A little PSA on renovating your home

[scw43]

@fengqiwu2011 Speak to people you see in your usual day to day lives like hairdressers, remedial massage therapists etc. They speak to people all day long in their jobs and might have some recommendations for you from their client base.

 

[bobjonesamerica]

@squirrel_sa Right, so what's your opinion on someone listed in the Yellow Pages? Or someone who has a website? Are they dodgy too?

I mean what is this nonsense.

There are plenty of tradies who are fully all over using apps, websites, and all kinds of things to find new customers. They're on top of actually calling people back and they aren't shit or dodgy either.

I've found plenty of great people using HiPages and similar services.

 

[accelerator]

@squirrel_sa My personal experience...The tradies I have found on airtasker have been way better than the ones found by Google search and word of mouth.

 

[somelife]

@serena23 What did you replaster? Did you also do any lead abatement?

 

[thienthatha96]

@serena23 Good advice. I think the key to a Reno is having one core trade. Someone you can trust and who you have worked with before. This is usually a chippie. I just did a full gut and Reno if a wc and bathroom. I saved around 30% on the quotes we got by managing sourcing most stuff. I got all the way to setting and plastering the ceiling then couldn't find the time to paint the ceilings and architraves. Wife got fed up and found someone online for $1k and organised it. They did the shittest job I have ever seen. Just painted over everything. Used crap paint to. After 10 weeks Reno I was livid. All that work and then stuffed. I did the demo but probably wouldn't do that again.

 

[rjc526]

@thienthatha96

I think the key to a Reno is having one core trade. Someone you can trust and who you have worked with before

This is such great advice. We found a carpenter who build us a slightly ornate front fence back when i didnt' know how to lift a hammer.

He then helped me through 4 years of reno's, teaching me the whole way. What tools to buy, would come do a day here a day there with me to teach me how to do things i hadn't done before. He just charged us an hourly rate, and it wasn't even that much. We would give him extra because he honestly made all our reno's a reality. Such a great guy who taught me so many practical skills i use to this day.

 

[naywil21]

@serena23 I really hope no one ever knocks on my door to ask me who did my garden.

 

[mamabear0213]

@serena23 Just went trough this but with whole house and pool and landscaping. I hope I never do it again and my wife did the bulk of the research and design. I just dealt with the tradies day in and out for months on end.
The house was leaking everywhere and was failing apart, the pool had collapsed into a muddy hole. We sort of didn’t have any option once the bedrooms started filing with water.
Asbestos will be found more than likely. We had heaps.
This isn’t our first rodeo. We have done this 5 times before. It’s still hard work.

 

[freethinker711]

@serena23 Prepare for worst case scenario.until you start tearing stuff apart you don't know what is hanging on by just a thread, so the 20-30% over budget buffer is a good idea. also have a plan and stick to it. changing your mind will cost more than you think. also if hiring a builder a "variance" will cost you.

 

[hooded50]

@serena23 I've gone through this process with two places now but also add in new kitchen, bathrooms, laundry.
I think most people can understand that it is physically draining especially if your hands on but it's also mentally draining. Decision fatigue is very real.
Finding good tradesman is a needle in the haystack and bad ones you can spend 12 months of chasing to try and get things fixed or complete.