| 113 T T Virginia Wright Attention to detail on display Snowfed’s projects regularly include high-end architectural builds. Snowfed Builders BUILDING By the time Dave and Julianne McLeod left Methven for London in their early 20s, Dave had already completed his building apprenticeship with Shearer Brothers, which he had started when he was 16. On their return, Dave worked part-time at the local meatworks while building the family home before starting up his own company, Snowfed Builders, some 30 years ago. Building in London had involved a lot of refurbishment, including a very high-end hotel in Russell Square, which they gutted and redid floor by floor, followed by a number of houses in wealthy Chelsea. Snowfed Builders began with Dave and Steve Shearer (one of his former bosses) completing a broad range of residential, commercial and rural builds, from dairy worker accommodation to farm sheds. When Steve went overseas Dave carried on with the company. He’s still on the tools, along with two other qualified carpenters and an apprentice, an additional contracted carpenter as needed, and Julianne helping out on-site when she can. The level of attention to detail Dave learned in central London still comes in handy, as Snowfed’s projects regularly include high-end architectural builds, such as the 550sqm, two-storey contemporary home nearing completion on the Mt Somers side of Methven. The whole team, along with Dave and Julianne’s son Cameron, also a qualified carpenter, spent a year getting the structure with its steel bones off the ground and ready for the next phase. Now clad in a mix of smooth white plaster, stacked schist, ebony aluminium joinery, black aluminium facades and timber tongue & groove soffits, the black-and-white home features expansive windows and sliders designed around spectacular views of Mt Hutt. Together with a master bedroom, kitchen and living upstairs, as well as a billiard room and a bar, there are three more bedrooms, a laundry and storage downstairs. Having a lift installed ensures the owners can stay there as long as they like once they retire out of Ashburton. “There’s a 12-metre slider that had to be craned up, and more recently we used a crane to lift the 230kg granite kitchen bench top in, and we brought all the carpet upstairs while he was there,” says Dave, who’s project managing the build and enjoying the challenge of the detailed design, working closely with all the different subbies, and making sure they are all on the same page. Along with builds like this - or the not quite as big (at 380sqm) but equally high-end architectural build right next door - Snowfed Builders are kept busy with their local and rural renovations and cost-effective rural builds. Kitchen and bathroom renovations, or new ones going in, plus a steady stream of repairs and maintenance, offer plenty of variation. Whether it’s an addition involving a structural steel deck in Methven, or a two-bedroom brick veneer workers’ cottage going up on Mt Hutt Station, Snowfed Builders are always keen to put their hand to anything in Mid Canterbury from Rakaia to the Rangitata. Innovative Solutions in Structural Steel. Mechforce Engineering specialises in supporting the Industrial and Residential sectors along with general Engineering services including Fabrication, Precision Machining, Sheetmetal and site Shutdown Maintenance. Strength You Can Rely On. info@mechforce.co.nz www.mechforce.co.nz PROUDLY SUPPORTING SNOWFED BUILDERS LTD 027 282 8909 | info@ashpainters.co.nz www.ashpainters.org You name it, we can do it! • Interior and exterior prep & painting • Gib-stopping • Wallpapering • Water-blasting • Liquid lead paint removal • Silicon sealing • Roofs
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