tackle planning, but they encountered no major stresses during this process – thanks again to the architects’ help. “They took all the pain out of it!” Amanda says. “It was quite straightforward from our perspective. We didn’t really have any issues, because if there were any they just took care of it for us.”
WORK BEGINS By mid-2019, they were ready to begin work. Amanda and Kevin opted to live offsite, just down the road in a rented property. For the most part the project went relatively smoothly and ran to schedule, which Amanda credits in part to their living elsewhere. “It was a massive project, the builders were simultaneously doing the basement and the loft, and us living elsewhere helped with the timeline because the builders didn’t have to work around us,” she says. Work was in full swing on the house when Covid hit in 2020. However, Amanda gives full credit to their contractor, Miles Builders, for continuing to work throughout. “They carried on, they were very professional,” she says. “It was seamless, in spite of the pandemic the works were done within 12 months, keeping the project in line with the schedule.” They were also lucky to have started work early enough that the majority of materials and supplies had already been ordered in before supply shortages and delays started to bite. “We were very fortunate with the timing,” Amanda says. The family moved into their new home in July 2020. Thanks to the good work of contractor and
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architect, Amanda and Kevin experienced a very stress-free build. The architects project managed the build, explains Amanda: “Because it was quite a big project; we needed a project manager.” The architects also found the main contractor, after putting together a scope of work and going out to tender – they had previously worked with the chosen firm. Miles Builders then took care of the subcontractors. “They’re a big company so they employ a lot of their own and then subcontract some of the work – but we only ever interfaced with them,” says Amanda. So professional were the builders that when the water table was accidentally run into during construction of the basement, the couple were barely even aware there was a problem. “It could have potentially delayed matters by quite a lot but they were super professional, kept us up to date and got extra men onsite to deal with it,” Amanda says. “They didn’t make it our problem, they just did what they needed to do to solve the problem.”
Their trust in the builders and architects – along with lockdown restrictions – meant the couple weren’t onsite too often. “We kept a safe distance, we would only really come down when we were choosing materials and wanted to visualise the space,” Amanda explains. “They gave us regular updates and we became friends, they would pick up the phone and let us know if there were any issues.” This included a complaint from a neighbour at one point about noise levels. “We never had issues with neighbours apart from that one complaint,”
jan/feb 2022
LOW POINT
“Really it was just neighbours, but with a build of this size you’re going to get people complaining about the noise. You will always get one or two people who will never be happy. And with lockdown, people were upset with being stuck at home listening to builders next door!” – Amanda
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