DIY rookie nails it with how-to videos
When Lise Mackie decided to renovate her home herself, a whole new world opened up, she tells Colleen Hawkes.
Having no experience has not been a drawback for first-home owner Lise Mackie of Berhampore. Despite not knowing anything much about DIY, Mackie is tackling a major renovation by herself – with the help of how-to videos.
‘‘I’m a single female in my 40s living in Wellington, and I bought my first home in May 2018,’’ she says. ‘‘It’s a small brick flat, one of two built side by side in 1978, and it needed work.’’
Mackie decided the cheapest approach would be to do the renovation herself, even though she had no idea where to start, which is where the how-to videos come in.
‘‘These have been a godsend for my knowledge and confidence.’’
Mackie says she had rented for her entire adult life until she bought her home – and she has no real building experience (except for helping to build some drama sets at university). She found it ‘‘quite intimidating to take on projects that women aren’t stereotypically expected to do’’.
‘‘Asking for help or instructions can be fraught with a lot of well-intentioned, but tiresome ‘mansplaining’ or patronising responses,’’ she says. ‘‘Since watching the videos and then going into stores, I find it so much easier to shut down the unhelpful advice and cut to the chase.’’
In fact, she has become something of a video expert: ‘‘It’s amazing what a little bit of knowledge does. I’ve lost count of the number I have watched – I have become very fond of Stan [on the Mitre 10 videos]. And there’s a series in Australia I am watching.’’
‘‘Along with the ‘how to’, I’m especially grateful for the tips about ‘gotchas’ and common mistakes. There’s no way I would have had the courage to buy a second-hand kitchen on Trade Me and then completely repurpose it, had I not watched Stan talk through the basic principles in all his kitchen videos.’’
Second-hand kitchen
Mackie, whose ‘‘other job’’ is commercial delivery manager at Vodafone NZ, is especially pleased with her kitchen.
‘‘It was four years old when I bought it, and apparently it had cost [the former owners] $26,000 to install. I bought the whole thing, including all the appliances, except the fridge, for $4000. Then I rented a van and picked it up in Levin and drove it home to store in my garage.’’
Mackie says she had made a preliminary trip to measure the cabinets and made a scale model so she could be sure it would fit in the space. She had the doors recut from water-resistant MDF and professionally spray-painted, and a custom cabinet was made for a new double oven – ‘‘a splurge item’’.
‘‘I drilled all the holes for the new handles myself, which was nerve-wracking because if I boofed it up it would stuff up the paint job.
‘‘Ultimately, the thing I love about my kitchen is that it isn’t a recognisable kitset – it’s very much a personalised space that I love spending time in.’’
Mackie has not only done most of the work on the kitchen, she has also undertaken major landscaping projects, including two fences, had double-glazing installed, and added underfloor insulation and a home ventilation system. She is currently building a new deck.
When she has needed a tradie, her ‘‘home schooling’’ has helped. ‘‘Understanding what they’re going to do and how they should be doing it has helped me make sure I’m asking the right questions when I’m getting quotes, and allows me to project manage more effectively.’’
‘Mouldy eyesore’
Mackie tackled her 12m x 1.8m wooden paling fence from scratch.
‘‘My previous back fence was an eyesore – it was a mouldy, falling-to-bits lattice fence attached to uneven posts attached to wobbly, leaning, crumbling concrete blocks. Not a single vertical was plumb.
‘‘I did it after watching Stan three times. As well as digging the 600mm holes and setting the 2.4m posts, I bugle screwed in the 18 rails, attached 74 palings, topped it all off with 12m of capping, and applied two layers of paint.’’
And the hardest part of the job? ‘‘Digging the holes for the fenceposts.’’
Mackie says she probably went ‘‘over the top’’ with the concrete for the fenceposts. ‘‘But it’s a wind tunnel here and I didn’t want to be doing it all again in a year’s time.’’
Keeping it green
Taking a sustainable approach is important to
Mackie, which is why she bought a second-hand kitchen.
‘‘I dislike the idea of trashing all the old stuff and buying brand new everything,’’ she says. ‘‘I still have plenty to do and the place is still a bombsite, but my next project will be the bathroom.
‘‘I found some painted rimu cupboards that happen to be the exact same size as a lovely rimu bench I found.
‘‘I will strip all the paint and put epoxy on them, for a Scandi look. I want them to be light and bright, simple and not too ornate.’’
And you can’t help but get the feeling that Mackie won’t stop there.