What do women really want to know about building/renovating a home? Adam Hobill wants to know
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It’s a moment many of us recognise – you’re standing in your kitchen, thinking about the lack of bench space and dying appliances, the bathroom the kids have outgrown, and the living room that’s somehow too big one day and too small the next.
You know something needs to change. You’re just not sure where to start, how much it will cost, who to trust, and fear feeling stress and regret if you get it wrong.
If you live in Canberra, chances are that your home is probably over 20 years old – and there is so much that has changed in building and renovating in that time.
Adam Hobill is a local Canberra building designer who has spent more than 30 years helping families reshape and improve their homes. In 2014, he wrote Nail it! Take control of your building project and save thousands, a plain-English guide to the entire design and building process.
But in the 12 years since, building costs have shifted dramatically, new energy efficiency standards have changed how homes are designed from the ground up, and the process of finding and working with the right team has become more complex and increasingly important.
It has also become an even more significant financial commitment, with an overwhelming range of decisions and options to choose from. The pressure to get it right is harder now than ever.
So, he’s writing an updated second edition.
But rather than write the new edition based on what he assumes people need to know, Adam wants to hear directly from the people who matter most – the homeowners navigating this process right now, and those who may have some recent lessons learnt.
He’s asking. And we thought you were exactly the right people to ask.
Whether you’re in the early stages of dreaming, knee-deep in a renovation, or on the other side wondering what you’d do differently, your experience is genuinely valuable here.
Adam is looking to find out the questions you couldn’t get answered, the things that caught you off guard and the topics you’ve searched for online and never found a straight answer to.
Your responses will directly shape new chapters in the updated edition – and the most common themes will be shared back with the HerCanberra community in a follow-up piece.
Three questions. Five minutes. A chance to make the next edition genuinely useful for every woman who picks it up.
Help Adam hit the nail on the head (pun intended).
