When you need a sealant that’s going to last, polyurethane (PU) is a well proven technology that has been used with great success for many years. H.B. Fuller’s FulaFlex™ polyurethane sealants offer excellent durability, flexibility and high bond strength. Coupled with both UV and weather resistance they are ideal for most construction applications—delivering performance and reliability without compromise. FulaFlex™ 550LM is a low modulus, Class-A, PU sealant with excellent flexibility and elasticity (±35%). Compatible with almost any construction substrate it is perfect for expansion joints in precast concrete and masonry; as a water-proofing bond breaker and where a significant level of movement is expected. FulaFlex™ 570FC is a fast curing PU sealant that can also be used as an adhesive. It is suitable for trafficable joints—both foot and vehicle—and saw cuts.

At ±25% it’s slightly less flexible than its brother FulaFlex 550LM and with a higher hardness rating, it is pick resistant which is great for schools, public spaces, even prisons. Polyurethane sealants will not shrink or slump in the joint, are highly flexible, hard wearing and weather resistant. They remain permanently flexible and can be painted once cured. They bond to almost any construction material from brick, masonry and concrete to metals, timber and glass. FulaFlex™ PU sealants are also low in VOC (volatile organic compounds) which satisfies the requirements for the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA). In addition to the existing sausage packs, both FulaFlex™ 550LM and 570FC are now available in 310ml cartridges in white, grey and black colours.

For more information contact your local CSS Member store.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why have three or four different sized countersinking bits for all those different screws? There’s got to be something that’s versatile and user-friendly enough to make countersinking easier!” Welcome “The Better Bit”! It’s a new intuitive way to pre-drill and countersink your decking boards. Extensive market research and prototype field testing has led to the development of a breakthrough countersinking tool. An ICCONS original with features and benefits that will save you time and alleviate the need to carry excessive countersinking tools and drill bits all to do the one job. The Better Bit is unique due to a fully customisable depth stop ensuring the screw head is flush every time. The result? A mega looking deck!! It is as simple as adjusting the depth collar to the correct height and spinning the locking ring down, allowing you to easily make adjustments throughout the drilling and screwing process of laying decking boards. We have developed a countersinking tool suitable to 8, 10 and 12-gauge screws. We also have an application specific model that is suitable to a 14-gauge screw. The Better Bit means you only need two countersinking bits for every decking screw! That’ll get any chippy chompin’ to lay some deck!

The Better Bit Has

• A 1/4.”driver suitable to both impact drivers and drill drivers.
• Twin low friction spin bearings, keeping the countersink stable whilst drilling.
• Adjustable countersinking depths without the need for hex keys or screw drivers.
• A dual function rotating stop collar designed with engineered o-ring to prevent those dreaded surface marks.
• Three long-life countersinking blades, designed to cut perfectly. Especially for hard wood applications.
• AND … each and every Better Bit comes with two replaceable pilot drill bits that are designed for high-speed repetitive use.

Here at ICCONS we are always striving to think outside the box. Changing the fundamental way we use countersinking tools shows at ICCONS we mean business. The Better Bit: a smarter solution!

Milwaukee Tool is proud to announce The Next Breakthrough in lithium-ion and M18™ with the introduction of their most capable battery ever – the M18™ REDLITHIUM-ION™ HIGH OUTPUT 12.0Ah Battery. The new 12.0Ah Battery delivers 50% more power, runs 50% cooler, and provides 33% more run-time than their powerful 9.0Ah battery – significantly elevating the performance of the entire M18™ System.

The M18 HIGH OUTPUT 12.0Ah battery utilises new-to-world cell technology that provides a massive leap in the overall power and capabilities of the pack. To take full advantage of the high-power cells, Milwaukee® advanced the power delivery system and communication in the pack electronics, driving system compatibility*.

These advancements will help deliver maximum performance on a range of new M18 FUEL™ products, as well as elevate the performance of the entire M18™ system, providing faster application speeds and fade-free power through the full discharge. In addition, this massive increase in power made it critical that Milwaukee® minimised heat generation through lower impedance cells and optimised pack construction. This results in the pack running 50% cooler than the 9.0Ah battery, so users can work harder and longer than ever before without the need to worry about overheating the pack.

When working in collaboration with the POWERSTATE™ Brushless Motor and REDLINK PLUS™ Intelligence, the HIGH OUTPUT™ 12.0Ah battery delivers 33% more run-time than the 9.0Ah battery and more work-per-charge of any other professional power tool battery in the industry – finally bringing to fruition a complete corded replacement on the jobsite. The advanced pack design of the HIGH OUTPUT 12.0Ah battery also makes it the best cold-weather performing pack ever made, able to operate in extreme weather conditions (-28°C) during heavy applications.

In addition to the launch of the 12.0Ah battery, Milwaukee® will also introduce the M18™ REDLITHIUM-ION™ HIGH OUTPUT Extended Capacity 6.0Ah battery – providing 50% more power, running, 50% cooler, and delivering 20% more run-time than the widely popular M18™ REDLITHIUM-ION™ Extended Capacity 5.0Ah Battery.

Milwaukee® is committed to improving productivity by providing performance-driven and trade-focused solutions so users can perform an entire day’s work on one battery system. The M18™ System includes more than 150 tools and is a true testament to Milwaukee’s focus on investing in technology to deliver breakthrough solutions for users.

You don’t need a massive marketing budget to build your small business. But you do need a little know-how and the right marketing strategy in place. Here’s how to get started. By Shane Conroy

When it comes to the wide world of marketing, a lot of jargon gets thrown around. You can safely ignore most of it, but there is one important concept you need to understand in order to build an effective marketing strategy that will get results for your small business. And that’s the difference between paid and organic traffic. Think of it like this: winning new business in the digital age is all about driving as many potential customers—or ‘traffic’—to your website as you can. You can either do this through placing ads that you pay for, or have people find you ‘organically’ through a free Google search.

TO PAY OR NOT TO PAY

Declan Reynolds is the director of Melbourne-based digital marketing agency,iformat, that specialises in marketing for tradies. He says the most effective channels are paid and organic marketing techniques, but you must understand how they fit into your overall marketing strategy. “The best thing about placing paid ads through a platform like Google AdWords is that it generates immediate work for your business,” he says. “Your ad pops up on Google when customers do a relevant search, it sends them straight to your website, and they book a job. You can turn on paid ads when you need more work, and switch it off when you’re busy. “Organic search, on the other hand, is a much longer-term strategy. It’s about building your ranking on search engines like Google so your business appearsup the top of a Google search. It takes time as the trade-based markets are very competitive, but it’s essential for growing your business in the long-term without having to constantly pump money into paid advertising. “For example, we work with an electrician who currently ranks in first place on Google for 91 different search phrases. That has taken about two-and-a-half years to achieve, but it has been essential to the growth of his business.”

CLIMBING GOOGLE’S RANKS

Trent Dyball, creative director of ManBrands, expands on the topic. “It is dangerous to run campaigns in isolation. Any truly successful digital campaign will have a mixture of paid advertising and organic activity. The end goal is to drive potential customers to your website. “Your website is the centre of your digital universe. It’s the one place that houses all the relevant information about your business and once there, potential customers are close to making a purchase decision. “It is critical your website is easy to navigate, mobile friendly, has multiple calls to action and is updated regularly. Regular updates are critical to not only engage visitors, but to improve your organic ranking in Google.” “For Google to continue to dominate as the preeminent search engine, it needs to quickly deliver the most current, accurate and interesting content to users who are completing a search,” Dyball says.

CONTENT IS KING

As a part of their organic ranking process, Google frequently reviews the content of your site to see how recently new content has been added. Dyball says that content you publish on your website, such as regular blog articles, isn’t all about converting your website visitors to customers, but should rather focus on providing information that visitors to your website will find valuable. Obviously, there is a cost in developing content, and this needs to be weighed up against paid advertising, search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimisation (SEO). “SEM gives instant results as your advertisement will appear directly against the selected search term,” Dyball says. “The challenge is that this can get expensive fast, especially if you’re bidding on popular search terms. Without a supporting SEO strategy, many businesses can become addicted to SEM if it’s their only source of website traffic.” Social media also plays an important role in any digital campaign as it can both drive web traffic and influence behaviours in Google. “If you have been actively engaging potential customers on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, they will be more likely to click on your business when it is served up on a Google search engine results page (SERP),” adds Dyball. “Good content should travel everywhere, so once you have your blogs or news articles posted to your website, don’t forget to push them out across all your social media platforms.”

THE SECRET TO SOCIAL

Sophie Hall, marketing co-ordinator at Melbourne-based Gallant Plumbing, agrees that posting regular content is vital to ranking highly in Google searches. “We post between one and three blog articles on our website every week,” she says. “Posting expert knowledge helps us to build credibility with our website visitors. It’s also important to include keywords in your blog articles that people are likely to use when searching for your service.” Hall also uses social media as part of her marketing strategy for Gallant Plumbing, but says it’s important to understand where to spend money and where to invest time into building your organic following. “Facebook is more of a pay-toplay platform, for example. If you post something on your businesses Facebook page that has a sales focus, Facebook will likely decrease the amount of people who see it. But if you pay for it to be a sponsored post, then Facebook will prioritise it and push it out to more people.” Hall uses a free online platform called ‘Later’ to manage her social media posts, and tends to spend about 30 minutes each day engaging with her community. “I also sit down every Monday to assess the performance of my previous week’s posts and create and schedule posts for the week ahead. You quickly develop an understanding of which content works for your business.”

Some bucket list wishes are relatively simple to fulfil, while others depend on a mix of luck and hard work. Will and Alex Davison share two wishes. The brothers grew up in racing, mainly against each other. Competing together has always been on their bucket list. They have twice tackled the Australian enduro season together. This year they can again tick off Item One as they team up for the three rounds that make up the Pirtek Enduro Cup—Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600.  The second shared bucket list item is a win, or at least a podium place, with Bathurst the preferred venue. They finished fourth at ‘The Mountain’ in 2014. Will is no stranger to the podium with others, especially at Mt Panorama: there was third in 2007 with Steven Johnson, a win in 2009 with Garth Tander and again in 2016 with Jonathon Webb, but a podium with his brother—and his new team—is this year’s goal. “It’s special to drive together and we love doing it,” says Will, a Supercars series regular, this year in the Milwaukee Tools-sponsored 23RedRacing Team Ford. “A few years have passed since we last drove together and you wonder if you will get another opportunity. Not only is it cool to be doing this with my brother, I am doing it with one of the best co-drivers on the grid.”

JOINING THE TEAM 

Ironically, Alex Davison was effectively driving for the team before his younger brother signed up. Alex drove the enduros in 2017 for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport before Phil Munday bought the team’s licence to create 23Red Racing. Will told him to take the drive, with no idea he himself would join the team. “Alex got to know Phil who was sponsoring Lucas’ team. As soon as I signed with Phil, we started talking about co-drivers and he mentioned Alex before I did.  “That was really special. I wouldn’t expect him to do it just because Alex is my brother, but we both wanted the best co-driver we could get and that happens to be Alex.”

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY 

The co-driver’s role is a tough one. They play second fiddle to the lead driver, but they need to be able to match that driver’s pace to ensure the car stays in contention. They also need to keep out of trouble so the car is faultless when it is time for Number One to return to the wheel. Match fitness is vital, but it can be difficult for co-drivers to pick up enough racing during the season to stay up to speed. Not so for the older Davison. Alex is contesting the 2018-19 World Endurance Championship, and some Porsche Carrera Cup races when he is home. October will be particularly hectic, with a race in Japan the weekend between Bathurst and the Gold Coast. Race-sharp would be a perfect description for this co-driver, and while the WEC cars are very different, Alex also has a huge amount of Supercar experience. He has contested every race at Mt Panorama since 2004 (aside from 2016) and spent several seasons full-time in the series. “Doing endurance racing all year gets you used to long stints in the car, ” Alex says. “All the WEC races are 1000km, so it will feel normal, like my regular weekends. We won’t have a massive advantage because there are many experienced co-drivers, but it will give us a slight edge because of the number of hours I’m doing, and the fact I am so used to long stints.”

LEARNING TO SHARE

Between driver stints are pit stops, the make or break of a result. The 23RedRacing team is constantly practising—refuels, wheels, brake pad changes, driver swaps. Will says it is the mix of professionalism, mutual respect and brotherly understanding that helps them work so well together. “Alex is a perfectionist, a real detail guy, whereas I am much more cruisey, but we bounce well off each other and we can make good compromises.” His brother agrees, saying their differences and their similarities are what make their relationship so strong, personally and professionally. “We are different and we work quite differently, but we work together well,” says Alex. “We’ve always been each other’s biggest fans, even when we were competing against each other in Supercars. We want to see each other do well, and we want a good result, for the team and for us.”

THE DREAM TEAM

As soon as 23RedRacing launched this year, the Milwaukee Tools’ sponsorship was announced. The heavy-duty power tool manufacturing company has been a long-time sponsor of different sports but was keen to focus on one to maximise its activities. “We’re excited about the synergies we have with 23Red Racing and eager to see what the partnership will bring,” says Milwaukee Tools’ managing director Mike Brendle. So, can everyone’s dreams come true this year? “I’m not making speeches, but obviously a podium together is the fairytale,” Will says. “With endurance races, it takes extra preparation and patience and clean racing and being on the pace—and a bit of luck on the day. I think we can string together some good results.”

For nearly 30 years, Global Spill Control has focused on investing in business and delivering quality products that can weather changing markets and trends. By Sue Nelson

What does it take to survive and thrive as a business over many decades? In Global Spill Control’s case, it was an entrepreneurial spirit and a healthy curiosity for the way the world works. Back in 1991, Rob Watson, who started the business, was curious about the vast number of oil spills that had occurred during the first Iraq War—particularly, how this mess could be cleaned up. He investigated further and discovered oil and fuel absorbent mats, which readily absorb hydrocarbons like oil and diesel and repel water like quicksilver. At around the same time, environmental laws in Australia were starting to change, and there was a greater focus on regulation. Watson recognised that this was the right point in history to enter the market with a product that could address spills, and this recognition helped establish the spill industry in Australia. “Rob is a classic entrepreneur and a lateral thinker,” says Brad Lowson, Watson’s partner in the business for the past eight years. “He brings a creative flair to the business that has made it what it is today.” Lowson, who bought out his father-in-law in 2011, brings a keen business acumen honed in corporate finance roles for big Australian companies. Together, their skills perfectly complement each other.

Keeping Global local

The company has survived and thrived through the changing fortunes of time, with a staff of over 100 employees and a vast range of high-quality custom safety and spill equipment.Lowson sheets this success home to remaining fiercely Australian, manufacturing these products here rather than offshore. The east-coast manufacturing business merged with its Perth-based sister company three years ago, at the back end of the mining boom. This merger provided the opportunity for Global Spill Control to diversify its product range and move into the safety product space, adding a vast range of manufactured items to its product suite—from PPE and signs to safety cabinets and road signs. Global Spill Control also manufactures or supplies niche items such as aerosol cages and protective clothing— froma sbestos grade all the way to Type 1 gas-tight hazmat emergency response suits. “We have diversified quite significantly,” saysLowson. “Margins have eroded following the mining boom in WA and Queensland, and it’s a crowded space. But we are able to customise products to ensure they comply with the strictest safety standards—and we export too.” Around 18 months ago Global Spill Control became a supply partner to the CSS Group. “We needed a specialised supplier for the storage of dangerous goods and management of spill containment, as our store’s customers were requesting solutions in these areas due to the enforcement of regulations. Global Spill Control was a perfect fit—not only were they an Australian manufacture, they had expert knowledge, great support and capability of supply,” says Paul Davy, CSS Group marketing manager. Not long after the merger, the SUPPLIER PROFILE company received a significant government grant, committing it tocreating local manufacturing jobs. The car industry was in free fall and the government wanted to assist car workers to move to new jobs. The terms of the grant included a number of new positions and jobs and increased Global Spill Control’s overheads by over $2 million per annum. “We invested millions of dollars in new manufacturing capability within Australia,” saysLowson. “We have created jobs in Australian manufacturing—we employ a lot of people in Melbourne in a range of manufacturing roles. In three years we’ve doubled the size of the east coast business. “We don’t believe customers should have to pay more for Australian-made products. We’re highly efficient, we vertically integrate and do almost everything ourselves in-house. There’s no subcontracting and leakage of costs,  so we can compete quite comfortably with imported Chinese goods. “These are changing times. Until recently it was all about price but we’ve seen that the market is sick and tired of cheap rubbish. People want things to work as they expect them to, and they’re finding that doesn’t cost them more” Lowson adds. “We have 30 years behind us, so there is a lot of implicit trust in our brand. If we say something is going to have a 200-micron paint coat, it does—no less and probably more. If we say it is going to be 2mm, it will be 2mm.”

Surviving the boom

This reputation for responsiveness and integrity was called upon during the oil spill off the coast of New Zealand seven years ago. “Containers were falling off the ship and the situation was rapidly worsening,” says Lowson. “We sent emergency supplies over to New Zealand—a lot of it was agreed over the phone and we sent the supplies in trust, acting first and asking questions later.” Ultimately, Global Spill Control’s success is based on its resilience to change. “During the mining boom, we saw the ebbs and flows of business cycles and we knew this time of prosperity was going to be an aberration rather than the norm,” says Lowson. “So while others were spending money, we were saving and reinvesting capital in our products and staff. We’ve got great people, great products and a great business.”

It can seem costly and maybe even excessive, but good housekeeping is critical when it comes to dangerous goods. By Meg Crawford

Australian workplace health and safety laws require that businesses identify and eliminate the risks associated with dangerous goods as far as possible, but it’s easier said than done in the construction industry where dangerous goods are not only prevalent but necessary. With that in mind, one of the next rungs down the legislative ladder is the requirement for occupiers to store dangerous goods safely. But what does that mean?

KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT

Luckily, dangerous goods are easy to identify in Australia because they’re required by law to be labelled as such with coloured diamonds specifying the nature of the substance. Further, since the introduction of United Nation’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), the symbols are now internationally standardised. In general terms, dangerous goods are defined and labelled as corrosive, oxidising, flammable, combustible, explosive and water-reactive substances—their danger lying in the fact that they carry the potential for damage (possibly catastrophic) to person, property and environment. In a construction context, common types of dangerous goods include flammable liquids (including petrol, kerosene, turpentine and flammable paints), corrosives (specifically, hydrochloric acid), flammable gases (most frequently LP gas), nonflammable non-toxic gases (like CO2), asbestos and explosives.

KNOW AND OBSERVE YOUR STORAGE OBLIGATIONS

The management of dangerous goods varies from substance to substance. For instance, some require physical separation from other substances, while others require certain types of venting. Keep in mind that while vendors can provide generic advice about how to store them, it falls back on the occupier or person using the dangerous goods to make sure that they’re storing them safely and lawfully.“Each employer and business is still responsible for assessing the storage of their dangerous goods, including logging and listing the goods, noting how much and what types they have, how and where they’re stored and familiarising themselves with the regulations,” says Clive Barker, Pratt Safety’s technical manager (now a subsidiary of Paramount Safety). “It’s your responsibility to know whether you’re complying with the regulations. Shrugging your shoulders and saying you didn’t know just isn’t an excuse.” Global Spill Control, which has nearly 30 years’ experience in providing Australian-manufactured storage solutions for dangerous goods ranging from safety cabinets and aerosol cages through to bottle cages and bunding, has a broad philosophy, which sums up the very point of dangerous good storage. “It’s what we call the ‘three Cs’,” says Global Spill Control director and partner Brad Lowson. “Capture, contain and the final C is to clean up. You don’t want to let the genie get out of the bottle.

SEGREGATE YOUR DANGEROUS GOODS

According to Lowson, it’s all too frequent for workplaces to overstuff dangerous goods storage units, with little regard for what’s being stored and beside what. “There’s segregation that needs to be employed,” he says. “People cut corners and not realise, for instance, that you shouldn’t store an oxidising agent with a corrosive substance. You might get a spill from one and a drip into the tray from the other and when you mix the two together they’re highly volatile. You really need to sort and store things by compatibility.” While this might seem like common sense, Barker has also observed alarming practices, citing examples ranging from rags used to wipe down flammable liquid spills being thrown into a dump-master, generating heat under their own weight, self-combusting and burning down a workplace, through to solvents being used like water. “I can think of plenty of examples where workplaces have burned down simply through poor management of dangerous goods,” he says. “People become complacent about the nature of what those chemicals are.”

MEET THE STANDARDS

The importance of buying storage that meets the relevant Australian standards is obvious. That said, not all products that meet the standards are made equal. Lowson harkens back to a horror story where a company had an outdoor bund (made by another company) that buckled after exposure to unrelenting sun. Global Spill Control’s products, in contrast, are engineered and independently tested in conditions that simulate the high ambient temperatures like those in Queensland and Western Australia. “We can look people in the eye and say our products won’t fail,” Lowson reflects.

MANAGE ACCESS

There’s a security aspect in all of this too: dangerous goods are classed that way for a reason. They’re a hazard, which makes it all the more important to ensure that untrained staff and unauthorised personnel are denied access. “If you’ve properly locked up a very aggressive chemical in a cabinet and the appropriate person has a key, it means that when Scooter wants to get in the cabinet he’s going to have to ask for access, and without good reason, he’s not going to get it,” says Lowson.

Two CSS member businesses, Ultimate Fasteners and Kencor Sales, have joined forces to provide a wider range of products—and a wider range of customers. By Merran White

When your business is selling essential but low-unit-cost industrial hardware in regional areas, you need to find ways to expand your market while satisfying existing customers.  This is what CSS member companies Ultimate Fasteners and Kencor Sales hope to achieve with their new Impact-A-branded business in Bendigo’s CBD. The new business is the brainchild of Mark Shanahan and Dean Jones of Shepparton-based Ultimate Fasteners, and Peter Corstorphin, cofounder-director of long-established construction-supply company Kencor Sales and manager of its Bendigo branch, established in 2002. “We service the construction industry with all sorts of bolts and fasteners; we’ve been doing it for 26 years,” says Corstorphin. “Our Bendigo branch is a smaller part of our operation that always just ebbs and flows a bit. The boys at Ultimate service the engineering and bolt market. By joining forces with them, we’re putting a different outlook on our business.”

Ultimate Fasteners supplies engineering and construction trades, manufacturing and maintenance companies across Victoria’s Goulburn Valley with a vast range of industrial fasteners—hex bolts in mild and high-tensile steel, dynabolts, selfdrilling screws, rivets, washers, screw bolts, high-load bolt fixings and chemical anchoring—as well as fixings, abrasives, and tools. “Kencor are heavily into the construction side of things: on-site silicones, sealants, grouts, that sort of stuff. We add in the nuts and bolts,” says Jones. “Ultimate is buying into Kencor to form Impact-A. Together, we’re trying to offer a total package.”

The nuts and bolts of the deal

The Impact-A collaboration was first mooted about two years ago when Shanahan and Jones met up with Corstorphin at an industry networking event. “The idea came out of conversations we had at a CSS conference with Peter about his business in Bendigo, and where it was and where it was heading,” recalls Jones. “
We decided, out of that conversation, that it might be good to join forces.“It took about 18 months of chatting about how we’d put it together and what we’d do,” Jones adds. “Obviously, then, you’ve gotta go through the process. But once we got serious, it all took shape pretty quickly.”

Expanding the market

Not only will the amalgamation mean a more comprehensive product range, it also expands each business’s customer base, with Kencor Sales gaining users in the engineering and agricultural markets and Ultimate Fasteners benefiting from Kencor’s construction trades clientele. “We’ve widened our range of products but the main change is we’ll be servicing a different market,” Corstorphin says. “The original Kencor was very much construction-focused, whereas Impact-A will also be catering to farmers who previously wouldn’t have paid any attention to us but can now come in and buy, say, three bolts for a tractor.”
Impact-A will raise the profile of both businesses in the region, Corstorphin contends. “It’s a new outlook for us, but now we won’t be as reliant on the ebbs and flows of construction. And we should pick up a lot of new business.” Kencor will benefit more from market expansion than will Ultimate, says Jones, but both companies stand to gain from the collaboration. “Doing this [will] help us push into some markets we haven’t had before,” he says. “And it’s the first time two CSS members have come together to make something different that works for both of us.”

Keeping customers happy

The joint venture is a triple-win for Kencor, Ultimate and their clients, says Corstorphin. “It’s about convenience to customers and [keeping abreast of the] competition, basically—diversifying. We only just started but we’re hoping for positive outcomes!” Jones sees plenty of upside to the new business, including “more things available” and a brand-new retail premises. “Kencor had been in the same Bendigo premises for 10 years, so it’s a new lease of life for those guys,” he says. As for how Impact-A will resonate with customers, he says, “It’s too early to tell, but I’m expecting the feedback will be positive—that customers will love it. I think it’s going to be a really good move, for Kencor and us.”

CSS: helping bolt the new business together

Impact-A is a wholly owned subsidiary of CSS, and the organisation is integral to the new venture, say its founders. “Peter’s a founding member and UF’s been a member for 10 years,” Jones explains. “CSS helps us with buying power in the industry, suppliers, promotional gear and, as members, with our reputability.” Corstorphin says CSS backing gives the new business a solid foundation. “CSS owns the Impact-A trademark—the new identity we’ll use—and is promoting the brand,” he says. “Because it’s CSS-backed, that adds to its credibility. It’s not that well known yet—but it will be. “The idea is that eventually we’ll be able to put it into all our stores,” he continues. “It will be up to the various member outlets as to whether to extend to include Impact-A products, but if it’s successful [in Bendigo], it will be in their interests to do so.”

One of the older houses in Marrickville, NSW, has been restored, rejuvenated and rebooted into an exceptional family home. By Kerryn Ramsey

A few years ago, Neil Mackenzie—who started architecture firm Mackenzie Pronk with his partner Heidi Pronk—was regularly kayaking on the Cooks River in Marrickville, in Sydney’s Inner West. During his paddles, he would admire the quiet elegance of a row of  homes overlooking a bend in the river. One day, a ‘For Sale’ sign appeared attached to the back fence, pointed towards the river. Twelve months later Mackenzie and Pronk were the proud owners of Ellerslie. Built in 1886, the house had been poorly treated over the preceding decades and was—it’s fair to say—a dump. But it was their award-winning restoration of this crumbling heritage building that has really showcased how to mix the old and new in a way that did justice to its house’s history and location. “It had been a rental property for some years and was in terrible condition,” says Mackenzie. “All the heritage features had been removed or damaged beyond repair but we could still see the grandeur of the old building. So the solution was to restore the front and add a contemporary addition to the rear.”
In terms of the streetscape, Ellerslie is the oldest house on the street. The sympathetic restoration has returned the building to its glory days while allowing it to sit comfortably in its surroundings. The extension at the back is modern and makes the house completely liveable. Faux federation has been scrupulously avoided—instead new and the old flow into each other while retaining their own characteristics. Recently, Ellerslie won the 2018 Marrickville Medal for Conservation during the Inner West Council’s Built Environment Awards.

Doing it the hard way

The scope of what you can and can’t do in a heritage restoration is set out in The Burra Charter, which Mackenzie describes as “a set of standards that form the basis of how we approach heritage restorations and renovations for the past 20 years”. In the introduction to the 2013 edition, it says, The Burra Charter advocates a cautious approach to change: do as much as necessary to care for the place and to make it useable, but otherwise change it as little as possible so that its cultural significance is retained. “When you turn up to a building like this one for the first time, it’s like it has missing teeth,” Mackenzie adds. “And half of the things that are missing aren’t manufactured anymore. But The Burra Charter sets out in really clear detail how we preserve our heritage. There are clear lines between what you can do when you’re restoring and when you’re reconstructing something.” Without any original photos of the house to guide them, Mackenzie and Pronk found themselves scouring recycled building suppliers. At one point, they drove halfway up the coast of New South Wales to find the appropriate cast iron lace balcony balustrade. The one they found was date-stamped 1886—originally built the same year as the house. “In the end, we found our best shot at getting it right was we drove around the area and found six houses that had elements that were similar to ours,” says Mackenzie. “Then we knocked on the door, talked to the owners, and I went in with a tape measure and measured things up.” The technical challenge of following The Burra Charter involves trying to retain as much as possible. At one point, Mackenzie bought tilers in to help him excavate the original front path, which had been cemented over. They looked at the 120-year-old tiles and advised him to just rip it up and start again—they could get exactly the same tiles at a place up the road. “This is like Pompeii,” he told them. “We don’t redo it. The original artifact has its own value.” As a result, he says, the tilers spent the rest of the job chuckling about the fact that they were restoring Pompeii.

The difficulty of simplicity

To keep matters simple, Mackenzie and Pronk chose a relatively economic materials palette for the two-storey, lightweight construction in the new part of the building. It’s a slab on ground, timber-framed first floor andtimberframed wall construction. The external cladding is Zincalume Custom Orb combined with inset cedar cladding and cedar doors. But the simplest things are often the most difficult. The new part of the build at the rear is very contemporary and yet sits comfortably adjoined to the restored front of the 19th-century dwelling. “It was very intentional to make the new part of the house feel very contemporary,” says Pronk. “The original floors are Oregon timber. The floor sander said that in his 30-year career, he had never seen Oregon flooring. We mirrored the tone and hue of the original floor in the new section so that there’s a connection.” One technically difficult aspect for the builders was raising the steel portal frame on one end. The trim on the edge was the big steel angle around the outside that the architects had drawn as a 150 angle. “It’s pretty heavy but we thought two blokes could carry it,” says Mackenzie. “The builders convinced us a 200 angle would look better but a piece of 200 angle that’s six metres high needed a crane. “That was one of those moments in a project that everyone had to maintain a good humor and understand some things would cost more to achieve. You had to admire the crane driver’s skill, backing down into the driveway.”

Marrying old and new

We always tell our clients, if at all possible, move out,” says Pronk. “Because if you stay, you’ll go a bit spare. We decided to ignore our own good advice and lived in the house through the entire renovation. At one stage we were cooking on a little camp stove on the front balcony.” The finished house marries the best of the old and the new. While the front of the house embraces the original elements, such as fireplaces, cornices and period tiles, the modern kitchen includes a plywood surface finish. “We like it because it’s not a compressed product; it’s an actual timber product which is rather robust,” says Pronk.“Joiners are a bit cautious when it comes to large pieces of ply but it’s worth taking this on. It’s great when you cut and display its edge so you can see the plywood edges.” When it comes to major renovations, the key is communication between the architect, the builder and the owner. “All our projects are a team effort,” says Mackenzie. “Often we will take advice from our builders on the best way to get something done. I’ve worked in offices where there is a sometime combative culture towards tradespeople and it always ends badly. Our practice is the complete opposite—we enjoy and appreciate a respectful working relationship with all our builders and tradespeople. The end result is undoubtedly better because of that.” Pronk recalls, “Interestingly, there were no controls on the old building. We could have demolished everything and put in a big house with an ugly garage. Obviously, it was never on our agenda—we saw its potential and beauty. Ellerslie is our home now.”

A Donation From CSS Members Will Make A Real Difference To Young People Affected By Cancer.

Harry is a Youth Ambassador for CanTeen, the charity that supports the 23,000 young people that go through a cancer experience in Australia every year. “CanTeen became a part of my life when my Mum discovered that she had ovarian cancer,” Harry recalls. Young people between the ages of 12 and 25 often fall through the gaps when it comes to cancer care – they’re not children and they’re not quite adults. It was during this period when Harry’s family was, in his own words: “on the rocks harder than a recent shipwreck”, that they found CanTeen. As well as supporting young people aged 12-25 with cancer, CanTeen also supports those living through a family member’s cancer, a sibling’s or the death of a loved one. And it’s down to generous donations and ongoing support from local communities that can make all the difference in allowing CanTeen to roll out specialist programs that deal with everything from grief and emotions to fun activities and team building.

A Surprise Gift

During the CSS gala dinner at our May conference in Coogee, Ross Wharton of Resource Trading in Kalgoorlie won a very select bottle of whiskey as a prize donated by Imex Lasers. He immediately asked us if we would like to auction the bottle off to see if we could raise a few dollars for our selected charity—CanTeen. Many of the attending suppliers donated items to the ‘pool lot’. In the end Tony Scali, on behalf of No1 Roofing and Building Supplies, won with a bid of $32,000. Prior to the auction, Jeff Wellard (CSS Managing Director) announced CSS would match the winning bid dollar for dollar, so the total jumped to $64,000. In addition to this, the CSS members attending the conference donated a further $4,650 dollars which took the grand total donation to an amazing $68,650.00. Paul Davy of CSS and Fred Hall (DBF Tools) then met with Ruby Hart, Victorian State Manager of Canteen, to present the donation. They explained the auction process. They never mentioned the final bid amount but rather just handed over the cheque from No.1 Roofing and Building Supplies for the $32,000. After letting Ruby catch her breath, they handed her the second cheque. Later, Ruby wrote a letter of thanks, saying: I am still finding the right words to acknowledge the significance of the donation. These funds support us to do incredibly important work with young people dealing with cancer, and support their families when life is turned upside down. It is truly a rare experience to receive the kind of support we have from you, your team and members of CSS.