Prosperbuild.com

28/09/2022

A non trivial matter. Understand the risks, then address them as we need. Hysteria does no good, but we can't ignore a problem and hope it just disappears.
My final point on the topic for today - waterblasting a house often does more harm than good - it strips timber, damages paint, pushes water into places where it can cause harm, and runs the risk of exposing and releasing asbestos. Soft bristled brush all the way.

Asbestos is New Zealand's number one workplace killer but experts say Kiwis are still ignoring the simple steps to avoid it.

22/09/2022

Yesterday I had a look at a reasonably new and nice house by Dunedin standards - largely still compliant to current code. There was a room with condensation, and a marginally damp chill, despite no possibility of external water getting into it.

After examining in depth condition of way north of 5000 houses over the last 14 years, there are some inescapable conclusions around the health, sustainability and indeed ongoing maintenance costs of buildings in this country.
This directly correlates with the health, sustainability and wealth of the occupants.

The solution is here, isn't new, isn't experimental and isn't unaffordable, especially when we account for total life cost.

Building or renovating? Go passive.

From ice on the inside of windows to a year-round temperature of 21C - Siân Taylor loves the benefit of her home. Are there any downsides?

14/04/2022

Thermal mass - the orange bit is warm... But heat rises you say...
Sure does, but the Orange part at the bottom of the wall is well insulated by the soil on the other side!

11/04/2022

Power hungry hedges - this one is neutral screen so lower risk, but always better to keep the hedges well shy of power and phone lines. You can get a free temporary power disconnection whole the work is being done - learn a bit more here:
https://www.auroraenergy.co.nz/assets/Files/Safety/Safety-Working-Guide-Final.pdf

30/10/2021

While this sounds encouraging, the math assumes once a house is built, it lives forever.
Councils also process demolition consents, but that isn't sexy to ruminate on. But the problem isn't the houses removed from stock, it's the ones that really should be removed - we build with a 50 year durability in mind.

Helping you make financial decisions

15/09/2021

Somewhat wowed this morning - a lovely gift and note came from Brian via chocolate foundry in Warkworth.

Often I will spend time on the phone talking people through the details of a home we have inspected. Occasionally, these people will buy a report, but frequently a purchase doesn't follow. I still take these phone calls knowing that, because I firmly believe you get what you give.
Brian, thanks for proving the principle, and my faith in humanity - good luck with property searches!

11/07/2021

Lead. Reasonably good timber preservative, but fairly problematic to the renovator. Or the person that buys a renovated house where due care hasn't been taken.
You don't need us to tell you if lead is present or not, DIY Test kits are readily available - but the first point is to know it exists. Painted timber on a house that predates the late 80s? Odds are good there is some lead. test.

Two years ago Ananda and Graeme Card were oblivious to an invisible threat dusted around their home.

09/07/2021

This has been an amazing journey for those involved - it got me interested in high performance building, thermal performance, building and health implications, and to be fair, the idea of immediate community is brilliant. And so nice and warm!

On a former school site in central Dunedin, one of New Zealand’s most ambitious housing experiments has finally come to fruition.

10/06/2021

These guys have a cool scheme, not fully functional yet, but looking good. Core issue I see is that most of us didn't become tradies because we desperately enjoyed academic study - but from my current position, so much in construction didn't make complete sense until I studied physics at university in my late 20s.

Bridging the "gap" between theory and practice can be a hard ask.

OPINION: The road to getting fully qualified is causing a serious and compounding skills shortage in the construction sector.

12/04/2021

Normal people are sneaking off to bed, or have been snoring for hours.

Me however - I find humour in the inane - for example:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2019/0088/latest/whole.html contrast definitions from schedule 2 with
https://www.standards.govt.nz/shop/nzs-42182009/ - particular attention to 1.2.2.

NZ likes to build the contradictions directly into the law - for maximum WTF.
Its a minefield - we aim to help you navigate it.

Specifies the thermal insulation requirements for housing and small buildings. It provides three methods for demonstrating compliance with the New Zealand Building Code: Schedule, Calculation and Modelling methods. It guides the achievement of minimum thermal resistance through balancing solar gains...