Bay of Islands businesswoman Vanessa Owen has a bag of tricks she uses to make the most of recycled building materials. Photo / Jenny Ling
Using recycled building materials is a great option, especially with building materials so hard to come by. Reporter Jenny Ling talks to two Northlanders who've created interesting homes from recycled items.
Magnus O'Grady wasn't above scouring demolition yards and Facebook pages in his fervent search for recycled materials to build his dream home.
After the Bay of Islands boatbuilder and his partner Anais Puissant decided to build their tiny house on a tiny budget, they searched high and low for offcuts of timber, cladding, roof and floor materials.
Many of their most precious finds came from Trade Me, along with donations on social media, and by trawling through demolition yards in Northland and Auckland.
They fitted the inside out with reclaimed timber, using recycled pallets and offcuts for furniture, kitchen benches and tables.
Even the insulation came from offcuts.
And once the posts went out on social media, they were inundated with kind offers to help build their 8m by 3m home.
People offered never-been-used sheets of corrugated iron and brand-new bamboo bench tops.
"The cladding was virtually new, it was an overrun from a much larger job," O'Grady said.
"I like hunting stuff out and finding bits of gold around the place."
The couple returned from overseas in 2018 and struggled to find a house to rent.
Being away for 10 years, having no rental history or referees and taking on a rescue dog called Siggy were all working against them.
Their decision to use as many recycled items as possible was partly financial, partly for the planet, and part necessity.
"A huge thing was price, but we also wanted to be ecological," O'Grady said.
"We made the decision, rather than be faced with a mortgage for a house and land, we would try and have the house ready for the land."
Their most prized find was a collection of native timer window frames from a 1950s house advertised on Trade Me for a mere $10.
The elderly Auckland woman just wanted to get rid of them, so they ended up getting them for free.
"We won the auction and when we got there, there was a woman in her 70s with these huge wooden windows who didn't want to have to employ someone to take them to the dump.
"She gave them to us, she wouldn't even take the $10.
"That was a whole house lot for a full house. We ended up giving away more than we used.
"They've come up really beautifully."
O'Grady and Puissant finished their home by the end of 2018 for around $25,000.
The only materials that weren't recycled were some of the internal lining, the solar panels and the composting toilet. They also paid full price for the trailer which they built their tiny home on.
O'Grady said the project was extremely rewarding.
"It's actually really beautiful, there are old native timbers that have been ripped out of villas in Auckland.
"The house ends up with more character for it."
Using recycled building materials is a great option for those with a little imagination, especially as building materials are so expensive and hard to come by.
But there are pitfalls to avoid, including time constraints.
O'Grady said they were in a bit of a hurry to get their house finished, and he admits having more time would have made the process more enjoyable.
He suggests getting prepared early; it takes time to find and gather suitable second-hand materials.
"Some of those things don't come as soon as you go looking for them, you have to wait a while.
"Keep an eye on Trade Me and eventually whatever you want will come along.
"The more you can get ahead of time, the less you'll be faced with getting three-quarters of the way through the job and having to run down to the hardware store."
WHEN IT comes to upcycling items and using recycled building materials to revamp homes, Vanessa Owen reigns supreme.
The Bay of Islands businesswoman with an eye for a bargain has renovated more than 100 houses since she arrived in Northland with her family in 1994.
She has also restored much of the unique furniture and decor items at Driftwood Seaside Escapes, a boutique accommodation business she runs with her husband Richard.
Recycled timbers are used for interior wall linings and joinery, and ranch sliders, old trimmings, skirting boards and architraves are all upcycled.
"Even if I'm doing a complete makeover, I'll still use recycled pieces to soften everything.
"I love that it's eco-friendly and the fact you're giving something another life.
"It's a good way to introduce personality into a renovation; something that tells a story.
"And it's a fraction of the cost."
Upcycling is a great passion of Owen's, who is a self-taught interior designer.
She sources items online via Trade Me's Marketplace, along with clearance events, when people want their sheds or garages cleared out.
Then there is the Merchants of Kerikeri which Owen co-owns with Terry and Fiona Clarke and Nigel and Felicity Wooding.
Along with renting out separate shops to new businesses, the building sells demolition materials and recycled goods, including end of line cladding, timber offcuts, old doors, and bathroom fittings and fixtures.
"I'm my own best customer."
Owen describes her style as "eclectic, innovative and beach chic".
Some of her best finds include an army ammunition box she transformed into a bedside table, and high-end wallpaper used sparingly in "clever places".
It's easy to buy single leftover rolls online and use them as a feature panel or wall, she said.
Owen often uses old decking boards as skirting board and trim, and melds louvre cupboard doors into cool barn sliders.
After a clean and waterblast they come up great, she said.
"Once it's stained and gone dark it looks interesting.
"I bought a roll and a half of beautiful expensive Danish wallpaper.
"Not enough to do the whole wall, I had to work out how to deal with that, but I still wanted to use the wallpaper.
"I ended up doing a feature panel. You have to be inventive."
Despite being a collector, Owen is no hoarder – she hates clutter and makes sure each piece has a purpose.
She has a bag of tricks on hand to bring items back to life; materials, products and techniques to create "time-worn old beachy looks".
"It doesn't have to be overdone or super embellished, it can be a little bit here and a little bit there.
"I make it look clean and tidy and spend time polishing them up.
"I like a tightly curated, tidy finish to things. The fact that it cost pennies is beside the point."
Owen also has a few words of caution when working with recycled materials.
"You've got to quantity survey what you have got and make it enough to finish the project because you can't go and buy more off the shelf.
"People need to be careful if they're doing something on a new site that there are no covenants stopping second-hand building materials being used."
High wind zones or homes by the sea will also have limitations and special requirements; some materials may rust or erode.
Artist Mike Paora uses offcuts of wood to make furniture, wall-hangings, mirrors and shelves through his business Straight Outta My Garage.
A builder for 10 years before taking up his upcycling hobby fulltime several years ago, Paora said there are three main things to watch out for.
"Watch out for borer; they can tunnel in the inside of the timber and the outside looks fine.
"If I've gathered a lot of timber from one place I'll open up one or two - if they're there chances are most will be infested."
If receiving framing timber Paora also checks what the cladding was because there could still be traces of asbestos.
"Because I receive a lot of kauri and rimu weatherboards, I use a bit of meths to rub on the paint, to check if it's lead-based.
"If the paint moves, it's probably going to be lead-based."
* The recycled item or area doesn't have to look reclaimed when finished. It should still be well put together.
* Be honest about how much product you have to work with before starting the project.
* Be open to possibilities. Really look at something and work out how to make it work.
* You've got to be able to do it yourself. Otherwise, any gains you've made by recycling materials will be lost by paying for a tradie.
* When distressing furniture, distress where it would naturally have aged and become worn such as around the exterior edges and corners.
Ripper sniffs out hidden items, wins a spot in the 2025 police calendar.