56 Flinders Park

Plenty of renovations start with a house that has run its course. This one startedwith a family who had already decided they were never leaving.

Our client, a family with a young daughter and a much loved dog, had lived inFlinders Park long enough to know it was where they wanted to stay. They lovedthe neighbourhood. They just needed a home that worked better for the waythey lived.

The journey, however, didn't start the way they expected.

Working with a designer first, they developed a strong vision for the home. Oncethe design was locked in, they began approaching builders for pricing. Butgetting responses was slow. When they finally thought they had someone onboard, the builder simply went silent. No communication, no timeline, no clarityon next steps.

It's an unsettling position for any family. You have a design you love, but nobuilder to bring it to life, leaving you uncertain about what comes next.R

ather than let the project stall, they reached out to ZJ Building after arecommendation from a friend.

From there, the project became less about finding any builder and more aboutgiving our client confidence and control.

Working closely with Zak throughout the preliminary stage, they reviewed everydetail together. The drawings were marked up, the engineering was finalised,and each inclusion was carefully considered until everyone had a clearunderstanding of exactly what the fixed price would, and wouldn't, include.

For budget reasons, some elements from the original design were set aside. Thefinal scope focused on what mattered most: demolition of the existing rear leanto, a new rear living addition with laundry and separate toilet, and a thoughtfulremodelling of the existing footprint to create better flow from the front doorthrough to the back, plus larger bedrooms within the existing home.

That same hands on approach carried through the rest of the project. Our client,a qualified carpenter, sourced many of her own finishes through industrycontacts and worked closely with the team to refine details such as the brickselection and the masonry skirting detail.

The build was delivered on time and on budget. For a family who never intendedto leave, the result is a home that finally works the way they live, finished to astandard a carpenter is happy to call her own.