Refl ecting on ‘standout’ jobs over the last 40 years in the building trade, Trevor Carline instantly recalls the work that he and his team did on the historic Dunstan House in Central Otago.
Located in the old gold mining town of Clyde, Dunstan House is 115 years old – built in the heyday of the Otago gold rush.
Owned by John and Maree Davidson, the beautiful old guesthouse needed earthquake strengthening and Trevor and his crew from Carden Building Ltd were engaged to carry the work out.
“It was interesting work—I mean you’re working on a 115-year-old building and it’s quite nostalgic working on those places,” says Trevor.
“You think we’ll put our stamp on this old girl and make her last another 100 years. When we finished it, the building didn’t look any different to what it did before hand—we managed to disguise everything that we’d done.”
He says there were times in the process that the house looked in quite a state because parts of the house had to be gutted.
“Maree was very concerned that the house would never go back together again. “But it all went back and you would never even know we’d been there and that’s the satisfying part of it.”
Trevor established Cromwell based Carden Building Ltd around 2005.
He’d previously had his own building company in Christchurch but had spent a few years building for someone else and working around the Cromwell area when he got the urge to once again be his own boss.
He reckons he’s built about 60 houses in Cromwell over the last 13 years – maybe more. Combined with the 110 homes built in Christchurch, that’s carpentry experience that cannot be bought.
Trevor’s done most forms of building from light commercial and tilt slab work through to architectural homes and more standard residential builds, and of course earthquake strengthening.
These days the bulk of Trevor’s work is focused on residential new builds, a few extensions and renovations along with the occasional architectural build, predominantly within a 55 kilometre radius from Cromwell.
He is supported with a tight team of three. His ‘go-to’ man, Sam Thompson has been with Trevor for a good few years now, and very experienced.
“My son, Zac, finished his apprenticeship a few years ago and my nephew, Wattie O’Neil is currently serving his apprenticeship with me. “They’re both coming along very nicely. We all get along pretty well – a good team.”
Still on the tools after 40 years in the trade, Trevor says he will keep swinging the hammer as long as he can.
“That’s something I think is a real advantage when you’re dealing with customers. ‘The small operators like us are involved in the design of the house, they price the house, project manage and build it.” He says building should be an enjoyable process for both parties.
“It’s nice getting to the end of the job and the customer says “if we ever build again you will be the first person we’ll come and see”.
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
- Cromwell Certified Concrete
- Cromwell Tyres Ltd
- Southern Lakes Scaffold
- Reytech Ltd
- ICL Chartered Accountants Ltd
