Cooking the Books podcast: Could a do-up cost more than building a home?

If you don't do your homework, a do-up can quickly spiral out of control. Photo / 123RF

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the newest episode of our OneRoof-partnered series, on what to know before considering a do-up. Hosted by Frances Cook.

New Zealanders are infamous for loving a bit of DIY.

But there are also the stories many of us have of trying to fix something ourselves, wrecking it, and having to spend more to get a professional to come and save the situation.

So when we're talking about something as expensive as a house, what's the line?

If you go for the old "worst house on the street" advice, do you actually have the understanding of what you're signing up for, and the full amount it's likely to cost to fix?

Does it just need some paint to freshen it up, or are we talking re-piling, or plumbing work?

And if you're willing to build up the knowledge, and put in the time to make sure you're doing the do-up right – would you maybe be better off building a whole new house instead?

For the latest episode of Cooking the Books I talked to Tony Pexton, Auckland President of Master Builders.

We discussed which changes are easy to make, which ones are a bigger commitment, and which problems the average person should be wary of.

For the episode, watch the video podcast.

If you have a question about this podcast, or a question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on iHeartRadio, Apple podcasts app, or Spotify, to make sure you never miss an episode.