Media

This is the page where DIY Devotees is in the media - as a subject of interest or when responding to DIY-related topics of interest.

Sahera is an engineer, therapist, life coach and author and a dab hand at all manner of things. 'Meet Sahera'. (7.17 mins)

Janet’s DIY journey began with stripping old furniture to decorate her first home and ended up a superb furniture maker in her spare time, via a polytechnic course. 'Listen to Janet'. (10.28 mins)

Listen to Jenny talk about her journey as a beginning, through to experienced, owner/builder. 'Listen to Jenny'. (14.57 mins).

Architect Ursula Dougherty chats about being an architect and gives some tips for homeowners considering using one for renovations or new buildings. 'Listen to Ursula’s experience'. (21.55 mins).

After attending a recent paving workshop, Devotee Jan feels confident to do some paving around her own house. 'Listen to Jan’s experience'. (4.20 mins).

Listen to Kim Willems, President of the Canterbury Property Investors’ Assn, talk about the Association, how it supports its members and those interested in property investing. 'An interview with Kim'. (11.09 mins).

Listen to DIY Devotee Bronwyn talk about her 15 house renovations over 25 years. 'An interview with Bronwyn'. (9.06 mins).

Listen to DIY Devotee Monica’s experience of the painting workshop - 'An interview with Monica'. (7.19 mins).

Hear DIY Devotee Jo talk about her labour of love - 'Renovating a 332sqm Villa'. (12.43 mins).

Sue joined a Habitat for Humanity Global Village Team Build in Vietnam , in January 2009. The team of 15 did basic construction work to improve the housing outcomes for a number of families. Listen to two volunteers speak of their experiences and their DIY skills before and after the build - 'An interview with Leanne' (7.44 mins) and 'An interview with Carolyn' (8.06 mins).

Elizabeth is an artist and experienced DIYer. In this interview, she shares some of her DIY experiences and tips. Listen to 'An interview with Elizabeth' (10.03 mins).

Ruth Brown, 75 years young, has been running her own renovations firm - Ruth's Reliable Renovations - in Christchurch for 20 years. Sue interviewed her recently to see what her DIY gene pool was like; where she learned her DIY skills and what words of encouragement she could give those of us who were less gifted or confident in the DIY stakes. Listen to 'An interview with Ruth Brown'.

One of Christchurch's best kept secrets - Ros - is a mine of DIY experience and information who works in a branch of a hardware chain store. Sue caught up with her recently to get her take on instruction leaflets and extract some DIY tips... and along the way, discovered the perils of buying poor quality saws, realised she had been 'cutting in' inappropriately on painting jobs for years and years and learned about vulcanised paint (sorry no, there's no connection to Star Trek). Listen to 'An interview with Ros' (15.19 mins).

DIY Devotees', Sue Dwan's response - 'DIY skills need to be learned', appeared in The Press, 20th February, 2008.

Nadene Hall wrote an article in The Press 06 February 2008, entitled 'A DIY House'. She wrote of her experience as a DIY house builder and how new building laws will make it harder, but not impossible, to build your own home. Nadene was helped in her house building by a rich assortment of skilled family members.