Home renovations in lockdown limbo
Wellington families’ home renovation plans are grinding back into gear after being stalled by the coronavirus lockdown, which left one family with their fridge in the bathroom.
Tony Burton, his partner Liz Hitchings, and their daughter Rosa Burton, 11, were set to return from a hard-earned cruise to a brand new kitchen this month.
Instead, the cruise was cancelled, the kitchen stripped, and their fridge found a home next to the shower.
The bathroom sink was now the kitchen sink, and the top of the dishwasher functioned as a bench.
Work stopped right as the floor of their kitchen was sanded back, so any drop of water or paw prints from the cat left marks on the wood.
With the room mostly off limits, the barbecue and microwave were the main cooking appliances.
‘‘We’re looking to start again next week,’’ Burton said. ‘‘I think I’m well over camping in my own house.’’
Hitchings worked as a dentist at the hospital, but Burton was home fulltime.
‘‘It’s a nuisance, but it’s just one of those things,’’ he said. ‘‘This is something that happens once in a hundred years.’’
A Hataitai family is living in half a house, with the kitchen and dining area temporarily off limits for a renovation project to switch the kitchen and dining room.
Gordon Gregory said they were about three weeks in, with ‘‘20 per cent of the work’’ done, before lockdown halted the project.
The builders just had time to put up a temporary sealing wall between the renovated area and the rest of the house.
The builders were back to work on Tuesday with the shift to level three, with signs and sanitisation stations and a lot of noise making working from home an interesting experience.
The porch area was home to the barbecue, which functioned as a makeshift oven, and daughter Jemima Gregory, 17, had successfully made scones.
Other kitchen essentials spilled into the hallway, and the dining room was in the lounge.
They started off doing the dishes by hand, but with a family of four, it was easier to take a short trip to the garage to use the dishwasher.
Gregory, an IT project manager, was working from home alongside his wife, teacher Stephanie Lamond who taught via Zoom during lockdown.
Their son, William, 17, had the room next door to his dad’s office, and to the detriment of his father’s Zoom calls, played the trumpet.
Gregory was hopeful they were back on track to complete by the original finish date of July, but with supply chains disrupted there could still be delays.
Lamond said while their situation was ‘‘a little different,’’ they were better off than many.
‘‘We have employment, good food and are warm. We are not living in the garage.’’
A villa built in 1906, recently loaded onto a truck and transported from Christchurch to Woodside in Greytown, had a battering through level four, with winds causing a few nail-biting nights for new owners Vicki Johns and Louise Dooley.
The house, which arrived in early March, had a temporary roof, and in the 24 hours before lockdown the edges lifted and began to leak in the heavy rain. It took specialised skills to repair.
‘‘They had to get the guys up from Christchurch, and back again, in 24 hours,’’ Johns said.
Firefighters were called twice during lockdown, first to secure loose tin on the old villa’s roof, and then to resecure the shrink wrap to keep out the weather.
‘‘It’s pitch-black, so there’s no point opening your curtains to check if your roof’s blown off.’’
They were now waiting for the roof trusses to be made, which would take another month.