BUILD AND MODERNISE NOW

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 260, 29 July 1932, Page 6

BUILD AND MODERNISE NOW

The Old Home and The New

Example of the manner in , which a home may be transformed and modernised at comparatively small cost is provided by these illustrations. Above is a typical suburban home designed and built a decade or more ago. Comfortably and structurally sound, many of these houses are giving good service to-day, but they have lost distinction and their value as an asset is reduced. They are behind the times. On the right is the same house after a careful remodelling that has achieved the modern effect without expensive alteration of the Original framework A transformation has been wrought by the addition of an attic room and bay windows, the glassing-in of the verandah, and the improvement of the original windows.

ADVANTAGE OF TO-DAY’S PRICES Householders Benefit From Subsidy Scheme A MEANS OF CREATING EMPLOYMENT Taking advantage of low prices and the Unemployment. Board’s subsidy on wages, an increasing number of Wellington householders are putting in hand building, renovation, and repair work. They have recognised that the appeal to combat depression by wise spending is soundly based. The allied building trades provide the widest avenue of employment in the industrial community. Orders placed with them set money in circulation and strike an effective blow at unemployment.

- has been definitely estabHlished that building costs today are down by one-third as compared with the boom peri<i>l of the late ’twenties. A »)tise that cost £l2OO in 1928 can be built to-day for £9OO. A number are being built for proportionately less. In addition the Government’s subsidy on the wages of unemployed men engaged on approved classes of building, repair, and renovation offers s further inducement to put in hand work that has been planned ahead, yet shelved because of the difficulties of the present times. The double advantage of building without delay must appeal to prospective householders. On the one hand it is bargain-sale time in the building trade; on the other, money spent on constructional work of every description is circulated among an exceedingly large section of the community. Many Trades Co-operate.

The erection of a house provides work not merely for one, but for many industries. The co-operation of more than a dozen trades is required. Builder, timber merchant, hardware merchant, cement and gravel merchant, painter, plumber, paperi-anger, electrician, gas-fitter, furnisher, brickmaker, plasterer, drainage engineer—all these must play their individual parts. A small army of workers benefits, and unemployment is lessened. Impetus Is lent to the move towards prosperity.

In the case of repair, renovation, and alteration work, there is an added inducement to householders. Tn the majority of cases an owner’s home is his or her largest, most valuable asset. It represents an investment made possible by years of saving. Such an investment must be safeguarded against the ravages of time, and the changing standards of domestic life. The ideal pre-war house in many respects is out-of-date to-day, and its market value is perhaps but a fraction of its original cost. The danger in a tiine of depression is that essential repairs will be postponed and desirable renovations neglected. When, inevitably, the time comes for an urgent overhaul, it is a costly business. The neglect of a home is false economy, whether it be in timber, paint, or plumbing. One of Many Suggestions. On this page is illustrated an example of exterior modernising, the drawings being those of an actual Wellington home, before and after remodelling. It is only one of a host of suggestions that can be made by architect or builder for the transformation of the pre-war house in a manner that adds to its interior comfort and maintains its value as a saleable asset b Applications for labour subsidies dealt with at the Government bureau in Welliugton during the past fortnight reveal the class of work that is being put in hand by‘ householders.

Painting, repairs, alterations and general modernising form the bulk of the jobs other than proposed new buildings. Here are a few examples, taken from applications accepted , recently, the figures iu each case relating to the total cost of the work:

Paintiug a private house, £25. Alterations and additions to a private house, £l5O. Modernising and painting a house, £7O.

Papering and renovations, £3O. Relining and alterations, £5O.

There are a number of applications for painting jobs, the majority of which vary in value from £l2 to £2O.

Master Builders’ Contracts.

Alterations to and the general modernising of a private house in Wellington are to cost £496. It is worthy of note that tlie majority of the larger contracts for which applications have been received are in the hands of master builders, painters, etc. Unemployed meu are being engaged direct by householders, mainly for minor repair and renovation tasks. Other applications are for: Alterations and additions to a house, £ll5. -

Glassiug-in a sun porch, £2B. Papering two rooms and painting a bathroom, £l5.

Building a new sun porch, £B2. Already accounts for one-third wages subsidies are being returned to the bureau, this proving that work is actually being pushed ahead. No time is being lost in securing building bargains.