Welcome to Design Hotline where we answer your questions about all things renovation and design with our first ever Interior Designer guest Jamie-Maree Love! Jamie has designed over 200 Bathrooms, Kitchens and Laundries and is excited to hop on and give us some insight on:

1. Her journey into Interior Design

2. Novalé's Preferred Suppliers and why we use them

3. Top 3 tips on designing a bathroom

4. Advice to people wanting to hire an Interior Designer

Kristian, Head of Project Delivery at Novalé joins Ben to explain how we make Renovations Stress Free for our customers. With over 20 years in the construction industry, as well as plenty of years in Novalé, Kristian is an expert on this topic and currently shapes the process we currently employ today. So if you're wondering why so many of our customers in our reviews mention how stress-free our process is, look no further!

Chapters:

1. Kristian's background and how he started working for Novalé

2. Why learning a trade is a future proof career

3. Tips on getting off the tools and becoming a Site/Project Manager

4. F1 Car in the Garage - Why we expanded into Kitchens

5. Why waterproofing properly is essential in bathrooms

6. What is PVC waterproofing and why Novalé uses it with paint-on waterproofing

7. Tips for people starting a renovation

8. When does a Project Manager gets involved in the renovation?

9. Risks and unforeseen issues and how Novalé mitigates for this

10. How long does a Bathroom renovation typically take?

11. Novalé handover process and post project care

12. Doing multiple renovations at once vs. one after another

13. Renovating a Kitchen vs. a Bathroom

14. Buildertrend and why our team and customers love it

15. How Novalé chooses new talent

16. Kristian won the first ever Drippy award for Leadership

17. Bathroom reno - what would Kristian splurge on and save on?

18. Funny construction story with Kristian

Founder and Director Steve Novkovic is back on the podcast! Ben and Steve pick up where they left off in 2021 with one of the most popular topics, "How much do renovations actually cost?". Join the duo as they explore and break down the costs for a typical renovation project, how to compare quotes and renovators as well as tips on how to save on your project.

Chapters:

1. Why Steve is so excited about Novalé's project search function on the website?

2. What is Buildertrend and how does it make the renovation process stress free?

3. Common myths about renovation costs e.g. focussing on arbitrary numbers.

4. Is Googling for average renovation costs helpful?

5. Run down of our Free Online Bathroom Estimate tool.

6. What are the typical costs of a renovation?

7. Hidden or overlooked costs of renovations

8. How much do you need as a contingency?

8. How to compare quotes (and our checklist in the Reno Guide)

9. What is HBCF Insurance and why is it so important?

10. Potential risks of going for the cheapest quote.

11. Fun questions for Steve at the end!