A case for good project management and trusted trades partnerships.
Mrs C and her husband have lived in their Mt Albert bungalow for many decades, and the lovely property holds many special memories. Consequently, they take good care of their cherished house.
Despite Mrs C’s attachment to her house, she is an astute and practical-minded woman. For that reason, in her books quality of workmanship and longevity of finishes take precedence over short-term aesthetics. We first worked with Mrs C several years ago when she engaged Wall Treats to repaint part of the interior of her house as part of a wider renovation project.
When she was ready to spruce up the exterior of her house, she reached out to Wall Treats. Her roof was being replaced, and scaffolding would need to be set up. Therefore, Mrs C felt it timely to also repaint the exterior of her house.
When Mrs C met with Wall Treats to discuss her exterior repainting requirements, she shared that she had already engaged a roofer to carry out the re-roofing work, unaware that Wall Treats has roofers within our network of trusted complementary trades. As events unfolded, we are sure Mrs C wished she’d engaged one of our vetted roofing colleagues…
Mrs C was eager to carry out and complete her exterior repainting project before winter. In a bid to make the most efficient use of scaffolding, we liaised with Mrs C’s roofer (who was supplying the scaffolding) to explain our requirements.
Tip! When multiple tradespeople are using scaffolding, it is ALWAYS most cost effective to ensure the various trades:
There is no “one size fits all” approach with scaffolding. Every trade will invariably have specific needs. There is a science to setting up scaffolding—and when the scaffolder knows who needs what and when, they can ensure the scaffolding is set up logically to accommodate all needs. This means there is no need to fully dismantle and re-construct. Approximately 70-75% of the cost of scaffolding is in setting it up. Therefore, it makes the most economic sense to minimise this work. |
Due to a combination of supply issues and other factors outside our control, it became very clear that the roofers Mrs C had engaged and Wall Treats would not be able to coincide timelines.
Mrs C’s roofers could not provide an estimated timeframe, let alone a firm one.
Nonetheless, Mrs C still wished to proceed with the repainting work prior to winter. Consequently, in conjunction with Mrs C, we decided to proceed separately with our own scaffolder. This meant that as soon as we finished with the scaffolding we could have it removed, rather than have Mrs C:
Incur rental charges on the scaffolding indefinitely; if we had proceeded with her roofer’s scaffolders.
Endure the inconvenience of having scaffolding up for a prolonged period of time. Mr C has mobility issues; we did not want to further exacerbate matters with obstructive scaffolding.
To minimise the risk of any reworks, we agreed with Mrs C that we would work on the front verandah floor and exterior deck after the re-roofing project had been completed. We finally completed Mrs C’s project six months after we started it. There had been a five-month lull waiting on Mrs C’s roofers.
Mrs C is relieved that her ordeal is finally over. She took the time to provide Wall Treats this unsolicited feedback:
“Dear Ashley, as Daniel has finished I wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed working with you both on the painting and I am delighted with the quality of Daniel’s work and the care and generosity you showed to me in what was rather a difficult couple of months.”
“I am very happy to recommend Wall Treats to others and have already done so.”
“I will also return to you when I finally get around to another couple of inside painting tasks. Thank you very much.”
Mrs Jan Croswaite
Mount Albert, Auckland
Wall Treats has a team of trusted complementary tradespeople whose services we would happily engage to work on our own home. They are all professionals who we can count on to provide high-quality workmanship. Most importantly, because we have established relationships, we intentionally ensure flexibility in our schedules to ensure that we can support each other’s projects with minimal lead time. Before you engage any other tradespeople, reach out to Wall Treats! We can connect you with a professional tradesperson you—and we—can count on. |