RENOVATIONS

CAN YOU STILL RENOVATE YOUR HOME OR GARDEN FOR THIS SUMMER?

With the property market continuing to gain momentum, favourable interest rates and an abundance of great deals almost everywhere you look, there has possibly never been a better time to invest in your home.

While many sectors and industries are just treading water to stay afloat during these challenging market environments, builders and tradespeople are still in high demand. It’s been said that some trades people are booked six months in advance and that builders who specialise in new builds are already booked out for a year or longer. But what if your project is a little smaller? Is it possible to get a project underway this summer? If the bathroom floor in your villa is about to give way to rot will there be someone who can help? The answer varies but like many questions lately the answer is coming back to keeping things local. Reid Property Services, under the careful management of Eddie Reid, has evolved from a specialist local painting service to a wide ranging property service company. While like many people, Eddie has had to play catch up to complete work interrupted by the various lockdowns, he has taken the proactive step to increase the sizes and capacity of his specialist teams. By adding more craftsmen and experts and keeping his focus on the local community, Eddie is now ready to take on more local work. “When we could see the workloads were getting heavy across all parts of our business, I knew we had to expand our teams so that we could ensure our regular clients would continue to enjoy our same high level of service and quality.” Eddie says that when it comes to large new builds, some tradespeople are indeed booked up for a year or so in advance but Reid Property Services has a niche in small to medium sized projects. Even though they are heavily booked leading up to Christmas there are still some slots available. The teams operate with precision efficiency, and Eddie is a master of production schedules which include specialist painters, gib stoppers electricians, plumbers and builders.

“We really try to look after locals first and foremost,” says Eddie. “This is where we live and it’s our community, so it’s important to us to make sure we have the capacity to take on local work first. For instance if you have a bathroom floor that needs replacing our aim is to assess the job, quote and from that point aim to have it completed

within a four week turnaround. The key to getting any new kitchen, bathroom or deck project underway this summer is getting someone out there to take a look, provide a quote and get the job booked in.”

Eddie explains, “the sooner projects are scoped out and quoted on, the more likely they can be booked in. We do have a few spaces for new projects before Christmas but the summer is already looking like

Before

a busy one.” With a focus on new decks and outdoor living spaces, Reid Property Services is ready to help make locals make the most of their staycations this season.

While Eddie’s teams focus on the home, another local, Dave Paddy of Nikau Landscapes, has been busy fielding calls from people wanting to make the most of their outdoor spaces this summer. Dave explains that people have been spending a lot of time looking at their backyards this year and are full of ideas about how to improve them.

“Everyone wants a pool, especially in this heat. And spa pools are having a resurgence. The spa pool companies are having trouble keeping up with huge orders,” says Dave.

It’s been a busy time for Nikau Landscapes, both with catching up on work interrupted by the lockdowns, and getting calls as a result of a heightened level of interest in residential landscaping.

“The money people used to spend on overseas holidays and visiting family is now being spent on home improvements. People are keen to make their home environment as beautiful and as practical as possible,” says Dave.

With all this interest, is it possible to get a new landscaping project underway this summer? Dave thinks so, depending on the project size.

“We are really busy until Christmas and then we have our biggest project starting. But due to delays in consents and employing more staff we are still managing to fit some small jobs in,” says Dave. “We like doing a mix of big jobs and small, to keep a good balance, so we are still encouraging people to get in touch.”

There are also things people can do to prepare, and the most important thing to remember according to Dave is that major landscaping work always takes longer than you think.

“If you are wanting a pool it will need to be consented and have work from designers and engineers and possibly even need permission from Watercare if there are pipes in the area. Get a good designer. The more thorough and exact the plans are, the easier the consenting process will be.”

Dave also recommends making decisions early on the products you want to use and then sticking to those decisions to avoid undue delays. He notes that people should be aware that Covid has had an effect on supply chains.

“Because of Covid there are now big delays in supply chains for some products. It’s a shame to have to delay the process to wait for a particular tile stuck on a ship in an overseas port. Even planting can be tricky as nurseries were not able to propagate over lockdown,” he adds.

With committed local tradespeople in and around our local area Ponsonby News readers can still plan home and outdoor renovations creating their own sanctuaries to enjoy over what we are all imagining will be a much more settled year.  PN

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