jmh

I love those old houses, but you're right. You'd need to do a bit of work to get it up to modern day standards. Good solid wood construction though.

shocked kiwi

Mother nature is not favouring nz at the moment - things are turning to shite in terms of slips, floods, droughts and earthquakes, freezing cold winters (never was like that in my childhood in nz) so the old wooden dungers don't cope. Get a house that is quite new and you should be right (just check its not leaky first though if moving to Auckland)

Snap Shot

Did you get fired from the NZ tourist board ?

babybella

Iv'e gone that, given up trying to sort it myself and got a man to come fix it.
I am working but got lunch break 12.30 I'll txt u when leaving to see if you are still there.
Kaz

babybella

Forgot to say, I an agent tells you the house doesn't get that cold which is why there is no heating, run for the hills cause they are so lying.
Kaz

jmh

He's been hired by the government to cut immigration.

shocked kiwi

lol - no just got the info about the slips and floods from the paper from a few days ago

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/weather/ne...ectid=10891037

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/new...ace-flood-risk.

Hokey-pokey

Im guessing Im a fair bit older then you Shocked Kiwi ( Im in my 40's ).

I remember the Abbortsford landslide in Dunedin very clearly. I was about 12 and the images of all those houses tumbling down that hill are still with me.

I've never been keen on wanting to live in a house on a hill since then ( or at the bottom of one for that matter )

Sadly these events have always been with us.

old dragon

We moved into a 90s brick and tile in Pommie-moa, the agent laughed when I asked about heating and said we didn't need it because it never got really cold. If there was a god, he'd have stuck her down with lightening for looking me in the face and telling that lie!

In the winter, it got so cold - you could lie in bed in the morning and see your breath on the air. I used to sleep in fleece pjs and a Wolfskin fleece I used to wear horse riding in the snow back in UK.

We suffered more illness in 18 months there, than 20 years collectively. My kids were constantly ill with chest infections and colds, the whole family got bronchitis - and every week, I used to pick a room and just go hard with regard to cleaning the mould from the window frames,blinds and back of furniture. i'd rotate weekly, so that no room ever went longer than 9 weeks without a good scrub. BUT, it was a miserable way to spend days off, and I've probably caused who knows what damage to my respiratory system with the bleach and chemical fumes I inhaled.

Once our lease was up, we moved into an older wooden house which was insulated in the roof (but you can see daylight through the gaps in the floor - so lots of carpets and rugs) but it has a wet back, HRV and solar hot water.

We still run our dehumidifiers 24/7, but the wetback and solar save us over $100 a month in the summer, and $250 a month in the winter.

Even with the floor issues, it's dry and warmer than the old house.

I made super heavy, triple lined curtains which are too long (no gaps at the floor) and we've put econo heaters up in the bedrooms and bathrooms (11c an hour to run, and they have timers - $88 each from warehouse).

The children haven't been ill once since moving here, I haven't had to clean mould off anything - and we're all a lot more comfortable and happier as a consequence.

We've just purchased the house from the L/L, so flat broke and no money to do anything, however next summer - we'll insulate under the floors and also look at a wool insulation which can be piped into the walls.

If we were ever renting again, we'd stay away from brick and tile unless it was built after 2010 (but even then check that it has insulation)

We wouldn't consider anything without a wood burner, unless it was a new house with double glazing and insulation.

The extra you would pay in rent, you more than make up for in health and comfort. (IMO)

You do have to take into account the cost of wood, but you can buy cheaper in the summer and store it yourself. You'll pay a lot more for wood in the winter, especially wood that has been cut a year before, because it burns hotter and lasts longer.

We've gotten pretty good with the fire - we're rural and some of the local farmers have pointed us in the right direction with choice of woods. We can get the thing really hot, then turn it down so it burns slowly all night. Gives us a toasty house in the morning and free hot water.

If you can find a way to heat your home efficiently so that you're comfortable and you keep mould and illness at bay, it makes an enormous difference to your happiness and well being.

I never realised how awful life is, when your home becomes a place of dread and every family member hates being there.We actually used to go outside and find things to do because it was warmer - I think this may be the reason the kiwis like outdoors so much!

Apologies for ramble, I wouldn't want anyone else to make the same mistakes we did. It's an expensive way to learn the lesson.

BEVS

Mod hat off.


Then you need to re-read and understand what happened there . I know that road and that lady was known to me.
You also need to spend time enlarging your reading matter to include world wide weather affairs and the impact this has always had on people , structures, environments.

So. Get your facts right or , basically, shut up.

Snap Shot

Bevs, I wondered if you knew the lady that was tragically killed when her house was destroyed by a landslide. I'm sorry that she died in such tragic and shocking circumstances.

elk1973

Hahahaha love the common sense factor! yea we'll be renting so alot of kittng out wouldn't be for us just yet. I think its about making sensible choices when renting.

Bo-Jangles

Agree with you 100% Old dragon, it can be very much a make or break situation. Our first six months in NZ were the most miserable, bleak and darkest time of our lives due to being in a poxy cold house with no heating.

Of course we did the usual thing and load up on leccy radiators from the Warehouse, but that idea was ill-conceived and short lived; usually lasting only until you get the first shocker of a $500+ leccy bill before you figure other tweaks and inventive ideas to make the place warm.

pixiewink

Apart for the cost....adding the cost of heating improvements to the purchase price...soon adds up....as we have found out!

pixiewink

......We have rented one house since we arrived in NZ...nearly 8 yrs ago...it was a 4 bed brick house...it was soo cold even in the warmer months....

We purchased our own house as soon as we could.....we are now in our 3rd own house they all have been cold...one you could see your breath in the bedrooms.....

Have been known to go to bed with hat, dressing gown & full thermal PJ's & socks....sounds like utopia eh!

Some days it is warmer outside than inside on those frosty...sunny Canterbury mornings....!!!

The house we are in is very old by NZ standards...built in 1910..we added an HRV when we purchased it....as the damp readings were high...It already had an Eco Log Burner installed...Eco Burners now mandatory in our area....- they are rubbish!!! No damping down...so the fire goes out unless you continously feed it wood.....

However the first winter we had a shock....it was so cold....we had oil heaters & an eco panel heater on timers.....i nearly died when we got our electric bill...$610...for a MONTH!!!!!!!! and the house was never really warm!!!!

So all the heaters were turned off...& only put on if it was really really really cold....got the bill down to $400pm for the rest of the winter......plus 4 cords of wood!!!!

We have added a heatpump & ceiling insulation & banned heaters! The heatpump takes off the chill...but its hard heating such a large area....

I am waiting for the first winters bill to come in.... it was was worth shedding out 3k for a heatpump.....

Houses are cold...they are not the same as back home...I soooooo miss my radiators....even 8 years on.....