\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUpdated:<\/p>
10.5.2024<\/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>W<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nhen it comes to decorating a backyard, most homeowners<\/b> go for the usual garden gnome or bird bath, but Amu opted for something a little different: a custom-built cultural design to house her Hindu shrine.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>Amu, a seasoned Builderscrack homeowner, has checked off plenty of jobs on the platform. Yet, this time, she hesitated.<\/p>\n
Tasked with a unique project, she doubted she would find anyone up to the challenge who could also leave her loving the results.<\/p>\n
Enter Connor from CT Building and Services, a fresh face on Builderscrack, who *spoiler alert* absolutely nailed his debut, and left Amu wowed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/i><\/div>We asked Amu all of the insightful questions, from:<\/h2><\/div><\/div>\n\n- What\u2019s the backstory of your backyard feature?<\/li>\n
- What role does the space play in your day-to-day?<\/li>\n
- What was your vision for your project?<\/li>\n
- How did you hear about Builderscrack?<\/li>\n
- What happened when you posted on Builderscrack?<\/li>\n
- What was your design inspo for the feature?<\/li>\n
- Were there any challenges?<\/li>\n
- How do you feel now that the work is done?<\/li>\n
- Is there anything you would do differently in hindsight?<\/li>\n
- To, any advice you would give to homeowners?<\/li>\n
- Bonus: Let\u2019s hear from the tradie.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Backyard_feature1200x800-3.jpg\" "\\"Backyard_feature1200x800-3\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Backyard_feature1200x800-7.jpg\" "\\"Backyard_feature1200x800-7\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Before & After: a custom-built cultural design to house Amu<\/span><\/i>\u2019s<\/i><\/span> Hindu shrine.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>What’s the backstory of your backyard feature?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>\u201cIt\u2019s a Hindu God statue, which when we inherited had a broken limb,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Sri Lankan culture, you don\u2019t typically keep broken statues of God.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we were about to discard of it… until I thought how crazy it is to throw away something that can easily be fixed.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI fixed it and ended up keeping it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>What role does the space play in your day-to-day?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>\u201cWe have recently moved here, and our backyard was an empty unused space,\u201d Amu says.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt had artificial turf around it \u2014 and a random rectangular patch where the old owners had a playhouse there for their kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very modern looking house, and we wanted to fill it up with a statement feature piece that was nice to look at.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Backyard_feature1200x800-4.jpg\" "\\"Backyard_feature1200x800-4\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Backyard_feature1200x800-5-1.jpg\" "\\"Backyard_feature1200x800-5\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Amu tried her luck and posted her design inspo on Builderscrack.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>What was your vision for the project?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>\u201cThe project was to build a little hut for the statue to be placed outdoors,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t want anything too traditional.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so unique that I didn\u2019t believe I would be able to find anyone in Christchurch to build it. But I thought I’d try my luck. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201c<\/span>I gathered pictures of what I liked from Pinterest and posted them on Builderscrack.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>What was your design inspo?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>\u201cI had three designs from Pinterest that I sent to Connor,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, the main limitation was cost, so we opted for a minimal yet slightly traditional design, as more traditional would have been more expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201c<\/span>Our house is also very minimal with sloping roofs, so it would have only looked out of place.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cHowever, because it was outdoors the material needed to be high quality, so it ended up costing a bit more anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Backyard_feature1200x800-8-1.jpg\" "\\"Backyard_feature1200x800-8\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Backyard_feature1200x800-1.jpg\" "\\"Backyard_feature1200x800-1\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>To further the design concept she shared a rough draw up (right).<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>How did you hear about Builderscrack?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>\u201cI\u2019ve been using it for many years, ever since my mum and I were living together a few years back,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used it to install an electric doorbell, and then to do some digging in the backyard.<\/p>\n<\/div>
\n\u201cSince then, I\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/i>ve used it for so many more projects \u2014 both small and large.<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI even found the concrete layer that the shrine sits on from Builderscrack.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>What happened when you posted on Builderscrack?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>\u201cI had no one respond for the first few weeks because it was a very very specific project,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\n
W<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n hen it comes to decorating a backyard, most homeowners<\/b> go for the usual garden gnome or bird bath, but Amu opted for something a little different: a custom-built cultural design to house her Hindu shrine.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div> Amu, a seasoned Builderscrack homeowner, has checked off plenty of jobs on the platform. Yet, this time, she hesitated.<\/p>\n Tasked with a unique project, she doubted she would find anyone up to the challenge who could also leave her loving the results.<\/p>\n Enter Connor from CT Building and Services, a fresh face on Builderscrack, who *spoiler alert* absolutely nailed his debut, and left Amu wowed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> Before & After: a custom-built cultural design to house Amu<\/span><\/i>\u2019s<\/i><\/span> Hindu shrine.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cIt\u2019s a Hindu God statue, which when we inherited had a broken limb,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Sri Lankan culture, you don\u2019t typically keep broken statues of God.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we were about to discard of it… until I thought how crazy it is to throw away something that can easily be fixed.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI fixed it and ended up keeping it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> \u201cWe have recently moved here, and our backyard was an empty unused space,\u201d Amu says.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt had artificial turf around it \u2014 and a random rectangular patch where the old owners had a playhouse there for their kids.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very modern looking house, and we wanted to fill it up with a statement feature piece that was nice to look at.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> Amu tried her luck and posted her design inspo on Builderscrack.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cThe project was to build a little hut for the statue to be placed outdoors,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t want anything too traditional.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so unique that I didn\u2019t believe I would be able to find anyone in Christchurch to build it. But I thought I’d try my luck. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>I gathered pictures of what I liked from Pinterest and posted them on Builderscrack.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> \u201cI had three designs from Pinterest that I sent to Connor,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us, the main limitation was cost, so we opted for a minimal yet slightly traditional design, as more traditional would have been more expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Our house is also very minimal with sloping roofs, so it would have only looked out of place.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHowever, because it was outdoors the material needed to be high quality, so it ended up costing a bit more anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> To further the design concept she shared a rough draw up (right).<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cI\u2019ve been using it for many years, ever since my mum and I were living together a few years back,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe used it to install an electric doorbell, and then to do some digging in the backyard.<\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cSince then, I\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/i>ve used it for so many more projects \u2014 both small and large.<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cI even found the concrete layer that the shrine sits on from Builderscrack.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> \u201cI had no one respond for the first few weeks because it was a very very specific project,\u201d Amu says.<\/p>\nWe asked Amu all of the insightful questions, from:<\/h2><\/div>
\n
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>What’s the backstory of your backyard feature?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
What role does the space play in your day-to-day?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>What was your vision for the project?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
What was your design inspo?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>How did you hear about Builderscrack?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
<\/span><\/p>\nWhat happened when you posted on Builderscrack?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Backyard_feature1200x800-2-1.jpg\" "\\"Backyard_feature1200x800-2\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/builderscrack.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Backyard_feature1200x800-6.jpg\" "\\"Backyard_feature1200x800-6\\"")
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