you are about to start a renovation on a Perth double-brick home, begin with an on-site walk-through with someone who understands the construction type. A conversation over coffee usually saves weeks of design back-and-forth.