[Moorf]

I know this is a "how long is a piece of string" question, but has anyone had any renovations done to their NZ property and, if so, could you give costs?

ie. roofing, glazing etc... per sqm?

Taa Muchly
Moorf

[Yogi]

Not sure how helpful this is but I've been pricing matai flooring for when we build our new house in NZ...

Currently good quality reclaimed matai boards (23mm thick I think) are around $100 per sq metre. So beautiful and price seems really good too, certainly less than comparable thickness oak here by a long way.

Trully, at that price to do the whole house would be less than a good quality carpet.

Cheers,

Yogi.

PS. I think Kauri is nicer but Mrs Yogi has said no as it's too dark.

[Timbo]

Am I right in thinking that certain timbers are getting very hard to come by. IE; Kauri/Rimu.
I know that logging of some types is now banned in Nz, and that you can only use/buy reclaimed. Does anyone know which timbers are available at reasonable cost in NZ?
It would be interesting to try and make some price comparisons.

[Phil&Shell]

Not really helpful to you Moorf but some friends of ours who have just gone to ChCh told us that they had to pay £50 for a tin of emulsion! Can that be true? If it is then your renovation costs are gonna need some careful budgeting.

All the best

Phil

[veronica]

place makers have a special on 8 lt pots of dulux emulsion...$96.99
but Timber is cheaper than the UK. can't quote prices though.

[Carol]

I nearly fainted when I went to buy my first tin of paint here.
The bloke in the shop just looked at me and said "yeah yeah yeah - I know.....it costs a fortune - probably best to just get used to it"

I havent yet!
:roll:

[SoCal Gal]

This is a subject near and dear (well, not that dear :_( ) My husband is about to have a stroke over how much things cost for renovation, even the simpliest thing like a new socket to plug into, that was $25 at Placemakers. I've been off the forum because we are both very sad, distraught and not sure where to turn. Moving to NZ is very, very much more expensive than we ever dreamed. Our kitchen came with one cabinet (the people took them off the wall when they sold the house!) and to replace them is 1) an incredible hassle over even finding stuff 2) incredibly expense and 3) the real shock to him has been how expensive USED items are. Really, really expensive. Before I get too much feedback on keeping my chin up, or whatever, please know that we are very optimistic people, very resourceful, not spoiled Americans in the least, but the ability to get things done in a timely and cost-efficient manner for our renovation is simply mind-boggling. To add insult to injury, while I am on a roll, the NZ Immigration folks tell me my packet will be coming from Washington DC (we were selected from the pool on Sept. 1) and the D.C. people tell us, no, that's wrong, your packet will come from NZ. They are saying this is a common misconception, and someone needs to straighten it out. Is some bigger force suddenly trying to tell us why our move to NZ suddenly got very, very hard?? I am bummed.....

[clg]

That is dissapoinging to hear I am really surprised at both the cost of materials as well as the fact that people will remove cabinets. Have you moved your household yet? If not, have you looked into shipping materials over when you move?

[veronica]

I think for us from the UK the prices here aren't too bad but I have noticed that people from the US find them a shock so have to conclude from that that stuff is much cheaper in the US.
Some of the 2nd hand stuff is incredibly overpriced here, and some of the reason that we find things perhaps more expensive than we expect is just that we don't know the best places to look.
We have taken to going round and pricing stuff and then getting places to price match like for like so we buy it just at one place.
Was the house with the KItchen in NZ. because if the furniture in the kitchen was fixed and it wasn't mentioned in the conditions that they were taking it then thats against the law. the houses should be sold with all the fixtures and fittings in the place when viewed (or agreed) except those specified.

[SoCal Gal]

Actually, when we looked at the house to buy it, we noticed there was the one cabinet on the wall (no door) and there were two drawers by the sink. Since this house was built in the 50's, we thought that perhaps people used freestanding cabinets back then. But once we bought the house, and my husband looked very close at the kitchen wall, he could see the gradation of the paint color, and then, found drill holes in the wal, and could definitely make out that there had been cabinets there. So, I guess before they put the house on the market, they took what they wanted. They must have known about the elusive cabinet market in NZ! ;-)
Yes, coming from the US, we totally had no idea how the prices would be so different over in NZ. Somewhere I have an old post about seeing $25 mascara!! Anyway, we will bring everything we can with us, and I would advise Americans making the move to do the same. The last thing I would want is for anyone to get bummed out about their move in trying to just set up a basic household. We packed a whole "kitchen" in one of Preston's biggest suitcases and that was the best thing he ever did! :cool

[miep]

Hi socal gal,

Don't despair! Veronica is right, you just haven't found the right places to look yet. Yes it takes time, but you can get good deals here.

Placemakers prices are way too high but if you are doing a renovation you can get an account there and get discounts on almost everything. Just tell them its a LARGE renovation and you will be buying lots of stuff so you need a proper discount. That's how every diy'er does things here. I have accounts everywhere or use other peoples. (I get 40% discount on resene paints and I still think they're expensive!) You can often also go to wholesalers direct, get your sockets at the electrical wholesaler, your plumbing stuff at the plumbing wholesaler etc.

As for kitchen cabinets, it is surprisingly cheap to go to a joiner and have them custom made. Get a couple of quotes, haggle a bit and you will end up with a fantastic custom made kitchen!
Secondhand stuff is incredibly expensive here, I've no idea how that works especially since most of it is utter rubbish, ready for the tip. Buying new is much more cost effective but again you need to shop around and bargain !


Really, once you find your way around and figure out how things work here things will get better (and cheaper)! :nice1


Miep

[SoCal Gal]

Thank you Miep and Veronica, for the kind words of encouragement! We are still excited about our move, and when I talk to my husband tonight, I will read him these very supportive posts. I am confident now that we will figure out how to make it work! Thanks again, I'm feeling better already!
:cool