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Experienced renovator Wayne Beckwith might be contemplating retirement, but he shows no signs of slowing down. Wayne tirelessly shares his wide knowledge and experience with Bunnings Workshop community members almost every day.
Known as Nailbag in the community, Wayne has made nearly 1000 posts this year and also contributed inspiring projects from his Mornington Peninsula home he shares with wife Kate and dog Sally.
“I found an opportunity to share my knowledge directly to those new to D.I.Y.” says Wayne. “I started Nailbag up again about a year ago and have been very busy most nights ever since.”
Now in his early 60s, D.I.Y. has always been a part of Wayne’s life, with the majority of his skills self-taught.
“As a kid I was always making stuff, from electronics to wooden projects,” explains Wayne. “When I bought my first house it had a one-metre-drop off the back sliding door as there was no deck. Not being able to afford to have one built, and without any prior knowledge or experience, this was my first major project. Unless it is electrical or plumbing, I have always had a crack at doing it myself ever since”.
Experience in transforming homes
A financial setback a few decades ago set Wayne on the path to renovating homes.
“I was very fortunate that my parents helped me out with a deposit for an old basic home in a good area. I was going to have a crack at renovating to hopefully sell it and make a decent profit so I could afford to do it again and again.”
“I don’t class myself as a ‘house flipper’ as each of the five homes I have completed have taken several years. It takes time to do things properly, especially working full time and with the cost of materials. That first house we presented to potential buyers ourselves - one family spent two hours looking through it and bought it within 24 hours of being on the market.”
With five complete renovations under his belt, Wayne has trouble narrowing down his favourite project.
“It’s not a single project, but a series of major ones that transformed our last house which was a very dated late 70’s built into a very modern home. There wasn’t anything internally that resembled the original, with many external major structural changes and a garden makeover to complete the facelift. With my wife’s support, we transformed the house over three years. The enormity of the transformation and working through Covid made it also the most challenging project to date.”
The renovation included creating a formal entrance from a single car garage, an open-plan transformation from a 70s dining room, a floating hearth fireplace and timber feature wall, building a timber front fence with concealed gate, plus a master bathroom makeover.
Helping people prepare their homes for sale
Wayne’s working career has been as diverse as his many projects. Starting out with eight years in the television industry, he then mowed lawns and tried retail sales before landing in the power tool and power garden industry for over 30 years.
“I went from sales to training and running major events. It gave me the opportunity to work all over the world. A year ago though, I made a major career change and am now self-employed, mainly aimed at helping people prepare their homes for sale, or ones they have just bought that might need extra work.”
Recently Wayne says he has started to “wind down from full time work to semi-retirement to catch up to most of my mates already there!”
Wayne and Kate have two adult children - a son who lives 20 minutes away and a daughter living in London. Hoping to be grandparents soon, the pair recently bought caravan which they use to get away for snorkelling and surfing adventures.
Tools of the trade
Wayne describes his home workshop as “very neat and well organised, with everything having its place”. Being organised is now even more important since starting his own business.
“At any time I know what to grab and where it is to complete a task or project. Prepping houses for sale can mean six to eight completely different tasks in a day. So, being very well organised is essential.”
Wayne says all his tools are cordless apart from his pressure washer. “In my line of work, they probably are all my favourites when needed. My impact driver gets the most use and I could not live without it for sure.
"But my multi-tool might sneak in at number one as a favourite as it has so many uses. I also recently bought my first self-levelling laser, which I have since used on a few jobs, making life so much easier.”
Sharing advice
Wayne believes he has accumulated skills and knowledge from watching, listening and learning. He used to walk through homes under construction and note how different sections were built, trying to learn as much as he could from professional tradespeople.
Wayne advises people “not to blindly accept tips and how-to’s from social media”. He also recommends taking the long way back to the register at Bunnings even when he’s got what he needs. “Bunnings has been diversifying their range. So these days I’m often spotting products I’ve not seen before. I place them in the memory bank, or if it’s really something special I’ll take a photo.”
Bunnings Workshop community members might be disappointed to hear that Wayne doesn’t have any personal projects on the horizon as he considers his home renovation now complete. “My new projects come from my house improvement/preparation business, which range in scale.
“I definitely enjoy the ones that provide opportunity for some form of transformation and the ability to give it that wow factor.”
