xxElainexx

Hi to one and all,

Can anyone reccommend the type/style of house to purchase in NZ. Have read so many are timber built and can be very costly to maintain as well as being very cold to live in the winter...would like double glazing and some sort of heating system, am l expecting too much....

Thanks
xxElainexx

Lee Lee

Hi Elaine

We have not long been home from a trip to Christchurch and while we were there we had a good look round the show homes. They are fantastic and we were shocked at how reasonable the cost of building your own home was. The companies also had house & land packages for sale if you dont want the hassle of picking plots & Plans

We were told that lots of people are now having built or buying new homes because of the very problems you are mentioning. The new homes have double glazing and lots of them had beautiful fire places and i think what they called heat pumps - look like the air con units that you can have fitted to your walls so then you have heat in the winter and cool air for summer. You have the option of either or both and I also noticed lots have optional fire places in the living areas. So as much or as little as you want.

I hope what I've told you is correct (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and sorry if I've just told you a load of stuff you already knew

Just incase your interested some of the companies are:

Stonewood homes (really good website with lots of plans)
Orange homes
GJ Gardner (also has lots of plans)
Artisan homes
David Magill builders
Benchmark homes
Today homes

We looked around these homes either on the Pegasus or Gainsborough estates. www.pegasustown.com & www.grd.co.nz

I loved looking at all the plans and I've also heard you can change them as much or as little as you require - how exciting to pick your own home

xxElainexx

Thank you for help. You've given us lots to think about!.. We have a property consultant contacting us this evening from NZ so shall of course be bearing in mind the details you have sent via BE. Shall def go look at the sites you've given...again many thanks ....xxElainexx

alanmacc

Hi Elaine

Welcome to the forum, you might find some info in this thread too, http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=613549
We built a new house here and had fun doing it

Genesis

One that is new, well insulated with D/Glazing (argon filled with low E glass), well positioned for sun capture, central heating (gas) and a wood burner. Also ensure you have a quality air circulation kit in your roof space..this will help reduce humidty (its a REAL issue here) ......... I have no roof space (flat roof) thus I need to run 5/6 dehumidifiers...just because of the damp climate and cooking, showering and BREATHING!!!!

Wellington Will

I love the old-style villas, especially in Wellington. Some of them go back to Edwardian or earlier and they have high ceilings and some real good looks.

But I'm beginning to wonder if I want to buy one.

The one we're renting is really cold at the moment. Has mice, draughts, mouldy cupboards and needs a paint. That, apparently costs upwards of 30,000 dollars for a four-bed house as this is.

I think I'd like to go for a modern build with insulation and proper heating - or build my own.

Or... buy a cheaper than you'd like property with a bit of class, and renovate.

NakiMan

I wouldn't be too worried about timber homes. Despite what you may read in this (or other) Forums they dont have to be cold and damp. If well built, Insulated and properly orientated, the can be very warm and cosy. After all millions of Canadians cant be wrong

Personally, I'd look for a North facing timber frame with fiber cement weatherboarding, built after the late 70s.

BEVS

To be honest Elaine, you will not know until you get here and look at a few & get reports.

We have a 35 yr old house which is perfectly warm and insulated. It is built of cedar wood.

xxElainexx

Hi there to you all,

Many thanks for your detailed messages you've been great....all we have to do now is to get into that glorious country...fingers crossed. We are however hoping to make a trip over in April next year if our assessment says we can fill in an EOI, we can then see for ourselves as some of you say what the different types of houses are available. So hoping we can do this ....

Again many thanks to you all...
kind regards
xxElainexx

chocolate cake

Agree, about Timber homes, it's just that too many of them are cold, damp and poorly insulated.

Building your own might be an option depending on where you plan livingand whether there is still land available.

Mgee

Too many of the timber homes in NZ are cold, damp and poorly insulated. I haven't yet had the pleasure of living in one in NZ (and hope I'll never have if they are indeed like that), but have lived in timber homes for 25+ years of my life, and trust me, not one of them has been cold, damp or poorly insulated. It really is a NZ specific thing, and has more to do with cheaper and poorer standards of building than timber/wood as a material.

Kiwi-Irish

Its so incredibly sh*t. Loads of poorly made mchouses/mcmansions - as they call them - sorry but it just winds me up no-end
Hey, ... worst comes to worst, one can buy and live in a one bedroom flat or studio, at least its cheap to heat ...

mickey_d

You need some air grilles fitting to your outside walls & internal doors.You don't need these fancy air circulation kits!!!The houses over here are basically sealed boxes, so you are bound to get humid air from cooking, showering & breathing etc.!!! You should not need to be using 5/6 dehumidifiers, we don't even need to use ours now.
Our first two houses in the UK both had numerous airbricks & were fine, our last modern house didn't & we had weeping windows & a couple of tanks full from the dehumidifier every day. That was solved by airbricks being installed.
Our house here felt cool & damp, so I got my Dad to get some air grilles from B&Q & send them over, cost me about $80, problem solved, the difference is amazing. The warm air from the wood burner now flows nicely through the house as well, no need for heat transfer systems!!

Genesis

Thanks for the advice but we have one of these types of houses that cannot have the exterior walls punctured, its a system where the exterior has to remain as much as possible hemetically sealed. As for the internal doors every door in out house is open...don't know why we bother with them!!!! The main problem we have is that all the beds are down stairs and at the back which gets little sun (a real boon in the heat of summer) but a tad frigid come winter. We do circulate air as best we can on clement days and our dehumidifiers work so well and are very cheap to run..about $1.50 per night for all 5 on cheap tarrif leccy. The other issue with the air grilles is that they will let frigid air in aye..I understand the airflow principal but the last thing we need is cold winter air blasting in!!!! How does that work for you??

mickey_d

It doesn't blast through, if you put your hand right up to them you can feel cool air, but it doesn't cool the rooms down. We can shut them off if it does get draughty but they are well placed to avoid cold winds. You probably had them in the UK anyway so you know how they work. But, how many times do you here it said on here "it's warmer outside than inside".?
My OH's uncle had a building & damp proofing business in the UK & he always says it was double glazing & air bricks being blocked off (filled with cement) that made him a millionaire, hundreds of damp houses appearing in the 80's & 90's.