In this episode we speak to one of our sizzling BuildHer members, Ivy Huang, about her recent renovation project and a particularly, shall we say, unique challenge that she faced throughout the process.

Ivy purchased her classic Edwardian home at auction with the plan to do it up and make it a family home.  Although it wasn’t the perfect time to buy, she got a good deal and the house was a renovator's delight (don’t you just love hearing real estate agents say that) with all the right features in a perfect position.

Ivy didn’t spend much time in the planning stage and got stuck in removing old extensions and unveiling the beauty of the original period home.  Rebeka talks to Ivy about her process in transforming the house and what she did to bring the place to life.  Featuring weatherboards, beautiful fretwork and a stunning cathedral ceiling in the main room, the WOW factor of this house is real.  However, without much of a plan, Ivy got swept along into managing quite a big renovation project!

Having previously spent time working on a mine site and also having experience with engineering and contracting, Ivy felt confident that she would be able to manage the renovations herself.  As the renovations grew, this false sense of confidence soon became clear and she enlisted the help of a foreman to manage the project alongside her.  Ivy talks through some difficulties she faced in managing the relationship with her foreman and how she would like to do things differently next time.

Tension on site is a fairly normal thing. With numerous trades operating at the same time, it can be difficult to manage the schedule and navigate the blame game.  Tension is one thing, but being taken for a ride by a con artist who tries to scam you out of money is another (say what?).  Ivy shares about the bizarre encounter with her con artist plasterer and how she eventually came to discover that he had featured on A Current Affair 10 years ago and had 17 other cases against him!  Thankfully she got her money back and Ivy shares her insights for other homeowners to avoid getting into the same situation.

It wasn’t the most straightforward renovation job, but Ivy is at it again with a new project and, having learned from experience, she is planning, planning, planning.  We are excited to see what the new place is going to look like and the BuildHer community is here to support her all the way through to the end.