The Block NZ 2012 winner Ben Crawford and his girlfriend Kylie are building their dream home. Share their proud moments and pitfalls every week.
The Block NZ 2012 winner Ben Crawford and his fiancé Kylie are building their dream home. Share their proud moments and pitfalls here every week.
You can't call yourself a Kiwi unless you appreciate a good deck. The mere word conjures up summer barbecues, beers with mates and lazy Sunday sessions in the sun.
We've tried to maximise the indoor/outdoor flow of our house to make the most of the landscape literally circling our home.The key to achieving this will be three decks, to create a variety of additional living spaces for us to use.
The first one runs off our master bedroom. It perches out over the stream, tree ferns provide shade overhead and the late afternoon sun streams through the bush canopy. The second is behind the living pod and will provide us with an informal dining area and up on the roof, our largest deck will be a lovely suntrap where I'm sure we'll spend many an hour escaping from the daily grind.
When we started our build, we assumed we'd use jarrah or kwila for the decks. We didn't think too much about it while we discussed the project with our builders, as hardwood decking is pretty much the go-to product for quality decks.
But the more I looked into hardwood timbers, the more I realised the beautiful colour of the wood would silver off in no time, reducing it to looking just like any other timber exposed to the sun. And no matter how many times you re-stain it, the magic of the new wood would never come back, as it slowly aged, splintered and cracked.
It seemed a bit pointless to build a new house only to end up with decks that look significantly older than they are after a couple of months under the New Zealand sun and paying a premium for the privilege.
So I started to look into some alternatives. I discovered a variety of composite decking products on the market which, on the face of it, would solve our woody issue. But I was sceptical. How natural can a plastic board look?
I spent a lot of time exploring the supplier websites, and outdure.com clearly stood out. The website looked as good as the company's composite decking. In fact, you could think they made natural hardwood timbers.
While on the outside, the Outdure decking looks like typical hardwood timber, on the inside it's quite different, which makes it UV resistant, stain free and splinter free. Photo / Ben Crawford
We ordered a free sample pack from the website and it arrived a couple of days later. We were blown away with the new, premium Resortdeck range made from 50 per cent recycled plastic and 50 per cent recycled timber. The five different colours spanned from a light grey through to a chocolate brown, each packed full of texture and grain variation, creating an amazingly authentic-looking board.
With our aesthetic hesitations now gone, we arranged to meet Outdure's design and sales consultant Andrea Burkhardt on site to ask more questions and decide which colour would work best with our house. After setting each colour against the cedar and among the bush, Havana stood out a mile. And with our questions satisfactorily answered, we were converted.
A couple of days later, Andrea sent us layout designs for each deck, maximising the boards' 4.8m lengths and minimising any movement from the contraction and expansion of the decking. Armed with the plans, our builder Garrick set about fixing the boards to our deck behind the bedroom pod.
Because of Outdure's fixing system, it took only our builder Garrick about four hours to lay the deck in the rain, significantly faster compared to using hardwood decking. Photo / Ben Crawford
He had finished within about four hours, thanks to the concealed fixing system Outdure uses. Clips are screwed to the joists, then each board clips into place, doing away with the onerous task of pre-drilling, then fixing screws every 400mm like you do with a timber deck.
We're stoked with the end result and can't wait for the other two decks to be finished. The Havana boards are beautiful and look so natural that visitors have automatically assumed it's kwila.
But the best thing is, it's splinter-free, scratchproof and UV-resistant, meaning it will look just as new in 10 years' time, leaving us with more time to enjoy living on our three decks, rather than maintaining them. Cheers to that, I say.
Successful saving is the secret to independence
Now's the time to remind ourselves of the resolutions we made at the beginning of 2015. From small changes like opting for trim milk in your morning latte, to a big commitment like saving a house deposit. If home ownership is on your horizon, maybe it's time to commit to a savings plan that will make it happen?
Kiwibank has a range of savings options that can help you realise your dream. Notice Saver is a great option for those who want to earn a good rate without locking their money away for too long. You can also add money whenever you like, but you can't withdraw it right away - instead, you have to give either 32 or 90 days' notice. The rate might move up and down during the term of investment. You'll need at least $2,000 to set up your account and there's no set term, you'll just need to 'give notice' 32 or 90 days before you need the cash.
Find out more about Kiwibank's Notice Saver and other savings options by searching 'notice' at kiwibank.co.nz. Maybe this time next year you'll be starting your own brave project like Ben & Kylie.
Kiwibank Notice Saver is a fund within a Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE). Kiwibank Notice Saver rates of return are not fixed.
Units in Kiwibank Notice Saver are distributed by Kiwibank and are issued by Kiwibank Investment Management Limited. Download the Terms and Conditions for Kiwibank Notice Saver (PDF 45.6 kB), or pick up a copy from your local Kiwibank.
Download Kiwibank Limited's Disclosure Statement (PDF 167.9 kB) or pick up a copy from your local Kiwibank.
This communication contains general information only and not investment or tax advice, and as such you should not rely on it as the sole basis for any financial decision. Potential investors should seek professional advice as to whether an investment is right for them, including the taxation implications of investing in an investment.
