About Us
History Of Ideal Buildings
Ideal began, in 1964, as Ideal Garaging Limited after Don Mosley and Mick Elms, working together at a heavy engineering company in Auckland, New Zealand, recognized a desperate need for low cost, easy to construct, attractive, garages. The name came about through a brainstorming session. The company needed a great name and what better than “Ideal”?
The first display yard was on the corner of Great South Rd and Penrose Rd, Penrose. With demand booming, they quickly outgrew this site and purchased a larger piece of land just around the corner in Gavin Street.
Don and Mick employed an engineer to help them design a garage range with modular components to reduce costs for clients and speed construction without compromising quality.
The early garages contained rafters to support the roof. These evolved into roof trusses. Fixed together with nail plates – these would span further and were quicker and easier to install. Rebated studs and plates contributed to the garages clean lines and street appeal.
Even in those very early days, Ideal Garaging brand stood for quality and used only the best materials and quality tradespeople.
In 1970 Don and Mick sold the business to Sir Henry Kelleher (of Dominion Breweries). At this time the business was selling more than two garages a day in Auckland city.
The next owners, Tom John and Keith Budden, both with accountancy backgrounds, saw the potential in the business and purchased it from Sir Henry in the 1970’s. Over the next ten years, they built a sizeable distributor network throughout New Zealand with around 15 distributors.
In the early 1980’s Tom Johns bought Keith Budden out of the business to become the sole owner.
In 1990 Ideal released the new cladding profile to the market, it was called “Deluxe”. This was an innovative and forward thinking step. Deluxe cladding, and the new Line Deluxe profile are a profiled metal cladding designed to look like standard timber or fibre cement weatherboard.
In 1995 Ideal released the “Designer Series” to the market, this range involved roof trusses of various pitches, and alternative claddings to match a variety of style of houses.