Knockdown rebuild and custom home builders in Castle Hill
Castle Hill has more knockdown rebuild activity than almost anywhere in Sydney, and the reason is simple arithmetic. Much of the suburb was built out through the 1970s and 1980s on blocks of 700 square metres and up. Those blocks are now worth considerably more than the houses sitting on them, and those houses are reaching the age where the kitchen, bathrooms, wiring, roof and layout all come due at once.
Refined Group builds the replacement. We are a boutique, director led builder that takes on a limited number of projects a year, and we handle the home, the pool and the landscaping under one contract so your block arrives finished rather than sitting in dirt waiting on a second trade.
Why Castle Hill suits a rebuild
A knockdown rebuild keeps every reason you chose Castle Hill in the first place. The schools stay the same, the neighbours stay the same, the commute stays the same, and the Metro at Castle Hill station keeps doing what it has done to values since it opened. What changes is the house: a floor plan designed for how your family lives now, insulation and glazing that actually perform, and a garage that fits the cars you own.
The alternative is buying the same lifestyle further out, paying stamp duty on the way in and agent fees on the way out, and still inheriting somebody else’s compromises. For a lot of Castle Hill owners the numbers land on rebuilding.
Renovate or rebuild?
We take on select renovation and extension work where it genuinely suits the house, and we are happy to look at yours. But we build new homes for a living, and our honest experience in the Hills is that once a renovation grows past a certain scope, a knockdown rebuild delivers a better home for similar money. Because we can price both paths, you get to make that call with real numbers in front of you rather than a guess.
What we build in Castle Hill
Custom homes
We build one off homes, not repeat plans off a shelf. You deal with our director from the first conversation to handover, and because we cap how many projects run at once, that is a promise we can keep. Our Kellyville custom home, a few minutes up Old Northern Road, was a finalist in the 2023 HIA NSW Awards for both Custom Built Home and New Kitchen.
Knockdown rebuilds
The core of what we do in this suburb. We are involved from the design stage onwards, then construction and landscaping run under one contract and one program, so trades are not tripping over each other and nothing stalls waiting on a decision nobody owns.
Dual occupancy
Castle Hill block sizes make dual occupancy worth testing, whether the plan is to keep both, sell one or house family next door. We can tell you early whether your block stacks up. See our Seven Hills dual occupancy for how one comes together.
Pools and gardens
If a pool is part of the picture it gets designed with the home from day one, not squeezed into whatever space is left over. Levels, drainage, access and the sight lines from your living areas all get resolved together. Structural landscaping is the work this company was built on, and it is why our homes arrive complete. See how we build concrete pools and what we do with gardens.
How a build works with us
Start with a conversation. An intro call, then a site visit. We look at your block, listen to the brief and give you a straight early read on scope and budget.
Design input and pricing. We no longer draw plans ourselves, but we sit in the design process with you and your architect, because we did design for years and we know what drives cost. We price what is drawn and tell you where the drawings and the budget disagree, while changes are still lines on paper.
A detailed, fixed quote. Inclusions spelt out line by line. We price what is documented and flag the gaps other builders quietly price around, so the number you sign is the number you build to.
The build. Our director runs the site from demolition to handover, and you deal with him throughout.
Why a director led boutique builder?
- The person who quoted your home is the person running the site
- Home, pool and landscaping under one contract, one point of responsibility
- HIA NSW Finalists 2018, 2019 & 2023
- 20+ years building across Sydney, with a 5 star Google rating
Common questions
How much does a knockdown rebuild cost in Castle Hill?
Demolition on a standard Castle Hill block generally runs $25,000 to $45,000 depending on size, asbestos and access, and the new home is priced on its design and inclusions rather than a rate per square. We quote the whole finished result, including the landscaping and the pool if there is one, so you are not discovering the real number in variations later.
How long does it take?
The front end depends on design and approvals. We do not draw the plans or lodge the approvals, but we stay involved through that stage so what comes out of it is something we can actually build to budget. Once there are approved plans we give you a construction program with the quote, and we tell you early if something starts tracking behind.
Do we need to move out?
Yes, from demolition through to handover. Worth factoring rent into the budget from the start, and it is one of the numbers we raise in the first conversation rather than letting it surface later.
Do you build on battleaxe and sloping blocks?
Regularly. Slope, tight access and awkward geometry are design problems rather than dealbreakers, and they are the projects we tend to enjoy most. Bring us the block other builders have been vague about.
Get in touch
If you have plans for a knockdown rebuild, custom home, dual occupancy, pool or landscaping project in Castle Hill, start with a no pressure conversation. Call 02 8014 8962, email enquiry@refinedgroup.com.au, or use the contact form.
