Ben hired Ed and Restorative Painters as part of a new house build. Ed was recommended by the builder and “his pricing was spot on so I didn’t even get another quote”. 

For Ben “the experience was awesome. Ed is an exceptional painter. He’s the only one I would recommend”. The finished home has been seen in Ben’s TV show “A New Zealand Food Story” (see Season 1, Episode 8). 

Ed and the Restorative Painters team “are efficient, they have all the gear, and they are fast”. The results were excellent. “I’ve hired other painters and had to have them back three times to redo the work. With Ed it was done right the first time”.

In addition to exceptional painting skills, Ed brought project management expertise, advising in earlier stages to elevate the house build and ensure a great result. “Ed works well with all the tradies. Painting is 80% preparation and 20% putting the paint on. As the last tradie in, the painter needs everything done properly before they come in”. Ben engaged Ed early, and benefited from Ed’s project management and depth of experience. “He came through the build early and forsaw problems before they could even arise, such as pointing out there weren’t enough screws in the gib”. This helped Ben get the best end result. 

Ben’s advice to others building a house? “Get your painter in early, before the build starts, so they can work closely with the builder, insulator, gib fixer, plasterer”. Ed and the team at Restorative Painters can join your house build team early in the process, or take on the project management role, bringing years of experience and great relationships with trusted tradespeople together to ensure a beautiful result.

Ed and the Restorative Painters team have done “quite a bit of work” for Auckland property owner Lana Coc-Kroft. Lana’s builder recommended Ed, and she says, “he’s the only painter I’ll use, and the only one I’ve recommended to others multiple times”. In fact, “when I’ve referred Ed to others, I’ve been phoned later and thanked”. 

Lana enjoys renovating older properties, such as a recently completed 140 year old villa. She says these are special projects requiring “a collaboration of skilled craftspeople, and there’s a lot more preparation involved”. 

The sites are big and busy, “and everyone has to be responsible for their own work and self-sufficient”. 

Lana says, “Ed is a craftsperson who knows what he’s doing”, and that the entire Restorative Painters team “are reliable, consistent, punctual, articulate, and know what they’re doing”. She sees that Ed “trains his team responsibly, and then spot checks the whole time”. He then cycles back after the job is done to check she is happy with the results. 

Some projects have been “real curveballs, and Ed has just rolled with it”. Right after lockdown, Lana bought her current home and had a nine week turnaround on a full renovation, including exterior and interior repaint, before move in day, “and somehow he pulled it off”. 

Lana appreciates that “Ed is willing to take responsibility and give advice, and that he always has a good, worthy opinion and suggestions”. For example, she appreciates his “guidance about colours and products”

Vicky hired Ed and Referential Painters to update a home they’d owned for over twelve years. Ed was recommended by a neighbour for whom “Ed had done a great job and was good to deal with”. 

Vicky was thrilled with the results. “I would use Ed again without question”. The finished result was featured in NZ Home and Garden. 

Vicky says one of Ed’s strengths is his personality. “Ed is a lovely person and so easy to deal with. Nothing was a problem. He’s professional and always gets back to you. He keeps you informed. Ed’s team are all very polite as well.” 

Ed’s depth and breadth of knowledge ensured an excellent result. “He brings a wealth of knowledge. He has a solution to everything – even things you hadn’t thought about. He can advise on types of paint and wallpaper. He knew exactly why paint was peeling at the bottom of some bathroom walls, and how to fix it”. 

Ed and the Restorative Painters team made preparation easy and limited the impact on a busy family life. “Ed and his team will move things, bring scaffolding in, and the impact on us was minimised.” 

When other tradespeople were needed, Ed had trusted professionals he could call. “Ed has a set of people he’s worked with for years, who are all great, and see Ed as a priority as they work with him every day of the week. When we needed a builder for the doors, Ed could have someone there the next day. I knew people who were waiting weeks”. 

Vicky’s advice to homeowners new to house painting projects? “Get your colors sorted first”. While Vicky didn’t need our colour consultation services, Ed and the team at Restorative Painters can help you with that, too.

Steve and Nila Koerber know, love, reside in, and sell Remuera. Steve ranks as the number one salesperson in the suburb: since 2017 he has sold almost 3 times more Remuera homes than the next top ranked agent. Together with Nila he lists and sells around 10% of all Remuera homes. 

For many of those properties, the Koerbers engaged Ed McKelvey and Restorative Painters for high quality, streamlined pre market property services they can trust. Steve says, “he’s part of our offering now” with Nila adding “we rarely take a property to market without him”. 

Ed can “organise absolutely everything – painting, electrician, plumber, roofer…he has a great network of good people”. A recent example is “a little bungalow, and Ed did the painting, stopped the toilet leaking, fixed the fence, and the gate latch”. 

Steve’s self-described not-so-secret weapon, his wife Nila, says before they worked with Ed, she “would have to call lots of different people, now Ed looks after everything, and makes my life really easy”, adding “I can trust Ed with anyone, with all our clients, and all his workers are fantastic”. 

Steve says Ed “gets stuff done, quickly and efficiently”, reducing time to market, and adding “tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands” to the sales price. Steve says, “Ed’s solution focused, with a can-do attitude, and a drive to do it now…he brings great problem solving to our clients…he has really streamlined the process”. 

They like to engage Ed “very early, as soon as we have the listing - he’s great with deadlines and very reliable”, has met deadlines as short as one week, and worked on big projects as long as six months, and “he’s fantastic, there’s never a problem with the results”. 

They’d tried working with multiple people in the past, who “were unreliable in comparison, they’d let people down, not show up, not have good communication with our clients”. Steve says, “we’re really lucky to have Ed, it’s a load off our minds, we know he will serve our clients as we do – he's trustworthy, reliable, does quality work, and problem-solves for the client”.