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| Thread ID: 122985 | 2012-01-26 00:52:00 | Advice on repairing my house cladding anyone? | dugimodo (138) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1255902 | 2012-01-26 00:52:00 | So I got a bit of a scare today, had a builder round to quote on some bathroom work and he pointed out the cracks in my exterior cladding and explained how I need to get them fixed or risk potential water damage. The cladding is the monolithic type with a textured plaster finish over a hardyplank type sheet. My house is made from tri-board which is fairly resilient but it is not water or rot proof. So I did a bit of online research and am horrified to find that I have most of the features of a leaky home and am 4 years past the claim cut-off. So, can anyone recommend someone who repairs house cladding in the Waikato region or offer any suggestions as to what I do next? I think I should be safe to just get it repaired but my reading suggests the only completey safe solution is recladding the house and that is a scary prospect financially. I'm pretty concerned but really need an expert opinion. The leaky home characteristics I found are; 1. No Eaves - yep got me there, I don't have any. Strike 1 2. Monolithic cladding - Yeah and cracking on the corners and around the windows. Strike 2 3. Untreated timber framing - Dunno on this point, triboard housing doesn't really have framing just 50mm battens and I don't know how I'd tell if they are treated 4. No cavity between the cladding and the framing - yeah, fairly certain the cladding only has building paper between it and the battens. Strike 3 5. Windows / Doors / Flashings etc not properly sealed - No Idea on this point. So you can understand my concern, I have at least 3 potential issues. I'm kicking myself because when the leaky home scare was first in the news I read up and decided I was fine. |
dugimodo (138) | ||
| 1255903 | 2012-01-26 01:14:00 | First thing that came to mind ... leaky home syndrome ... soon as you mentioned monolithic cladding ... sorry to say. Having said that, I don't actually know what the process is from this point. Maybe someone on the forum has first hand experience of what you should / have to do to get the problem sorted. |
SP8's (9836) | ||
| 1255904 | 2012-01-26 01:23:00 | Buy the latest issue of "North&South" Has a lot of articles on this subject, but be warned, not nice reading in your situation. | Peter H (220) | ||
| 1255905 | 2012-01-26 01:58:00 | The leaky homes claims process is only valid 10 years from the build date of the house, mine is 14 years old so I can't claim anything. I just have to sort it out myself so I'm looking for a relaible expert to tell me what needs to be done and/ or a good contractor to make some repairs. | dugimodo (138) | ||
| 1255906 | 2012-01-26 02:02:00 | With those leaky homes, what you will find its the builders that are to blame, at fault the majority of the time. They take shortcuts and didn't do the job correctly in the first place. I know someone who did a lot of the plaster, exterior finishing on many many houses, and they have said some of the building work is disgusting and obviously not done to spec. The exterior finishes, while they are flexible to a degree, they are not designed to move and flex as much as they do when the builders stuff up. Classic example if a wall moves 15mm for example, the coating will no way flex that much, so it cracks. There have been several programs on TV and you only have to have a look at the building work to see walls moving etc. Not all builders did ratty jobs, but there were a few. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 1255907 | 2012-01-26 03:10:00 | So I got a bit of a scare today, had a builder round to quote on some bathroom work and he pointed out the cracks in my exterior cladding and explained how I need to get them fixed or risk potential water damage. The cladding is the monolithic type with a textured plaster finish over a hardyplank type sheet. My house is made from tri-board which is fairly resilient but it is not water or rot proof. So I did a bit of online research and am horrified to find that I have most of the features of a leaky home and am 4 years past the claim cut-off. So, can anyone recommend someone who repairs house cladding in the Waikato region or offer any suggestions as to what I do next? I think I should be safe to just get it repaired but my reading suggests the only completey safe solution is recladding the house and that is a scary prospect financially. I'm pretty concerned but really need an expert opinion. The leaky home characteristics I found are; 1. No Eaves - yep got me there, I don't have any. Strike 1 2. Monolithic cladding - Yeah and cracking on the corners and around the windows. Strike 2 3. Untreated timber framing - Dunno on this point, triboard housing doesn't really have framing just 50mm battens and I don't know how I'd tell if they are treated 4. No cavity between the cladding and the framing - yeah, fairly certain the cladding only has building paper between it and the battens. Strike 3 5. Windows / Doors / Flashings etc not properly sealed - No Idea on this point. So you can understand my concern, I have at least 3 potential issues. I'm kicking myself because when the leaky home scare was first in the news I read up and decided I was fine. Try contacting Prendos... |
johcar (6283) | ||
| 1255908 | 2012-01-26 03:20:00 | With those leaky homes, what you will find its the builders that are to blame, at fault the majority of the time. They take shortcuts and didn't do the job correctly in the first place. I know someone who did a lot of the plaster, exterior finishing on many many houses, and they have said some of the building work is disgusting and obviously not done to spec. The exterior finishes, while they are flexible to a degree, they are not designed to move and flex as much as they do when the builders stuff up. Classic example if a wall moves 15mm for example, the coating will no way flex that much, so it cracks. There have been several programs on TV and you only have to have a look at the building work to see walls moving etc. Not all builders did ratty jobs, but there were a few. I'm not defending builders per se, being an ex one myself. But you have to remember all this work was signed off by the councils, AND some of those Architects who designed stuff that hasn't been tried and tested need to shoulder some of the blame. At the end of the day dodgy work is dodgy work and there is no way the builders hsould have been able to get away with it if the inspectors were doing there work properly and had pulled them up on the dodgy work |
gary67 (56) | ||
| 1255909 | 2012-01-26 03:48:00 | Some of it is builders, some is poor building practices that were mistakenly believed to be acceptable, most of which are basically cost cutting . If the design is at fault no amount of building skill will fix it . Moral of the story, Houses need eaves and proper cladding especially in our climate . The building standards were tightened up a few years back, but unfortunately my house was built in the period before that (1997 actually) . I've E-mailed Prendos to see if they are able to help so I'll wait and see . What I'm really after is an expert opinion on whether I can just have the cracks repaired and repaint the house, or whether it needs recladding . Either way it seems I'm screwed, the house would be hard to sell in it's current condition and I couldn't just do a patch up job to sell it either (legally or morally) and from what I read houses with this type of cladding are harder to sell even if there is no leak problems because of the stigma now attached to monolithic cladding . Recladding will cost a fortune and add very little to the value of the house . It's not that I was planning to sell anyway but this pretty much takes away the option, I could probably ignore it for a while longer but now that I know about it I can't really see that happening . |
dugimodo (138) | ||
| 1255910 | 2012-01-26 04:28:00 | Advice on repairing my house cladding anyone? Sell. Cheaply. (the house that is) |
pine-o-cleen (2955) | ||
| 1255911 | 2012-01-26 06:38:00 | With those leaky homes, what you will find its the builders that are to blame, at fault the majority of the time. They take shortcuts and didn't do the job correctly in the first place. Disagree with you there as I reckon architects are probably about 70% to blame with the builders the rest but at the end of the day the leaky homes should not have been signed off. The architect Roger Leaky Walker would have been about the first one creating leaky homes with his unusual designs. I have worked on two of his. Both leaked and they were terrible to work on. Four buildings he has designed have been pulled down before their useful term of life should have been over. Masterton's Center Point is one. |
mikebartnz (21) | ||
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