She Renovates

On today’s episode,

Bernadette interviews Mary Benton, one of her students in The School Of Renovating. Mary has over 30 years of experience as a chartered accountant and has her own financial planning practice. Mary inspires us with her successful renovating story and shares with us valuable tips on creating an income to live a life you love.

Bernadette covers,

• The reasons why Mary, as an accountant and financial planner, got started on renovating and property
• How Mary successfully renovated her 10-year old home with Bernadette's guidance
• The lessons Mary learned from starting a whole reno project and finish it just after Christmas
• How Mary used Airbnb as a way to generate income from her reno while waiting for the right time to sell the property
• What are Mary's key drivers for increasing the value on her property
• Mary's overall game plan to achieving her dream house and making it her lifelong project
• How working with the right buyer's agent can help get local opportunities for her projects and sell them on the market
• What are the actual elements of her renovation project that helped increased its value
• How much renovating has impacted her life
• Why Mary as a financial planner became so in love with property
• Mary's top 3 tips for renovators and investors to creating an income to live a life you love

You can reach Mary Benton here:

Plan4wealth: www.plan4wealth.com.au

If you find this episode helpful, you can help support the show by leaving us a 5-star review on iTunes: She Renovates and subscribe to the podcast. Check out more renovating tips and inspiration at www.theschoolofrenovating.com

On today’s episode,

Bernadette discusses how joint ventures are a great way to fill the gaps in your resources when you are renovating. She gives us the details of the good, the bad and the ugly aspects when you are planning on taking joint ventures as a means of doing a project.

Bernadette covers,

• What are joint ventures and why you should get into one
• The ideal traits you should look for in a joint venture partner
• How to make the right goals with your partner in your joint venture project
• Identifying both of your strengths and assigning the jobs that complement each other's skills
• What are the "what if's" of the project and how you can address them properly
• Why having independent professional advice is critical to creating the contract of the project
• Choosing to work with people who are aligned with your values
• Who are the professionals you need to be working with on your joint venture
• How to manage the money
• Getting clear as to what constitutes a project cost
• The most important attribute in a joint venture partner

If you find this episode helpful, you can help support the show by leaving us a 5-star review on iTunes: She Renovates and subscribe to the Podcast. Check out more renovating tips and inspiration at

www.theschoolofrenovating.com

On today’s episode,   Bernadette is on the final day of the mini-series 14 Days To A New Bathroom! To wrap up the 14-Day mini-series, she will be talking about the time frames in terms of how you could actually renovate a bathroom in 14 days, what sort of renovation that would be, and how you would apportion the time to achieve your reno goal.   Bernadette covers,

• The importance of planning ahead of time and the essential things you should prepare for a smooth bathroom renovation
• The type of renovation her 14-day mini-series best relates to
• The first trade you should bring in and the importance of using a team
• The trade/s and their responsibilities for each day of your 14-day bathroom renovation
• What she recommends if you want your bathroom reno to be done in less than 14 days

On today’s episode,   Bernadette is on Day 13 of the mini-series 14 Days To A New Bathroom. She will be talking about the order of work you need to follow to achieve a successful bathroom renovation. The tips she will share with you will be for a bathroom reno that will not involve any significant changes to the layout therefore, no council approval required. Aside from that, Bernadette announces the "She Renovates" Facebook group and how you can join. Plus she reveals the bathroom competition to be launched after the mini-series!   Bernadette covers,

• Critical things you should prepare and coordinate with your trades in order before you start your bathroom renovation
• When you will need to render or sheet the walls
• When to build a false wall
• Why it's important for you to be onsite during the first fix
• How to you can determine the right height for putting your toilet cistern
• Why you should take photos of the bathroom walls while the finished wirings are still exposed
• Waterproofing
• Why she strongly recommends having the same trade to be both the tiler and waterproofer
• The tiling process and why it's important for you to get involved during this step
• When to silicone the corner joints between the floor and the wall and the corners of the walls
• What needs to happen during the second fix
• Installing your bathroom's accessories
• Why she designates the painter for the last step
• Cleaning and styling your bathroom
• The final step to determine if your bathroom is fully functional

 

 

On today’s episode,   Bernadette is now on Day 12 of the mini-series 14 Days To A New Bathroom! She will be talking about budgets and materials. Using her current joint venture renovation project as a case study, she will share with you her project's budget and mood board so you get a sense of the look and level of quality she's going for.   Bernadette covers,

• Her current project - a 1940's house with one bathroom in Wynnum, Queensland
• How she was able to add value to the old bathroom by bringing in a toilet which costs over $1000 on installation
• Why she chose to focus her renovation budget on the bathroom and kitchen
• How she and her joint venture partners lightened the house's Jarrah floors
• The materials they've chosen to bring those soft elements into the bathroom
• How you can get a 20% discount in National Tiles
• How much budget she allotted for each of her trades
• How having things custom made can significantly add to your costs

 

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If you find this episode helpful, you can help support the show by leaving us a 5-star review on iTunes: She Renovates and subscribe to the podcast. Check out more renovating tips and
inspiration at www.theschoolofrenovating.com

On today’s episode,   Bernadette is back with Day 11 of the mini-series 14 Days To A New Bathroom. She will discuss trades and making sure you get efficient quality of work that's both cost-effective and reliable. She will be breaking down each trade you need for your bathroom renovation and give her best tips for you to able to forge a good relationship with each of your trades.   Bernadette covers,

• Why she prefers breaking down each trade for your bathroom renovation
• How to cut down the costs by managing the project yourself and not rely on one company builder
• Preparing complete documentation to get quotes for your project and using it as reference
• What you need to include in your bathroom renovation checklist
• Making sure your quotes are competitive by getting 3 to 5 quotes per trade
• Getting decent trades by setting down the ground rules in your scope of work
• Her recent experience with an unreliable trade and how she dealt with it
• Why it is essential for you to teach your trade about how to treat you and not tolerate a bad attitude.
• The things you need to check first about your trades before you engage with them
• Why she likes to work with trades that have teams
• Planning on what your trades need to complete each day

 

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If you find this episode helpful, you can help support the show by leaving us a 5-star review on iTunes: She Renovates and subscribe to the podcast. Check out more renovating tips and
inspiration at www.theschoolofrenovating.com

On today’s episode,   Bernadette is now on Day 10 of the mini-series 14 Days To A New Bathroom. This episode will focus on tiling. And because it is the most expensive element of bathroom renovation representing a large portion of your bathroom and thus setting the tone of the room, Bernadette will provide valuable tips on choosing the right tiles for your reno by making sure of their longevity.   Bernadette covers,

• Tiles and their shape, colour, material, and how they're laid
• Why she prefers porcelain tile material over natural stone
• How the shape of your tiles and how they are laid affects the concept of space in your bathroom
• Why you should consider tiling up to the ceiling of your bathroom despite the added effort
• Her preferred type of tiles to use on bathroom walls and feature walls
• Compromises you can make to stay within your budget
• How to deal with external corners
• Which among the many variations of floor tiles she prefers and has been using for her recent reno projects
• Why it's essential to make sure that your tiler is able to manage your floor tile preference
• How to achieve floor tiles that look even and perfectly laid
• Knowing what you should be supplying and what to leave for your tiler to supply

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If you find this episode helpful, you can help support the show by leaving us a 5-star review on iTunes: She Renovates and subscribe to the podcast. Check out more renovating tips and
inspiration at www.theschoolofrenovating.com

On today’s episode,   Bernadette is now on Day 9 of the mini-series 14 Days To A New Bathroom. She will discuss the electrical - lighting, heating, and power points - elements you will need for your bathroom renovation. Most importantly lighting, it's four main types, and how it forms part of the aesthetic as well as the function of the bathroom. You will learn which type of lighting is the most practical and which brings the WOW to your bathroom. Plus some practical tips on heating installation.   Bernadette covers,

• How to give more functionality to your bathroom than just for the basics of showering and washing
• Why she goes for downlights for ambient lighting and what you need to know when you're purchasing them yourself
• Task lighting and how they should be positioned to your best advantage
• How to use accent lighting to fully elevate your bathroom renovation
• Why she highly recommends using pendant lighting in your bathroom
• The ups and downs of using a specialist or functional lighting and tips on correct installation
• The important things you need to know when installing heating elements for your bathroom
• The reason why heated towel rails are very popular with families in particular
• Why you should be familiar with power points and how they're critical to your bathroom renovation

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If you find this episode helpful, you can help support the show by leaving us a 5-star review on iTunes: She Renovates and subscribe to the podcast. Check out more renovating tips and
inspiration at www.theschoolofrenovating.com

On today’s episode,   Bernadette's series 14 Days To A New Bathroom is now on Day 8! This part of the series will be a special one since Bernadette will both be showing and telling you her recommendations for your bathroom bling - tapware. And because tapware is really the jewelry of your bathroom since it brings the bathroom to life, Bernadette will help you choose the right tapware where it's really important.   Bernadette covers,

• The most important questions you should ask yourself when choosing tapware for your bathroom renovation
• Why she personally thinks mixer taps are a better choice
• The colours of tapware and how it affects the look of your bathroom
• Why achieving a timeless look is not a recommended look if you plan to sell your renovation project
• The importance of consistency and why it's okay to not be a slave to it
• The two types of tap configuration and how each type will affect the basin and vanity you choose for your taps
• Why it's important to have your taps ready by Day 1
• Why you should make it a practice to have all the remaining components of the taps kept together

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If you find this episode helpful, you can help support the show by leaving us a 5-star review on iTunes: She Renovates and subscribe to the podcast. Check out more renovating tips and
inspiration at www.theschoolofrenovating.com

On today’s episode,

Bernadette is now on Day 7 of the series 14 Days To A New Bathroom and will be discussing the shower. She will discuss the three main configurations of the shower and the main points to consider when choosing the best type of shower for your bathroom renovation.
Bernadette covers,

• The walk-in shower and why it requires the whole floor of the bathroom to be waterproofed
• The different types of floor waste and the type of tiles fit for each
• The important element you should have in the transition from your bathroom to shower to make it much safer
• How to keep your costs down when choosing a shower screen
• The most important thing to remember to contain the water in your shower

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If you find this episode helpful, you can help support the show by leaving us a 5-star review on iTunes: She Renovates and subscribe to the podcast. Check out more renovating tips and
inspiration at www.theschoolofrenovating.com