It was early last year, that work began on Matt and Rebecca Macdonald’s new dream home in the Shiralee Estate. The slab went down, the frame went up, but then the work began to slow. Less and less was getting done each week, and then came the devastating blow: the builder, Wentworth Homes, had collapsed and gone into voluntary liquidation leaving the Macdonalds and several other clients in the lurch.

“It gutted me!” said Matt, who had just paid the builder their next $90,000 instalment.

“My wife was overseas at the time and I was here by myself — and I'm not a good one with paperwork — but  I had to organise it all myself and the insurance to see what we were actually covered for… it was a really stressful time.”

The build essentially stopped for the next six months, with quotes from other builders to finish the home coming in well above what Matt and Rebecca could afford.

“We went to the insurance company and they provided us with four builders, but they weren’t local and so you had builders from Sydney, Penrith, Dubbo and Wagga and their prices to finish the house were extreme... it would have been an extra $100,000,” said Matt.

“We were at a stage where we couldn’t have afforded to finish it through those builders… it would have sat here and got little bits done here and there and it probably would have taken another twelve months to finish.”

But then Matt said they were approached by Michael and Kelli Paddison from Contemporary Homes.

“They had obviously heard what was going on in town and they are building houses in this area and they'd see this sitting here, so they approached me to finish it off and they were well under everyone else’s quote, well under!” said Matt.

For Michael and Kelli, taking on the Macdonald’s job was not about making money, but rather righting a wrong that had been done and one that tarnishes people’s perception of the building industry.

“You hear bad stories about cowboy builders all the time and it annoys me,” said Michael.

“Orange is full of brilliant builders, but unfortunately it only takes a couple bad people to muck it up for the rest of us.”

“I guess what we wanted to do was give a little bit back to people that had a bad experience in the building industry and actually give them something to make them feel good about the whole industry again,” added Kelli.

“You hear these stories and the problem with that is every builder gets tarred with the same brush, even though there are so many great builders in Orange and they all do amazing work, it just takes one person to ruin the whole industry experience for everyone.

“We couldn’t believe someone would do that to a normal, average Australian family I guess.”

In two-and-a-half months, Michael and his team were able to finish the job and Michael and his family moved in just over a month ago.

“It was an amazing feeling, we still can't believe it,” said Michael. “They’ve done such a fantastic job and I don't believe I would have got the house I've got now with the previous builder.”

“I told both of them from day dot that I will turn this experience around,” said Michael.“

I said I guarantee you two that at the end of this build, you will love this house and move in to it, and you will build again — and I think they are over the moon with it!”

“And we were pretty happy about turning that house around too,” said Kelli. “It was probably one of the best experiences we've had at the end there, they were so happy with it.”

“We just want to turn it around and give these guys a good build,” said Michael. “It wasn’t something that you make a lot of money out of, but the personal reward you get out of it is worth more than anything.

“We make a good living in this industry, we work hard at it, but we make a good living. And to give a little bit back to the industry we take so much out of it was pretty satisfying.”