We Want To Renovate: Where Do We Start? 

Ay scotty don’t make us builders look bad by actually finishing anything in our own homes 🤣

Scott ,Jess is a gem. She’s not overly fussy about the kitchen. Looking forward to many exciting episodes to do with your home projects. Thanks for the latest exciting episode.👍👍

I think Jess's AWESOME commentary has added an extra little "something" to your videos. I've always enjoyed them but this one had me laughing a few times. Keep it up!!

IMO, the logical place for a door to the side yard would be where the window is in the "dining room". Having a door in a corner of a room takes up a lot of space, and especially for something that joins the garden to a living area, it feels muffled away. In my opinion, double doors with glass from top to bottom would be the way to go in the dining area. Take out the problem room, and you have a nice dining nook if you notice that having a table in front of the doors is too cumbersome. About the double glazing: although I love the will to make the house more energy efficient, and glazing usually is a big part of that, if the house leaks are like a sieve, double glazing isn't really gonna help. Insulation needs to be done evenly in all directions, as long as that's possible. You can have the best glazing you can get, but if the opening windows don't seal properly (which at least the one you worked on doesn't seem to do, like at all) and cold air just rushes by, you wasted a lot of money on glazing. If you can, try to get a IR camera in wintertime to see where you're losing heat (keep in mind you can't check windows with those cameras, they reflect IR). Also wait for the winter and just live in the house during the winter. Try to find any air leaks or particularly cold spots. I know NZ is pretty warm, but given that the house still has single glazing, I don't expect much from the rest of the insulation either. Obviously, it's your home, your vision, and your choice. Anything I say is purely meant to provide you with an alternative you may or may not like.

I’m just so pleased I don’t live next door to Scott. If my wife saw how much renovation work was happening on their house, I wouldn’t get any rest. All I’d hear is “Well Scotts wife has got a new blah, blah. Well Scott can do it why can’t you!”. Love the vids though. 😀

So much potential with your new house. I would think about tearing out the walls of the ‘problem room’, push the dining into the corner with windows on both walls. Put the doors to the yard where the current dining room windows are. This would allow the kitchen to extend into the current dining room area. This could give you a larger kitchen that is more open, or same size kitchen giving extra space to the room behind the kitchen, maybe an en-suite for a bedroom. Not sure what the house layout is.

Hey Scott, when we take on a remodel project for clients or ourself we plan from end to beginning. And yes we start at the end or where we want to go and then work backwards. We design, draft, budget, get permits and know where the goal line is, how long it will take, and the total cost. It is frustrating to hold off on the start, but ultimately it will be completed sooner, better and cheaper if you have a plan. You can still fix the niggly things like stuck doors and leaky facets to make it safe and habitable.

You’ve got no idea how fun it is to watch your videos man, I’ll end up moving to NZ because of it

Another suggestion for the indoor/outdoor flow: rip out the problem room, then move the dining table and chairs to that corner. Replace the current dining room windows with french doors - timber frame obviously to stay in-period but definitely double glazed because it's a large glazed surface (i.e. heatsink). These french doors open out on to a patio. Replace the kitchen window with timber frame bifolds or a slider. The french doors might be tricky because one side might overlap the kitchen window when open - it's hard to tell from the angle in the video. If this is an issue, you could move them over, at great annoyance and hassle (draughtsman/architect, building consent etc) or make them smaller and pushed towards the front of the house at great annoyance and hassle (matching cladding in a staggered way to fill the gap), or get a timber slider or bifolds at great expense... Think about the standard kiwi BBQ event - someone is outside working the grill, someone is inside smashing out rabbit food. Being able to pass things directly through the kitchen window is a killer feature. And if you've got a patio there, it looks like a nice spot for a small outdoor table for you two - passing salads and coffees through the kitchen window is again a killer feature. Consider built-in seating along the line of the foot path, kinda like you built at your mum's place (I think it was?). Finally, in winter when you're not using indoor/outdoor flow, you'll have a large open area inside to comfortably use. Get friends round for a roast and have plenty of space to position the table and chairs wherever you like. 👍

Scott is easily one of the most likable people on youtube. Now there is also Jess who is instantly likable. You both make me want to move to NZ!

You can do the exterior door under schedule 1 of the building act, not an exemption.

Ah loving this series, cannot wait to see you progress and the direction you go. I've just bought my own place in England and will be renovating the whole place!

It’s great! My shed has been completed and it turned out nice looking and sturdy and it is way better than the sheds that many of my neighbors had put up. Of course, I'm pleased with the outcome and this Ryan’s ru-vid.comUgkxGZedDTcDfgD7fG_uU4esfx_EgxzlY2_1 Plans was extremely useful to me as a guide.

I've been subscribed to this channel for long enough that I can remember when Jess didn't want to be on camera at all. :)

I found when renovating my own house whilst living in it, was better to start with your bedroom first so you have a room to retreat in to. Mistakes I have made before was doing everything at once which was very stressful. Bedroom, Bathroom, Kitchen and then rest in that order seemed to work best.

Cool, cheeky segue to your sponsor! Loving your channel and all its content. Best wishes to you and Jess.

Jess’ intro to squarespace is a banger, like that salad

Loving your work Scotty. I'm a chippy from Auckland and you have hands down rejuvenated my love for renos. Cheers mate. Much love

Hi Scott, if you are wanting timber doors and windows made come see us at Ruby Bay Joinery. I also made the move from Auckland to nelson and have just finished renovating my 1960s house in stoke. All the best with your renovations Chris

Love watching your videos Scotty, I worked as a qualified Diesel Mechanic for 11 years and have just switched to a building apprenticeship in the last month at 30 years old, so many practical skills in building you can use to add value to your home. Wondered why you left Auckland and glad to see yourve been able to get into your own home. All the best and look foward to your updates on your home

You guys are awesome! So glad you made the move. Looking forward to the Reno journey with you. I can remember the day we moved into our 1969 home…you start noticing everything wrong and the “what have we done” feeling comes on. You just tell yourself, the house won’t fall apart if you leave it until tomorrow. Slowly chip away at all the project. The satisfaction you get from the improvements you do to your own home are outstanding!! Makes the beer at the end of the day taste amazing 👍👍

Jess's transitions to the sponsor have been on point lately

Jess, the former owner's of my 1960's house pretended the tub/shower wasn't leaking & my bathroom reno escalated to walls/joists/floor+ reno. Hope for the best but mentally prepare for the worst. Gotta love old houses... 👍👍

I would like to recommend Draws in the kitchen. all over the place. Just like Scott has in the Van, draws has made the back of the kitchen cupboards easier. not just that, plates, cups, glasses, all draws. love your work.

The dining room window screams “change me to a patio/bifold door!”

Bought my house two years ago and was built in 1970 and it’s a great build. Plus you will be forever doing work to your home from cutting trees to getting electric & plumbing fixed and of course lots of carpentry. My house has come a long way inside two years. Plus it’s great having a garage.

The old tile showers over timber floor - we do heaps of bathroom renovations where the timber subfloors are so water damaged you can kick straight through them!

It's great to see a professionals home renovation at the same time as I do mine and see how you take or treat things differently! I'm pleased you too felt overwhelmed at having to think about much more than the building plan. I sure do!

Nice house. Glad you are continuing filming your adventures. Enjoying the greater collaboration between the two of you. Still one of my favourite RU-vid channels. Keep up the good work.

I am catching up on the series now, and I'm loving it. I have loved everything you've done so far Scott. The editing, filmmaking, explanations, etc. But the inclusion of Jess is truly remarkable. So nice to see you lovely couple living the dream! Thank you for sharing

Good choice to keep the 60’s look. Soon it will be back in fashion again 👍

Jess dropping the mic with the segue into the sponsors in these vids 🎤

Jess is amazing! Loving this dynamic the next couple months will be great!

We all have a problem room! They're quite useful to keep the rest of the house tidy but can get out of control real quick! Love this series.

2 months without an oven or stovetop. A kitchen reno is a big job. But once the design is set, it has a huge advantage: you can do a lot of the work in the garage over whatever period of time you want. Buy the appliances. Build the cabinets, buy whatever tile and countertop material you decide on. Then it’s jump into demolition and (if there’s not a lot of moving power and water) move to installation. Looking forward to watching this unfold.

I think converting that entire side wall in to bifold doors on to decking would be beautiful, and worth the permissions process!

Opening the wall behind the kitchen sink is going to be fun. I took out a shower tray this week and the 8x2 floor joist under it was just dust. The client told me the previous guy who came to fix the bathroom didn't want to remove the tray and just tiled over...

Looking forward to seeing what the garden becomes. Looks like a lot of room for some great fruit bearing trees or beds back there.

Scott, you have just got to board and plaster those ceilings. The house will look so much better then. Good luck with whatever you do with your property, I’m sure the quality of the workmanship will shine through.

The timber of those windows look gorgeous. Look forward to seeing what else you uncover.

Really enjoying seeing you both working on your own place. Happy times☺️

It's so wonderful that you have all of these questions in your new home. consent = building permit in US.

Love these updates. Congrats again on your new home. Looks like the renovation should provide hours of content. Will you do client work as well, or just focus solely on your home? Either way, please keep Jess handling the ad segues!

Tear away doors ( 3 stacked) off the dining area and off the lounge - that’s the way I’d go. Would create flow and good cross ventilation. With a deck outside the dining area, it would double or triple your entertaining space when stacked doors are open. I’d have an outdoor sink and prep/cooking area in the deck - T’d off the kitchen pipes. Which would also be great for washing up after work (don’t want that grit inside).. and maybe a boot washing option. I like the problem room. It can easily be an office or access room - with an external door for clients coming for meetings - or an office assistant down the line, who doesn’t need to come into your house.

Loving the exciting "Now that we're the clients what do we do" episodes. Love the sponsorship segues - keep those coming, too!

Lovely to see summer blue skies on a chilly London day. This renovation series is going to be awesome, can’t wait 👍

A Dumping Room sounds like it could be useful. Why not open the wall next to the dining table that you can slide / fold open to make the living room feel even bigger?

That ad transition... *chef's kiss*

Loving the new content and the extra appearances from Jess! Keep up the great stuff :)

Keep em coming Scott can’t wait to see the house come along

6:20 you have no idea how much it helped me knowing i wasn't the only one dealing the tiles falling off in their kitchen... Can't close a cabinet too hard or a tile may fall down

Instead of putting a door on the problem room, put a sliding door on the long window next to the table in the dining room, when/if you build a deck, you’d have really nice easy access out onto it from your kitchen.

Where the window is next to your dining table, you should put French doors, or bifold doors, that way, you can fully open them up even if you’re sitting at the table, and have all the fresh air come in, you could even have a raised deck area to the same level as the floor so you can walk straight out :)

Jess with her “hmm” and the best piece of advice on how to handle a problem made me laugh out loud. I’m gonna barrow how to handle a problem.

Scott we need a high tech detailed pen drawing of your floor plan like you do for most customer jobs. Myself personally i would get rid of the little office room and wall in between the kitchen dining room area first. Then id move the big window in the dining room area towards the external corner of your house (not too far just a little for more kitchen space). Then turn the window into a large bi folding door = problem solved. Ooooh Jess what a transition to Squarespace!

Mate. Been watching you for years, and love your work. You said something in this vid that really hit home; It's important to be easy on yourself when you can be. It's a huge undertaking to uproot yourself from not only your home, but your source of consistent income, can't be happier for you guys. Can't wait for more exciting episodes, bro. All the best, Aussie Benny

I'd say turn the problem room into a sort of mud room (coats, shoes etc.) then a nice door opening leading to a deck would be a mint idea.

Jess has been nailing those square space advertisement!!! nice i like it

Congrats on the house! Mainland BC and Vancouver Island are as crazy as Auckland so good on ya! I like Jess joining more of the videos, you guys make a great team !

The vibe of this channel is so great.

Greetings from Sweden, love your videos man. You make everything look easy, AND fun. Happy for you to finally have your own house. Keep it up mate.

We bought a 1969 house in Tauranga in September, had the same bathroom which we did rip out as we did the floors first and they came up fantastic. But we still don’t have a shower/bathroom, working full time and renovating is rough. Also we have the exact same ceiling fan in our lounge, ours still works too 🤣 our place is much more ghetto now as we ripped wallpaper off the walls too so living in a shell that needs new plaster.

Corner door in that new space would be a treat! 😘👌🏻

I love your videos, hope you don’t stop making these vlogs, always waiting for new episode to come out, great work Scott!

Hi I just love that you are sharing the creation of your nest in Napier. I think you have wonderful ideas. It brings back incredible, energetic memories when we created our home in Sweden. I wish I had had the internet then, so I could share my ideas and get feedback on them, maybe I would've invested, planed, renovated and built my home more wisely. This is why I am sharing with you. One thing I have learnt is that getting a great house the way you want it doesn’t have to cost the earth. Taste, quality and style can be expensive, but ultimately need not be. Lots of careful planing, imagination and ingenuity work well. In all my planing I have learnt that first seeing in ones 'mind's eye', the finished product, how the space works with the alterations, and work back from that works the best. So the question is, without limits, how are you living in 5yrs - 10yrs? Think outside the box. Plus ask everyone for their honest impute and ideas as that will expand your ideas as well as giving you confidence in your choices. If it doesn't feel 100% right, process until it goes 'clunk' and feels right. Your idea of the kitchen requiring some TLC is not wrong. I would put the access door to the deck from the dinning room - mount folding glass doors (in the style of the house) as it would bring the garden, when it's sunny (but wet and cold), into the lounge/dinning room. Expensive ‘one cost’ and the door would be a ‘wow’ factor - one you would relish. Another idea, more work, would be to put the new kitchen in the ‘problem’ room by opening it up/removing it and include a breakfast bar. The old kitchen then becomes the dinning room. This way you could build and still have a kitchen to use. From the new kitchen/breakfast bar one would also have a view of the driveway and garage to watch what’s happening, who comes and goes. I have built or renovated most of my furniture, and it has rewarded me every day, plus finding second hand furniture that was my style and renovating it was lots of fun. The more we did it ourselves, the more our surroundings mirrored who we were/are. I am 66 and retiring from my work-life in the near future. I plan to downsize and need to replace my 280m2 pre1900 farmhouse for a modern passive tiny-abode (60m2) which I hope to build myself. I am looking forward to following your A viewer from the north. Doug J

You both are amazing human beings. I bet it was tough to move so far. I wish you all the best and I am and ways looking forward to the next exciting episode!

What a great duo Jess and Scott are.

"the best way to deal with this problem, is to pretend it doesn't exist" 😂😂😂 love it!

That Segway was flawless Jess!

Scott, I hope the eruption north of you guys did not affect you too much and I hope you and your family are safe and well.

Loving the progress. Watching from London, England👍🏼🎉

Jess is a true character of a person. Definitely a keeper. Great to see you both on your new venture down in the South. Looking forward to the next video.

It is properly overwhelming deciding where to start, and naturally you want to get the ball rolling on everything at once. I'm in a similar position at the moment, and my day job is literally managing multiple projects at once, yet I refuse to double up on my ones at home, however much the missus wants them all finished simultaneously. So for me it's deck first, bathroom second, kitchen then fence and gate. The rest of the house will get a lick of paint after that (done a few rooms already). Gardening is relentless too haha, spending a Sunday morning gardening is a pain when there's bigger projects to do! Cheers

That Breeze Block outside your garage is cool.

I’m excited to see the content of you renoing your home.

Congrats on your new move to new town Scott and jess.happy new year's to you guys.

😆😆love the "safety squint" as a builder it has protected my peepers(90%) for 27 years but im getting much better at wearing glasses now( older and afraid)

I would put bi fold doors into the current dining room window opening to match the character of the house. Then your only cutting from the sill down to the floor, no further structural requirements needed. Be way better flow onto a deck off there. Then remove the problem room walls and have dining table in that corner. Plus remove wall between kitchen/ dining. This would also allow you to creep the island of the kitchen into the dining / living area and you could build a fence off the corner of the house to the drive and along it to make the front area a bit more private.

My favorite YT channel Scott. I’m a chippy too and really enjoying and appreciating your work dude. Good luck with the Reno!

With regard the third door, for access to an outdoor area. Replacing the problem room window with a door makes for a smallish opening. What about transforming the dining room window into the larger door? Or, if you're going to dive down the consent route anyhoo, perhaps remove the problem room entirely and add a door beside the dining room window, in what is currently a wall without a window in the problem room? Just thoughts/ideas. It's also great to see you're willing to take things at a measured pace with the house. And are willing to manage with those parts which are working-ish, but currently less than ideal. Nice work with the reno/garden taming videos thus far. Looking forward to the upcoming content. Cheers guys.

Love the intro with Jess to the square space advert, so didn't see that coming!

Enjoyed watching the vlog! Renovating wasn't something we thought we needed to do to our house but here I am. Excited to see the development of house and plans 🙌

Love the way you are taking care of the things that drive us crazy, I.e., doors that don’t open and close properly, a window that is a problematic, etc. Our house has plenty of those type issues. Need to do something about those things. As well, it’s always where do I start. My wife says just do something, yikes. Enjoy ever episode. Can hardly wait to see you first major project. Wishing you and Jess well each and every day!

Really enjoying the Scott and Jess Show 👍

Hi Scott I’m in the same position like you. Living in a contraction. I highly recommend a induction cooking until you finish the kitchen.

Take the window out and put a sliding door in, take the problem room walls out open living. And then you have a kitchen/dinning flowing to the outside bbq area

Change the dining room windows to patio doors, then you can have an indoor/outdoor dining room and access to the barby area.

You hold on to Jess for dear life Scott! If that was my wife answering that kitchen question she would’ve said gut it all and start over.

Congrats Scott and Jess...how about a pair of french doors at the dining room windows for outdoor access and maintain the walls in the 'problem solver' room for more storage/laundry room....I'm sure you've already thought of this! Love your adventures, demeanor, and humor. Cheers!

I so love watching your videos Scott and Jess is a gem, your so lucky to have her. The good thing is you have a trade to fix this house up and make it look great, I cant wait to see the changes and the work you will do on your own house.

Pull the walls down on the problem room and put ranch sliders or bi-folds where the dining room window is then onto a new deck.

A sliding door to a deck where the window beside dining table would be great and give you nice ventilation and light. Put a nice deck and garden that you look out onto would be nice. What a nice house and yard and that place is full of potential.

That segue into the ad - *chef's kiss*

I think with about 3 to 4 months before winter you both should target the ceiling in the living room just reline it with gib and a good sized fire place like a Masport Wanaka that's one takes the larger sized firewood. Also can look at that double glazing in that area. Work out a timeline. A quick fix for the bench in the kitchen will be take the small tiles of and temporary replace them with 600 x 600 tiles and just use a skirting timber for the edges. Object is get it comfy for winter.

Loving this series Scott - so glad that you and Jess have got a place, absolutely love the thought processes re. design of house, design of workshop, and tackling a monster of a garden - all the best guys!

That whole want to renovate but it's completely liveable is the situation we're in now :) just bought our first house!

Our house was made the same year as yours here in the UK. You can 100% tell some trades where mastered at the time and some were not/limited to the materials of the time.

Jess’ squarespace intro’s are have been brilliant the last couple of vids 😂

Jess is killing it with smooth segways 👍

Can't wait to see what you guys can do with the place! I'm not a builder by trade but we bought our first place 10 years ago and have just bought our 3rd all of which have been Reno projects. The current one is a steel American style barn house on 5 acres, the yard has been kicking my ass but we're getting there! I've learned quite a bit from your channel and look forward to learning more :)