- My name's Andrew.
- And I'm Anna.
- And we're lucky enough to be here
having had our house done
with Gaia Construction.
We've been living in our
place for over 10 years
an older style house
that was starting to have a
number of issues appearing.
We fast tracked the decision,
that was something we weren't
necessarily planning on doing
for quite some time just yet.
But going through the process,
fast tracked our decision
to go ahead and get our full reno done
and build our beautiful place
that we're living in now.
- So I think our main
objectives for the renovation
were to keep some of that
authenticity from the old house
but adding in a lot of light
some of the rooms and areas
were quite dark and closed in.
And I think for me, the
other main objective
was working on the functionality.
So we had good sized rooms
but the layout of them
wasn't that practical
in terms of all being together as a family
or the way that we would have
liked to have been interacting
made it really difficult.
So the kitchen was really
separated from the dining area,
which was really
separated from the lounge,
which was doubling as our
playroom for the children.
And so there was kind of a
disconnect between the spaces.
And so I think one of the
main objectives for me
was to open up that space
and have it function
in a way that we could all be together
still within our separate
spaces but interacting together.
The priorities were
finding a team to work with
who aligned with our values.
So understanding the principles
of environmental sustainability
was quite important to us.
Obviously, budget, I think,
is something that keeps
everyone up at night
when considering a renovation
and hearing a lot of stories
from people about how far
over budget renovations
and building in general tends to go.
So that was definitely something
we were thinking about.
- I think as well, we had a
pretty long list of thoughts
around what we wanted
and what we didn't want.
We just had no idea whether it
was actually possible or not.
I guess if we had knocked the house down
and started over again,
these are the things
that we would like and then go about
how do we actually
implement that into a plan
to see whether it's even possible to do
in our current house as it was back then.
Yeah, all of that sort of stuff
and how is it all going
to come together to happen
because we'd never done it before
and didn't have the skills or experience.
- Other than watching a
million renovation shows
which makes you feel like an expert
but you realize very quickly
that you're far from one.
Our architect gave us a number
of builders to look into
as options that she felt would align
with those values as well.
So we met with a few builders
and Jeremy from Gaia
Construction was one of them.
And I think we felt pretty immediately
that it was the right fit, didn't we?
- Yeah, I think, no doubt
in terms of the combination
of Jeremy being extremely genuine.
We didn't feel like we
were in a sales meeting.
I think as well for us, again,
we had had all sorts of different advice
about whether houses should
be saved or with the money
whether we should be rebuilding
from a longevity point of view,
from a value point of view.
Jeremy straight away with his
background and talked to us
about coming from the UK where
everything is a renovation
as opposed to a rebuild.
So, from an experience point of view,
and having been in here
and looked at the place
and looked at the designs,
he could build us a beautiful place
with the existing bones that
we had, based on the designs.
And reassuring us that the
bones were good and solid
and that it was a house
really worth saving
which is how we felt as well.
The thing I really
liked about the process,
the building process that
I think was surprising
was that Jeremy, apart from the fact
that he's the most honest
builder I have ever met,
and the most genuine, which
just made things so easy,
so upfront and honest about everything
along the building path,
was the things that he
laid out in the beginning
that Sue and Jeremy laid
out in the beginning
being on budget unless
there were variations
that were our choice
and also on time to the day
unless there were variations
that were our choice
I was actually really surprised
after speaking to a lot of
people and telling them that
and having a lot of people say,
"Yeah, we'll see how that goes."
That in actual fact that was the case,
to the day and to the dollar.
- Because, again, we had a lot of people
telling us we're dreaming,
that we will make it on time
to the time that's promised.
That the team that Gaia have
to carry out all of the plans,
the plasterers, the painters,
the renderers--
- They were always there.
The day they said
they were going to be there.
- They were always there.
They were always nice to
speak to and nice to deal with
and very warm and very welcoming
and made it really easy to understand
that whilst dealing with contractors
can clearly be difficult that, obviously,
for the guys at Gaia they've
built up a really good crew
of people that they use and
that is one of the big positives
because even afterwards talking about
how nice the painter was
and the discussions that
you might have had with him
and that sort of stuff.
It's clear that you're
only as good as the crew
that you've got around you
and that makes a really big difference
with the ease of going from
one contractor to another,
from one step in the
building process to the next.
And everything just flowing
through to get us in here
by the date that was promised.
Before we started
and again having absolutely no idea
how any of this would work, we discussed,
do we visit every day?
Do we come and check
it out whenever we want
and get updates on site
and all that sort of stuff?
And to the point about CoConstruct,
it didn't take very long
where you're getting a dozen
plus photos every single day.
- It was such an exciting
part of the day, wasn't it?
- It was the best part of the day
where the first time
we'd speak to each other
after photos had been updated was,
"Have you seen it?"
"Yes, have you seen it?"
"Wasn't that photo unbelievable?"
And we're talking about,
there's a hole in the backyard now,
oh, my God, it's so exciting.
So I think, even especially
the initial phase
where it didn't seem like
that much was going on,
we were getting updated every single day
and we didn't feel like we weren't here,
even though we weren't,
which obviously helps everybody.
- It makes you feel
involved in the process.
Obviously, marrying budget with quality,
which can sometimes
prove quite challenging,
as we found out along the way.
But I certainly think we achieved
everything we wanted to achieve.
And there were areas that we
could work out with the team
to compromise on to fit
budget and then other areas
that we really wanted to focus
on and put the extra money
into having the high quality finishes.
But even the areas that we
chose not to spend top dollar on
in terms of finishes, there's
been absolutely nothing
that we've had any issues with
and all the finishes have been perfect.
We've got friends in the
building industry, tradies,
a cousin that's a carpenter,
a couple of builders,
in our friends and family circle.
And all of them when
they've come to the house,
have commented on the finishes
and that things have been finished
to a really high standard and quality,
which we wouldn't necessarily
know some of those details
from within the building industry.
So I think we've been
really happy with them.
- Yeah, that's definitely the big one
where I mentioned having
a team that you trust
to be able to make
decisions on your behalf
when half the time you have no idea
what is being talked about
specifically with the finishes
and that sort of stuff.
And as Anna just mentioned,
having people come in
that have that background and experience
and go, "Oh, wow, they've done this" or
"they've done that" or "they've
finished it off this way"
they've done a really, really good job,
just gives that validation that we get
when we're in here normally anyway.
- So I think in terms of what we feel now
and what we've achieved,
it is such a beautiful home
and such a beautiful
environment to come home to.
And it has absolutely fulfilled my dream
of having that light space that is open
and inviting and warm.
That pays homage to the house
that existed here beforehand.
And it has totally changed the way
that we interact as a family.
- Yeah, I think we still, every day,
there's a point where we talk
about how much we love this
house, and how happy we are
that we made the decision
to go through with it.
Obviously we talked about
the financial side of things
was one of the biggest considerations
and having originally considered
whether it's something we
do now or in 10 years' time
and we just talk about how
in terms of a life choice
that we have made, it's
one of the best decisions
we have made.
That for our kids who love it here,
for us and our enjoyment here,
that we have the extra 10
years of being in this place
as it currently is and enjoying it
and no matter what else
is happening, coming home
and working in the veggie
garden out the front
or coming through the door
and seeing all the way
through to the backyard
and all of the little things
that were on that initial wish list,
whether or not you could have them,
we kind of got everything.
And it's not lost on us when
you wake up in the morning
and walk to the back of the house
and it's filled with sunshine,
or you get home in the afternoon,
and the front rooms with the huge windows
are filled with sunshine.
And that the design elements
we really wanted to have in here,
I don't think we expected it to turn out
as perfectly as it has in
terms of what we wanted.
And so because of that,
we are constantly just reminding ourselves
about how much we love this place.
- It's quite a few
months down the track now
but we will still say, "I love this house"
almost on a daily basis to each other
and then go, "Yeah, we do, we really do."
- Do you know what?
In terms of favourite parts of the house,
I think that there are so
many different elements.
I joke about the things
that I really wanted
in that wish list at the beginning.
So the separate large
entertainment TV room
to be able to chill at the end of the day.
And that we're in a separate
section of the house
to the bedrooms so that
when the kids are asleep,
we have our area.
Or having enough space
down the side of the house
to have a synthetic area
for basketball and cricket
that the kids love playing on
to the open kitchen, to entertaining --
I don't know like I don't think there's--
- It's really hard to pinpoint.
I love the kitchen.
I love being in the
kitchen and I love cooking
so I really, really enjoy that space,
that's never lost on
me, how beautiful it is
compared to the kitchen that we had before
and I really enjoy that space.
But equally I love the lounge area
and I love the deck, the decking outside.
On time.
- Quality.
- Quality.
Open, understanding.
- Trust.
Patient.
We absolutely would and we have and
we're always very, very
happy to pass on the details
and recommend Gaia Construction.
I think mainly for
the 'what you see is
what you get' element.
So for the process being
really transparent and open
and as easy as the building
process can be, I think.
- Yeah and I think, we
clearly love our place.
So the two elements are -
has Gaia done a good job
with the construction
in terms of what it looks like
and how the house is built?
And we think that if anyone came in here
and had a look through there's
no question about that.
And then the other side of things is,
what the relationship was like,
how the whole process was
managed from pre-build
to once we were done and I don't think--
I think we feel very lucky
that we had Gaia going
through the process,
that all of the things that
could have been difficult
and all the stories that you hear
and all of the potential issues
that you have with a builder,
we seem to have skipped all of that and
if we were doing it all again,
which we hopefully will not
we wouldn't have any need
whatsoever to go anywhere else.
