Almost two years after spying a ramshackle villa on TradeMe, Rachel Grunwell and husband Damien Buckley have finally finished turning their Auckland home from a disaster zone to des-res. They give the low-down on some money-saving tricks they learned.
Mates often ask, would we renovate again or did it almost drive us to divorce? I reply that I would do it all again in a heartbeat, but Damien might divorce me if I dare moot another "mad mission"; The "R" (renovate) word should be re-entered in the dictionary as
a swear word.
It was near Christmas in 2009 when I walked into a 100-year-old Mt Eden villa that made my eyes light up, but made a builder cringe, shake his head and mutter: "It's been bloody butchered" (it had no original features intact).
He warned "don't touch it with a bargepole" - unless we liked the idea of being poor. But I'm a stubborn tart who likes a challenge and managed somehow to convince my husband he should ignore the horror of the house having been rented for 16 years and embrace being handy. After all, we could not afford a done-up pad in this inner-city zone.
The best advice we got was to do our homework from the outset. We couldn't afford a complete pup and needed to know the true cost of transforming the old girl; it had to be financially worth it.
So we got multiple quotes and, boy, did they differ. Our first quote was $400,000 for a builder to do absolutely everything. But we instead found a builder who could do the major work for $150,000 and we could get our hands dirty and our wallets out for the rest for half the original quote.
First, we sold our old home in Balmoral and secured the Mt Eden house at a price that, with renovation costs, would be appropriate for re-sale, if required. We sought advice from an expert and independent agent who knew the area well.
What sold the Mt Eden project was its great location: it was close to work and good schools was north-facing, and had views of Mt Eden. Also, importantly, it was rock-solid and had no leaks.
Damien and I then prioritised and compromised on plans and time-frames on different aspects.
We agreed the inside of the house needed gutting and made liveable pronto, but a make-shift kitchen would do for a year and things such as landscaping, garage, a fence and some decorating could wait until we earned more cash.
A big saving was the in-laws taking us in for two months while the place was gutted. Otherwise a rental in Mt Eden could have been a crushing $600 a week.
We asked a building investor expert to recommend a trustworthy and affordable builder. Before signing a contract, I investigated some of the builder's previous work and then insisted on deadlines, detail and paying by stages including a final payment when every bit of it was done.
Where to start with the transformation?
Builders lifted brown swirling carpet and three layers of disgusting lino in the lean-to area to reveal stunning kauri floorboards throughout - some needed replacing and then the lot was polished (I spent hours on my knees pulling old nails from the wood beforehand).
Two character brick and soot-covered fireplaces were discovered behind walls (what a find) which Damien cleaned by using a specially designed drill bit (a tedious task which took days) and then applied three coats of special lacquer. Note: Damien initially used acid to try to strip the fireplaces, which proved dangerous (he burned a patch of skin) and was ineffective.
Tradesmen then replaced almost every door, window, and wall and ceiling panel with features in line with a villa look (think batten ceilings and rose features from which a chandelier would drop) that I had found through the New Zealand book Villa: From Heritage to Contemporary.
It worked out much cheaper for the builders to buy some materials with their trade discount. Our builder fashioned a hall archway from bits bought at cost and we splashed out on a leadlight hallway door that suited the villa's era (we had previously locked the builder into a $1000 fixed price so when it came back as $1500 he had to suck that up).
What saved the most cash was doing some of the hard work ourselves. This included me digging out an old clothes-line, donning rubber gloves to unblock drains, using pliers to pull nails from the floorboards and wearing unsightly overalls to paint high ceilings (surely the worst job). But it was my husband who really sweated over the project. He transformed from a usually desk-bound technology-geek into a man the builders nicknamed "the painter".
He spent days and nights for weeks prepping, sanding and then applying multiple layers of paint for a top-class finish on the entire house, inside and out. The builder seriously offered him a fulltime job as a painter as he was such a perfectionist. This was harder work for me, I joked, as I had the kids full time, but seriously this task was tough.
A builder reckoned Damien saved $40,000 on this mission alone. By the way, we saved about 30 per cent on paint by deciding on colour themes early on and buying paint in bulk during retailers' massive yearly sales. Just ask retailers when they run them.
Over the past year, Damien has dug up the backyard, levelled it and grassed it; repaired and painted the old garage; pulled down the crumbling shed; painted fences; built raised vegetable gardens and bookshelves, while I've decorated.
The best decorative whimsy I found was a collection of '70s chandeliers with rose glass and clear rectangle drops for $150 from TradeMe, which fill all the rooms. I revived them with cheap Bunnings gold spray paint and a good old-fashioned clean. This was a radical saving as a single new chandelier can command $1000.
I also love the blinds and curtains in the main bedroom and lounge. I saved money by sourcing high-quality fabric and commissioning affordable curtain designers rather than going through well-known curtain companies that did the whole job. If only I could sew, I would have made even more savings. Another saving was picking up curtains for two rooms from second-hand stores for less than $10 each - no one would ever know.
In the bathroom, I saved money by getting multiple quotes, the best trick in the renovation business behind doing jobs yourself. I got retro black-and-white tiles for a third of the original price quoted from shopping around. And again, TradeMe helped me source a 100-year-old Royal Doulton cast-iron bath with silver claw feet for the price of a similar looking but flimsy store-bought one ($1200). Some good tradespeople on TradeMe work from home and so don't have big overheads, but beware of ones who might muck you around.
We splashed out on things that mattered, including a made-to-measure glass shower. This was because it looked good but also so we could also squeeze in a bath and toilet in our tight bathroom space.
A new white, modern kitchen was our final mission and done just weeks ago. It replaces a dusty, yellow and grimy horror. We saved money by saving up for over a year - we used Bunnings shelves and a section of the old kitchen with sink (painted) in the interim. This meant we could take advantage of appliances on sale and get some killer bargains.
An important lesson we learned was to try and be on site almost daily while the builders were there. There are endless decisions to be made and our builders said we were good clients because we knew what we wanted, which meant no delays.
Being on site also meant we could yell "stop!" when a character fireplace was found before it was covered by a new wall.
Colour has brought the house to life - from hospital white within and calf-poo yellow on the outside, to warmer shades internally and a bold choice of Karen Walker's robin egg blue on the exterior.
All up we met our $200,000 budget - but we are yet to erect a stone fence and gate, which will send us over this.
So has it been worth it? Well, it surely cost, but an agent reckons this has been a good investment. Ultimately, living in a place that we've made into "our home" with colours and features we love has been a buzz.
So would we do it again? Well, erm, we might have to - I'm expecting a baby due any day now and there might not be enough space.
Helpful hints
* Get good advice from real estate agents and expert reports before buying.
* Renovate in stages if money is not free-flowing. Identify areas that can wait while you save up the cash.
* Ask a mortgage broker how much you should borrow - realistically. Banks can give you as much rope as you want to hang yourself with.
* Research environmentally friendly, cost-efficient products.
* Be bold with colour if it's your house.
* Make sure you and your partner have a similar vision and cash outlay expectations. l Shop for multiple quotes and bargain - use your builders' trade discount if you're cheeky like us.
* Use TradeMe and second-hand. Old things can equal character and good buys.
* Read through contracts carefully and use tradesmen who have been recommended.
* Have deadlines in contracts and consequences for breaking them. A lazy contractor could cost you in extra weeks' rent, but also be reasonable.
* Don't pay the final bill until every tiny detail is complete. Otherwise they won't be in a hurry to come back and put on those door knobs that have fallen off.
* Use magazines and books for inspiration.
* If a job isn't rocket science, do it yourself.
* Buy things on sale. This means you need a good plan from the beginning so you know what to keep any eye out for.
* Be on-site regularly to make the never-ending decisions.
* Think about where you can save money, but what you really want to spend cash on. We could live with op-shop curtains in the spare room ($10 and they look great) but we splashed out on a quartz benchtop for quality reasons.
* Read up properly before attempting some techniques: using acid to strip a fireplace is bad news for your health and it's hopeless.
* Take time off when needed. Remember young kids need to kick a soccer ball about too.
* When painting, good preparation and a good base coats will lead to a top finish.
* Check invoices. My husband spied a paper saying our bi-fold doors had regular glass instead of the laminated glass we had paid for, which meant we could chase up this to be replaced.
* When landscaping, think about how you will use the space, ie, a big formal garden is no good for small kids who want to run around on grass. Space saving ideas include having a sandpit under some panels of decking.
* Listen to your builders; they can give good advice. But stand your ground on details you want.
* Think about the house size you need long-term. We hadn't planned on three children, but have since decided to have a bigger family, which means we might run out of room down the track.
Contacts
Some useful places for Auckland villa renovations include:
* Bungalow & Villa - for villa renovation materials.
* A Touch Of Glass, 670 Mount Albert Road, Royal Oak, Auckland City - for leadlight doors.
* Second hand stores and TradeMe for curtains, lighting and some design pieces.
* The NZ book Villa: From Heritage to Contemporary by Patrick Reynolds, Jeremy Salmond and Jeremy Hansen - for ideas to see how other villas have been revived.
