Get a life and renovate right
Spring has arrived and that means a big clean-up around the house. For others, it’s a bit more serious – maybe a new look inside and a coat of paint on the outside.
For those hankering for that new-house smell or their own personal grand design, it’s a case of dream boards and rough sketches before sitting down with the professionals to make those wild fantasies come true.
We have you covered in this week’s Design,
Build and Renovate feature which has been lovingly prepared for people in the Taupō
District and supported by local businesses that are ready and waiting to help make that dream come true.
My own home ambitions were just short of the knock-it-down-and-start-again philosophy - a zone that could roughly be described as
madness.
Doing nothing isn’t an option when you buy a 60’s home in Taupō that still has the original emerald green carpet in it. It also had a shower smaller than a fridge, a lounge that hadn’t factored in the arrival of the TV and a kitchen you couldn’t swing a cat in, let alone host a proper sixties party.
For those unfamiliar to real estate terminology, ‘original features’ is code for never-ending renovation and that has pretty much been a feature of my weekends for the past seven years.
My neighbours have learned new words and reworked configurations of old salty language coming from the roof space, from under the house, from the walls, the deck, the ivy that threatened to consume us all, the fences, the driveway, the garages and the list goes on.
My top tip for renovators is to plan well, work out how much of a life you want and how much you really love renovating and then get the right people in to do the job.
There are a few ways to save yourself money on a big renovation, particularly when it comes to those things that improve the health of your home, like insulation and double glazing.
Having wormed my way into an impossibly tight accessway to install insulation in the ceiling and enjoyed a nutritious diet of spiders and dust in the underfloor space, it’s worth checking if the area you live in is eligible for the 80 per cent insulation subsidy.
As it turns out, my house was on the right side of the road for the subsidy, so I had it topped up again anyway and got the same younger, bendier people to finish off under the house too.
I reckon I now have the most insulated house in Taupō, especially after tapping into those low-interest loans available from most
banks for double glazing.
Therefore, I recommend you do your homework, shop around for the best deal and hire the pros if you want a life. The best place to start is right here.