Page 29 - HW Sept 2021

What have #hashtags to do
with #colour?
As part of its drive to connect homeowners with local tradespeople, and with more people around the world working from home than ever before, MyJobQuote.co.uk asked high profile UK wellbeing and workplace psychologist Lee Chambers to analyse wall colours and discuss the effect they can have on people’s mood.
Eight colours – green, grey, blue, pink, red, yellow, purple, and orange – were ranked via popularity based on the number of Instagram hashtags they were included in (e.g., #greenwall etc) and this is how they ranked.
1. Green(73,902hashtags)–Greenhas“arefreshingqualitywhich helps to clear your mind. Green can be particularly stimulating to those who are striving for personal growth as it subconsciously reminds us of the natural world.”
2. Grey(47,106hashtags)–Asa“highlydependentcolour”,when combined with white grey “provides a crisp and refreshing atmosphere”which is known to increase productivity.Too dark a shade however can dull your surroundings,“setting up a more depressing mood”.
3. Blue(38,799hashtags)–Blue“canbesoothingandmakeyou feel secure. However, much like grey, certain shades can evoke an element of coldness and sadness.”
4. Pink(37,371hashtags)–Pinkis“thecolourofhope,making you feel empowered.”Evoking such emotions“increases your energy and motivation – a colour perfect to wake up to in your bedroom.”
5. Red(21,865hashtags)–Red“exudespassionandexcitement, stimulating people to converse and connect – perfect for our work from home Zoom calls!” Certain shades under lighting can however make people feel “more aggressive and less compassionate”.
6. Yellow (13,072 hashtags) – Generating“a warm and cheerful aura”, yellow can “instantly brighten your mood and promote imagination”. Darker shades however have been shown to make babies cry more often, and cause tension.
7. Purple(7,163hashtags)–Callingit“bothsophisticatedand personal”, Lee Chambers singled purple out as the best colour for a home office as “it brings a sense of balance and enhances creativity”.
8. Orange (4,909 hashtags) – Last by a long way, Orange is however “the colour of energy, is vibrant and full of personality”. Possibly however “too much of a statement” for some, Lee Chambers also warns that orange, as with red, can promote intense emotion. https://leechambers.org/
Scaffolding that folds away
Compact enough to fit through a door but allowing up to a 5.25m reach height, Easy Access’ new Foldaway Scaffold is perfect for the home handyman.
The Foldaway Scaffold comes in three packs for different heights and applications:
• The Base Pack for a 0.9m platform height and 2.9m reach height
(comprises 2 x frames; 1 x brace section; 1 x platform; 2 x guardrails;
4 x castors)
• The Guardrail Pack for a 1.9m platform height and 3.9m reach
height (comprises 2 x guardrail frames; 2 x guardrails)
• The Upper Pack for a 3.25m platform height and 5.25m reach
height (comprises 1 x cross brace; 2 x upper end frames; 1 x platform).
www.easyaccess.co.nz
painting & decorating
be able to move into a building on the scheduled date, despite contractors losing weeks of work to the pandemic.
It’s not much solace either that BCITO has a thousand painting apprenticeships in train, says Phil, because it’ll take another three or four years before they can manage their own crews and run their own jobs.
Adding insult to injury, in some parts of New Zealand there are reports of outright poaching of staff.
“One member has told me that in his town a contractor is offering sign-on bonuses for painters! It just shows the pressure that firms are under to get labour to manage their contracts.”
Again, matching the experience of other trades, the Master Painters have seen some product shortages and noted increased lead times with wallpaper in particular, but being able to
swap like for like has kept projects rolling and caused “no real hardship”.
The issue comes up of some Master Painters struggling with fixed price contracts against the now endemic backdrop of the increased costs of product and staff.
Shrinking profit margins are the usual outcome, particularly with commercial projects.
“Commercial work tends to be price fixed,” says Phil Wilkinson. “The concern is that those prices can be put in some months before the work starts.
“And, as we’ve seen with some of the big building companies over the last couple of years you price a project and then, of course, by the time the project comes to fruition, it is well under-priced.”
Set this against increasingly high customer expectations: “Some people do have an unrealistic expectation of what two or three coats of paint is going to achieve,” says Phil Wilkinson.
“If you’ve got a 100-year-old villa, 75 microns of paint isn’t going to hide 100 years of damage and a hard life and wear and tear.”
Happy that the Master Painters are “riding a tremendous wave”, Phil Wilkinson nevertheless makes no bones about it when he says: “We are stretched and we’re under pressure and we’ve got work coming out of our ears.
“But it wasn’t that long ago when we were scratching around for work. So it’s just different pressures at different times of the cycle.”
In terms of an outlook, Master Painters expects the painting business to stay at elevated levels, albeit with growth moderating somewhat.
With members “running at 100% plus”, says Phil Wilkinson, this might be just as well.
“We can’t see the wave getting any bigger because we have probably reached capacity.”
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SEPTEMBER 2021 | NZHJ 27