A stable work force which includes highly experienced tradesmen is one of Ashburtonbased Dave McCrea Builders greatest assets.
Owner Dave McCrea attributes strong demand in both the rural and residential sectors to the quality of workmanship has staff are producing, as well as to a builders best friend – word of mouth referrals.
The result is a residential workload of nine houses presently in various stages of construction in addition to five dairy sheds built during the past year. “During the dairy boom we were really flat just doing dairy sheds.”
The twelve year old company employs 10 staff; one builder has been employed since it started and two others for seven years. “They are producing work to a high standard,” Dave says.
The business also employs two “really good” apprentices who are benefiting from having skills and attention to detail instilled in them by their more experienced peers.
The company has picked up several Master Builders awards during the past three years, including a bronze in the Mid and South Canterbury Nulook new homes $650,000 to $1 million category for a stunning house built at Lake Hood in 2015.
Work is undertaken over a wide geographical area, including “all over Canterbury” and the central South Island. “It seems to be pretty buoyant at the moment. It’s definitely ticking along.”
After the period of strong demand for building dairy sheds, the largest which required nine builders and 1700 cubic metres of concrete, Dave McCrea Builders now has more resources available
for building and renovating houses.
“We’ve got a lot of residential work now, and coming up. We are still getting enquiries as well.” One of the advantages of completing dairy sheds has been that some work has led to new house builds such as one completed in Twizel in December.
Built as a holiday home, the house is based on two mono-pitch roof sections comprising a generous total of 312 square metres, designed by Moore Architecture, Ashburton.
“They clients wanted a big living space. They live in Ashburton and they’ve got family in Wanaka and Queenstown.”
The roof slopes from 3.6 metres to 2.7 metres and, with a skillion ceiling in the kitchen, dining and living areas, creates a tremendous sense of space and light while drawing in views of Mount Cook on a clear day.
“The high windows the huge sloping ceiling ceiling are a real feature of the place, when you walk in.”
A kwila deck with retractable overhead louvres for sun and shade seamlessly connects to these areas and provides ample outdoor space to relax on the area’s crystal clear days and nights.
Because it is used by more than one family, the house incorporates two separate bedroom areas, for a total of four bedrooms; one area has its own lounge separate to the main living area.
A triple garage provides space for a boat as well as a car while its cladding, a mix of Linea and plaster provides visual variety to the exterior.
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
- Cashmere Engineering Company
- Young Electrical Ltd
- Master Painters
- Ashburton Contracting
