Builder takes title after five years

One  moment it was a run-down 1960s bungalow overlooking the sea at Mount Maunganui. The next  it was rebuilt into a modern Mediterranean-styled home sitting proudly on the beachfront.
Well, may be a bit more than a moment. It took builder Paul Riordan and his team 14 months to transform the two-level house in Oceanbeach Rd, finishing it last Christmas.
The superb renovation job, worth more than $500,000, earned Riordan Construction the Tauranga Registered Master Builders' House of the Year award.
Mr Riordan and his wife Helen - who have been running their building business for 15 years - collected the top prize at the PlaceMakers-sponsored gala dinner in the Baypark Events Centre last night.
"Finally," said Mr Riordan. "We've entered five times and won lots of gold awards but not the supreme.
"I knew from day one that this could win.
"The client was looking for a top notch job, she was very fastidious and she knew what she wanted," he said.
Actually, the client was a member of the family - and Mr Riordan wasn't going to miss a beat.
Mr Riordan worked off the concrete pad both on the ground and first floor - maintaining the existing daylighting space - and rejigged the walls and ceilings.
"We charged as we went along, instead of giving a fixed quote, so the client could visualise what she was getting and she could change her mind at any given time," he said.
"It was a small site and a big house [530 sq m], so there were challenges.
"For instance when we got upstairs, it was evident the house needed a vaulted [false] ceiling under the steel structure of the concrete tile roof," Mr Riordan said.
He produced a stunning family home, finished off in  adobe plaster  inside and out. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two living rooms, rumpus, pool room, office, scullery, three-car garaging and outdoor showers.
Completing two to three houses a year, the Riordans have prided themselves on "personalised" rather than group building. And though work has been quiet lately, they haven't lost heart. They've just picked up a job to reclad a home, and plans are now coming in "left, right and centre, so we are busy pricing."
Riordan Construction won the PlaceMakers Renovation over $500,000 category, and the established firm now has its eye on the national awards, by making the top 100.
Mr Riordan was joined in the race to become a national finalist by the two previous Tauranga winners - Murray Pedersen and David Shaw.
Murray Pedersen Builders picked up three golds in the New Homes over $1 million and Sustainable Homes over $1 million categories, all of them built at the Mount.
In a busy night, Mr Pedersen also collected the Pink Batts Ultra Energy Efficiency award - he told the 270 guests "you've got to keep warm - and a silver in the Renovation over $500,000 category.
Shaw Builders was also a gold winner in that category, as well as winning New Homes $650,000 to $1 million, for a three-level, 380 sq m house in Papamoa Beach Rd.
Mr Shaw screwed a 50mm aerated concrete frame, including a 40mm cavity, to the house which included 200m of concrete - even the handrails upstairs were made of concrete.
"It will last for a  hundred years," Mr Shaw said.
"I don't like seeing houses that rot."
Like Mr Riordan, Mr Shaw has found it quiet lately.
His firm is finishing off two big renovations in Victoria Rd and Oceanbeach Rd and it has just picked up a new home, which gets under way in eight weeks.
"That will keep us sweet through to next February/March and give us time to find more work. It's tough out there but I'm determined to keep hold on to my eight guys. We will do a one-bedroom extension or a bathroom just to keep the staff employed," said Mr Shaw, who also collected the Mastercraft Heart of the Home Kitchen award.
Harwood Homes NZ and Kuriger Builders Tga were also multiple winners, picking up two golds, while Bigshed Construction (BOP) won the top RMB commercial award for the building the Morgan Furniture warehouse at the Tauriko Business Estate.