Aliwales

Hi !!

The question's in the title really? I wsa wondering how you can identify accommodation with the leaky house thingy without a survey, when looking for rental purposes? Are there any really obvious things... like the walls appear to be mini waterfalls????

Bo-Jangles

There's heaps of stuff on the internet if you Google something like 'identifying a leaky home' or similar

http://www.leakyhomeforum.co.nz/2008...-a-leaky-home/


Things to look out for:

Monolithic (plaster) cladding
No Eaves
Smell of damp
Flat roof
Integral Balconies and parapets
Thickness of the walls (i.e. no space for windowsills)
Mould

squarepants

Bo Jangles has already answered with regard to the actual leaky home thing, but if you're simply looking for a rental to live in - I would keep the following in mind based on our experiences:

Go view the houses first thing in the morning, by the afternoon the sun will have done it's job and they will have opened the windows to get rid of moisture. Think of living in a 70s council house with the metal window frames - you get the mould on the inside corners and in our rental there was mould on the vertical blinds (nice)

We've had more colds and coughs here in the last 10 months than we've had in the last 10 years - and I'm convinced it's because of the constant mould battle.

Don't touch anything without heating!!!!!!!! Anyone who tells you that you don't need it is either a liar or mentally unstable

If it's got a heat pump, ask about the insulation or your bills will be high. If you have a choice of properties - look for something with a wet back because your hot water will be free in the winter. I would also go for a wood burner over a heat pump because the electricity companies are allowed to raise their prices in the winter months. You can buy wood cheaply enough in the summer months and store it if you've got the space, and you often see signs outside peoples lifestyle sections offering cheap wood for burning.

That's my preference though, I've got friends who wouldn't touch a wood burner because they don't want the work. They're staunch heat pump fans.

I know it's not leaky, but we went with a brick and tile with big eves built in the 90s and thought we were being clever - the other morning i was in bed and it was so cold I could see my breath.

Genesis

Whilst the above are indeed reasons a house may leak there are some homes with the architectural feature noted above that do not leak. We have a flat roofed house with many of the above features (apart from the smell of damp!!). It is not a leaker or damp. Been in it 5 years plus and have done very, very, very invasive testing to ensure the home is dry (20 plus random hole in walls, ceilings etc.). I have been in many houses with none of these features and they are as damp as. Damp may not be a feature of a leaking home however, just poor ventilation and a lack of dehumidification via dehumidifiers of DVS systems. A friend of mine has a hugely $$ designer house and their bathroom ceiling is covered in black mould, I doubt for one minute this is beacause of water ingress rather crap air flow. And it is said there is no such thing a a hermetically sealed home, water will get into most homes in some degree or other. The trick is that the water coming in dries out quicker than it gets in. I read this on an NZ building forum thingy. My neighbour owns a home with none of the above features but has eaves only on the sides and not on the gables. Water poors in when there is a deluge. Did you know that the average family put around 30 litres of moisture into their home's interior everyday thru' breathing, cooking washing etc? Another reason dehumidification is so important.

janeyk

intresting in Welly there is not the issue as much as Auckland the banks in Auckland panic over a plaster house and moisture etc where as there are rows of them with flat roofs in Welly and not a problem!

Genesis

Apparently I have heard it is NOT the materials but THE APPLICATION of them. It appears that Auck must have had a few shoddy builders or those that applied the EIFS and the like simply did not know how to properly. I have a tad of optimism that my house was commisioned by a woman who got her brother to build it. Let's just hope the brother didn't have any payback he needed delivering back in 1991 to his sister!! Stil,l arvo almost 20 yrs one hopes severe issues would have surfaced by now..fingers crossed eh?

drrobert

Simple: Just ask when the house was built. Do not rent a property built between 1992 and 2005.

From the NZ Herald:

"The experts also warned that... 90 per cent of apartments, terraced houses and other multi-unit homes built between 1992 and 2005 would leak badly at some point."

simonsi

If only it was that simple, some friends of ours are renting a 3yr old property (so built 2007), that is damp as heck.....our 30yr old house (sparky´s assessment based on the wiring technology), is dry as a bone!

Genesis

AND to make it more confusing we have a typical design and construction leaky home. Everything about screams 'leaker'. Yet we have been here well over 5 years and apart from a few air flow issues UNDER the house (that were sorted by introducing ventilation) our house too is as dry as. There is no mould, no damp patches and no unpleasent smells. You never really know apparently..until you live in it for a while. I have even gone to the lengths as I mentioned previously to proactively try to find leaky bits but thus far am unable to. I only did the latter as researech showed our house should be laeking. Apparently 8 out of 10 of this type do leak. I guess I got lucky and having had the woman who commissioned it getting her bro' to put the place up hopefully means it was one of the few done right!!

pixie steps

We were simply told not to buy anything with plaster walls, even if it doesn't leak now it could leak in the future.

Best option is to get your own place built, then you can be sure it's ok. This is what we plan to do, probably on a lifestyle block so we've got space for animals.

Genesis

By and far the best option. Just make sure the builder is a good 'un!! I too would love to build a house but methinks I am stuck with this one!! No matter how dry it is if I ever try to sell it people will always suck their teeth and think 'leaker'. Ho hum I guess it will be my kids problem to shift it! Shame really because it is a really beautiful house in an incredible location. Kind of a nice place to be 'stuck'.

simonsi

Plaster doesn´t cause leaks, it hides leaks and holds damp....just so you know.

AndyR

Our rental in Auckland, although not a leaker, is definetly a damp house. Its a modern apartment block which looks great, but there is ZERO heating in the apartments. Was fine in summer, but come winter, holy crap it gets cold!! We had to invest in oil heaters and extra blankets, and I even went back to PJ's which I've not done since I was 5

And you wake up in the morning and all the windows are litterly gushing with moisture. We've also had more coughs/colds/sore throats in 10 months in NZ than I can care to remember.

Roll on the summer!

Genesis

All houses in NZ need either dehumidification OR a DVS system that circulates the air. I run 4 dehumidifiers. The average family 'sweat' 30 litres of water every day thru breathing, washing cooking et al. They are cheap to run, will give off ambient heat and HUGELY change the atmosphere of your house. Even when we had CH put in we found it hard to heat the house until we ran the dehumidifiers which expell some of the 30 litres a day we knock out. They are soooooooooooooooo worth it. Our house is snug, warm and bone dry as a result. If you choose not to all that moisture will go into your furnishings, bedding, plater wood and all.

Aliwales

Genesis

DIY is NOT my area of expertise!! Do u mena i can pop down to warehouse, pick up a litlle old capsular portable dehumidifier and wallah!!!!????

What I mean specifically is if im renting I need to invest in something i can take with me if i move on

Ali