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18.10.2024<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Share on:<\/h4><\/i><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nI<\/span>n this series, we follow a Christchurch couple in their bid to turn their 1960\u2019s fixer-upper, from a retro rental to a modern home.<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you\u2019ve ever considered buying an older home but have lacked the confidence to tackle something totally outdated, this guide is for you. It\u2019s a whole lot of fun, and not as hard (or anywhere near as risky) as you might imagine.<\/p>\n
This chapter brings the project to a close. With the\u00a0incredible reveal<\/a>\u00a0published last week, all there is left to do is wrap up on the final costings and timeline \u2013 and gather final thoughts on, if any, aspects could have been improved.<\/p>\nFrom Jeremy & Alana, and everyone here at Builderscrack, we hope you\u2019ve enjoyed following Project Home. If you\u2019re wanting to get your own project underway, or even just need a repair or maintenance job doing \u2013\u00a0Post your job today<\/a>. It\u2019s 100% free for homeowners\u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>So that\u2019s a wrap! Tell us, is there anything you\u2019d have done differently with the house, in hindsight?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>- <\/i><\/span>Thanks, and good question!<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the actual renovation outcome. With respect to what we and our tradespeople achieved, we wouldn\u2019t change a thing.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve been in for a couple of months now. The house is everything we dreamed it to be. The living area is a joy to cook and relax in. We achieved the indoor\/outdoor flow we were hoping for. The house is quiet, draught-free and warm with the double-glazing. The finish is crisp, fresh and new. It is essentially a new house, and we wouldn\u2019t change a thing.<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Finished-House-4219-PH-1.jpg\" "\\"Finished-House-4219-PH\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>How about with the way things were executed?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>- <\/i><\/span>\n
That\u2019s a tough one! We were very fortunate to have such an awesome group of tradespeople working on our project. We wouldn\u2019t hesitate to work with every one of them again. So we wouldn\u2019t change anything here.<\/p>\n
With respect to our project management, there are definitely a few things we learned along the way:<\/p>\n
\n- We could have condensed the timeline a little, for instance, when we ordered things, like the kitchen, flooring, and so on.\u00a0<\/span>This could have sped the project up a little bit, but also would have introduced a bit more stress. But knowing what we know now, that\u2019s something we\u2019d do in the future.\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
- We could have started talking to a couple of our tradespeople a little earlier \u2013 even though we reached out quite early, ahead of the start of our project, I don\u2019t think there is any harm in beginning to chat 2-3 months out.\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
- The power got cut off halfway through the project, and we had to pay an emergency fee to get it put back on. This was a minor detail that slipped through the cracks, because we had only recently purchased the house and hadn\u2019t considered services like power.\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
- While we enjoyed project managing this renovation, there are numerous benefits to having a competent builder or project manager manage a renovation too. Depending on how we\u2019re positioned in our lives in the future and the type of project we do next, we\u2019d definitely consider having someone else manage the project. While it wasn\u2019t overly stressful, it was a lot of work!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Day-1-Demo-End-of-Day-1420.jpg\" "\\"Day-1-Demo-End-of-Day-1420\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Did your project meet your budget and time expectations?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>- <\/i><\/span>With respect to our 75k budget, it was\u00a0just<\/em>\u00a0under. One thing we discovered is there is a price-point for most materials\/products that if we\u2019d opted to go under, we\u2019d have rapidly compromised the quality of our living environment. This couldn\u2019t have been more true than for the kitchen.<\/p>\n
We kept meticulous details of our costs which we updated every day, in a spreadsheet with both projected and actual costs \u2013 this guided decisions as we went. We executed decisions with restraint, and kept our mission statement front of mind with every decision.<\/p>\n
In the end, we kept within our budget, and we don\u2019t believe we\u2019ve over-capitalised on our house.<\/p>\n
The various trades and services invoice totals came in at roughly the following (including materials for each trade):<\/p>\n
\n- Building: $13k<\/li>\n
- Double Glazing: $20k<\/li>\n
- Electrical: $3k<\/li>\n
- Plumbing: $5.5k<\/li>\n
- Brickwork: $1.5k<\/li>\n
- Kitchen: $15k<\/li>\n
- Plastering: $1.5k<\/li>\n
- Painting: $7.5k<\/li>\n
- Flooring: $7.5k<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
We should acknowledge that we worked very hard to streamline the project, to avoid incurring extra travel costs and maximise every visit made by each tradesperson. Working closely with our builder, we ensured that the \u201cto-dos\u201d were clear each day for everyone involved. We also took care of a lot of the \u201cin between\u201d jobs like cleaning, tidying and some dumping of rubbish. To avoid short visits by tradespeople we undertook a little work on some small details ourselves. We searched for and acquired materials for certain jobs in some cases. In effect, as well as project managing, we also contributed time and effort to the project where it made sense to keep our tradespeople from working on the \u201clittle stuff\u201d (and stayed right out of the way on the big stuff!), in turn, making small savings here and there.<\/p>\n
With respect to our 10 week time goal, it ended up closer to 12. This was due to the aforementioned points about confirming orders a little late on our part. This wasn\u2019t a big deal in the scheme of things \u2013 and something we\u2019ll bear in mind next time.<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Day1-Demo-Day-Builder-Electrician-1401-PH.jpg\" "\\"Day1-Demo-Day-Builder-Electrician-1401-PH\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>As we\u2019ve covered each chapter you\u2019ve given us some great takeaways. What are some project-level takeaways you can offer?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>- <\/i><\/span>\n
There are definitely a few key things which seemed to come up over and over again. It didn\u2019t matter how big or small the job was, we always found we needed to pay attention to the following:<\/p>\n
Research<\/strong><\/p>\nWe spent a lot of time in the evenings researching every aspect of our renovation. When it appeared as though there were many ways to achieve the same outcome we would note the options and discuss them with our tradesperson. But mostly, we would research everything we could and take notes and try and be as informed as we could about everything that we wanted done.<\/p>\n
I<\/span>n this series, we follow a Christchurch couple in their bid to turn their 1960\u2019s fixer-upper, from a retro rental to a modern home.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve ever considered buying an older home but have lacked the confidence to tackle something totally outdated, this guide is for you. It\u2019s a whole lot of fun, and not as hard (or anywhere near as risky) as you might imagine.<\/p>\n This chapter brings the project to a close. With the\u00a0incredible reveal<\/a>\u00a0published last week, all there is left to do is wrap up on the final costings and timeline \u2013 and gather final thoughts on, if any, aspects could have been improved.<\/p>\n From Jeremy & Alana, and everyone here at Builderscrack, we hope you\u2019ve enjoyed following Project Home. If you\u2019re wanting to get your own project underway, or even just need a repair or maintenance job doing \u2013\u00a0Post your job today<\/a>. It\u2019s 100% free for homeowners\u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<\/div> Let\u2019s start with the actual renovation outcome. With respect to what we and our tradespeople achieved, we wouldn\u2019t change a thing.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been in for a couple of months now. The house is everything we dreamed it to be. The living area is a joy to cook and relax in. We achieved the indoor\/outdoor flow we were hoping for. The house is quiet, draught-free and warm with the double-glazing. The finish is crisp, fresh and new. It is essentially a new house, and we wouldn\u2019t change a thing.<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div> That\u2019s a tough one! We were very fortunate to have such an awesome group of tradespeople working on our project. We wouldn\u2019t hesitate to work with every one of them again. So we wouldn\u2019t change anything here.<\/p>\n With respect to our project management, there are definitely a few things we learned along the way:<\/p>\n We kept meticulous details of our costs which we updated every day, in a spreadsheet with both projected and actual costs \u2013 this guided decisions as we went. We executed decisions with restraint, and kept our mission statement front of mind with every decision.<\/p>\n In the end, we kept within our budget, and we don\u2019t believe we\u2019ve over-capitalised on our house.<\/p>\n The various trades and services invoice totals came in at roughly the following (including materials for each trade):<\/p>\n We should acknowledge that we worked very hard to streamline the project, to avoid incurring extra travel costs and maximise every visit made by each tradesperson. Working closely with our builder, we ensured that the \u201cto-dos\u201d were clear each day for everyone involved. We also took care of a lot of the \u201cin between\u201d jobs like cleaning, tidying and some dumping of rubbish. To avoid short visits by tradespeople we undertook a little work on some small details ourselves. We searched for and acquired materials for certain jobs in some cases. In effect, as well as project managing, we also contributed time and effort to the project where it made sense to keep our tradespeople from working on the \u201clittle stuff\u201d (and stayed right out of the way on the big stuff!), in turn, making small savings here and there.<\/p>\n With respect to our 10 week time goal, it ended up closer to 12. This was due to the aforementioned points about confirming orders a little late on our part. This wasn\u2019t a big deal in the scheme of things \u2013 and something we\u2019ll bear in mind next time.<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div> There are definitely a few key things which seemed to come up over and over again. It didn\u2019t matter how big or small the job was, we always found we needed to pay attention to the following:<\/p>\n Research<\/strong><\/p>\n We spent a lot of time in the evenings researching every aspect of our renovation. When it appeared as though there were many ways to achieve the same outcome we would note the options and discuss them with our tradesperson. But mostly, we would research everything we could and take notes and try and be as informed as we could about everything that we wanted done.<\/p>\nSo that\u2019s a wrap! Tell us, is there anything you\u2019d have done differently with the house, in hindsight?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>How about with the way things were executed?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
\n
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Did your project meet your budget and time expectations?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
\n
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>As we\u2019ve covered each chapter you\u2019ve given us some great takeaways. What are some project-level takeaways you can offer?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Before-Photos-Markedup-PH-1200-0910.jpg\" "\\"Before-Photos-Markedup-PH-1200-0910\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/2019-10-18_0100-PH.jpg\" "\\"2019-10-18_0100-PH\\"")
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