Page 4 - HW July 2022

editorial
NZ Hardware Journal is published 11 times per year (monthly except for January)
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2456 • 30/9/2018 www.abc.org.nz
What price quality?
HAVING JOINED IN New Zealand’s concentrated drive towards home improvement in recent months, it has been sobering seeing the cost of building products – principally timber and fasteners – at first hand.
Sure, the price of our work escalated during the process, but much of that was to do with the quality and nature of the lacklustre and frankly bodged building from the 1980s that underpinned much of what we wanted to achieve, all of which simply had to be replaced.
Along the way it was interesting and often educative yarning with the builder about how they go about their work and how they run their business.
Indeed, as a hedge against further price increases, my garage was full of structural timber for many, many weeks beforehand...
The process was also a bit of an eye opener about the average Kiwi’s wants and, dare I say, lowish expectations when it comes to building.
Did we want the deck nailed or
screwed for example?
In fact drilled and screwed, was the
answer, despite the cost difference, my lasting impression being that this was not the answer that the builder expected.
And were we OK going for stainless screws?
Sure thing – build it once and build it right went our thinking (and they were high quality stainless, I checked...).
One of my lasting memories of our nine weeks of building work is how ongoing and clear communication can soften the blow of potential increases in cost, many of which in our experience were due to the aforementioned dodgy underpinnings bodged together using sub-par products and materials during the1980s.
By the way “our” builders have at least six months work ahead of them – including more work for me – so don’t ask for a recommendation...
Talking of looking ahead, I am looking forward to attending PlaceMakers’ conference and trade show in Christchurch in August.
It’ll be one of the first big gatherings for some time and given the changes that Big Blue has been through, not to mention the scrutiny Fletcher’s has been subject to these last couple of years, it will be fascinating to gauge PlaceMakers’ take on the way forward as a group.
Steve Bohling, editor steveb@mpm.nz
2 NZHJ | JULY 2022
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