[nickydwuk]

I was watching a programme on housing in NZ recently and the owners mentioned that the roof would need replacing within the next few years. How often do the roofs need replacing? Is this just the corrugated iron roofs? How much would it cost? Sorry about all the questions but these things could eat into our budget and we want to be prepared :)

[james the mechanic]

We looked at a 3 bed house with a tin roof like a sieve; I spoke to a local builder who said it would cost a maximum of $5k. Although a competent DIY’er, could certainly replace it for less.
Corrugated tin is generally well galvanised and if correctly fitted it should last at least 25 years.
You will find a lot of roofs in NZ that may a first look like they’re tiled, are in fact pressed steel tiles covered with a fine grit. These are called Decra and are mainly but not exclusively used on houses that were originally built with tin roofs, as they are a light weight alternative to tiles or slates. The roof structure would rarely support the added weight of tiles/slates without replacement making Decra more economical. Decra will certainly outlast traditional tin but will certainly be far more expensive. Another advantage is that rain makes less noise on Decra.
Hope that helps
James

[The Hodges]

Hi there,

Have a look at Consumer Build's (http://www.consumerbuild.org.nz/publish/maintenance-roofs.php) take on maintenance of roofs, which also gives some information of the different types.

If you're from the UK and you're expecting slate, clay or concrete tiles, then they are very very rare. Since I have arrived here, I have only seen a few concrete tiled roofs, and they these were on a few posh and (need I say it) expensive houses. As far as I can ascertain, they are a luxury.

The NZ building code states that non-structural roof coverings must last a minimum of 15 years, but as James says, your typical metal roof should last in the region of 25 years, dependant on the proximity to the coast, colour of the surface coating etc. Obviously, this is all with the correct maintenance.

I'm not sure on the cost though, as I haven't had to replace one, yet, although I've seen lots that have needed replacement...

Hopefully this answers your questions. If not let us know.

[auskiwi]

We had two roofing quotes to replace a fibre cement roof with coloursteel. The quotes were both around $12000 for our standard size 3 bedroom house in Auckland. My OH ended up buying the coloursteel direct from the supplier and installed the roof himself (with the help of Oregonkiwi's OH!). The total cost ended up being around $4500 - so, my advice is do it yourself if possible, otherwise the quote someone provided of $5000 is a bargain!

Amy.

[Moorf]

Our roof here is (forgive my lack of technical jargon) that metal pressed in to "roof tile" shape and then coated with gritty stuff. :o

We have quite a large roof area (not cos house is big,it's not, it's just a whacky roof set up!) The cost to recoat it, due soon (and budgeted for, don't panic!) will be substantial. We'll be looking at somewhere in the order of $15k.

Not cheap, and always a good thing to look at when buying a house because, as others have said, 25 yrs is the average roof life for that material and you can use this as a bargaining chip.

For our house in Chch, which I would say had an average roof span/area, we were quoted around $9k to have new colorsteel roof put on.

HTH
Moorf

[james the mechanic]

I think re-roofing may cost more in Auckland (like a lot of things) my price was for traditional corrugated iron on a single storey, 3 bed house, with good access all around, in Hawke’s Bay, by a local builder. Of course modern materials like Colour-steel and Decra will cost more, as would new spouting (gutters) if also required.
James

[John Z]

............
We have quite a large roof area (not cos house is big,it's not, it's just a whacky roof set up!)

If the house is not big, but your roof is, that may have some advantages, like if there's a large overhang: more shade on the walls and less rain on the walls (Less wear and tear from the climate). It even could have a positive effect for your foundation, but I have no idea what your house actually looks like.

The only thing I'm trying to say is that some things in a design may seem strange or even stupid, but actually are very smart.

If this is not the case I'm really curious about your "whacky roof set up".

John Z

[The Hodges]

I think re-roofing may cost more in Auckland (like a lot of things)

Not necessarily, as transporting materials to the rural parts of NZ costs more than it would to a large city. If you're interested, I can give you the relative costs of building in each region, but you'd have to wait until tomorrow when I'm in work.

However, thinking about the original question posted by nickydwuk, if you are concerned about the roof, make the offer on the house conditional to survey and if the survey does pick up any significant expense, renogiate the price. Good luck.

[Moorf]

It's hard to explain the roof set-up - this photo might help.


http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Moorf/waddingtonhouse.jpg

[nippa&pippa]

Moorf, that first time i have seen your house, WOW!

[katandbob]

It's hard to explain the roof set-up - this photo might help.


http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Moorf/waddingtonhouse.jpg

ahh that pic brought back memories, can you remember me telling you that I had that pegged as a house I'd like:)

What I noticed now, after being here in NZ for a year, is that there are a lot of trees around your house, do they shade the house? or have you been pruning;)

Kat...

PS I have a tin roof with green paint on it, the paint is supposed to last 10 yrs and has anti-bacterial properties:confused: or so the papers said on the house sale!

[Moorf]

Funnily enough Kat, we have had major tree work done. The house was vastly overplanted near to the house. That picture was taken before we bought it nearly 2 yrs ago.

Over that time we've had approximately 14 large trees removed and had many of the overgrown shrubs cut back from the house. It was amazing the difference. It's a strategic thinning out as we need to consider the weather/winds, and I've already earmarked about 5 more to go. I love mature trees so didn't want to go mad all at once and am doing it year by year. It's getting there! I quite fancy getting another aerial shot done - I believe the local estate agent took this one for the house sale, it's done with a helium balloon with a camera attached!

[John Z]

It's hard to explain the roof set-up - this photo might help.


http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Moorf/waddingtonhouse.jpg

Ah, like it a lot already, (hope the detailling is as good and the connecting structures). Sorry for being "rude" but, the metal roof "tiles" seem totally out of style though, I'd expect real tiles or flat metal plates to compliment the contemporary design. I'm 100% sure it also would bring up the market value, considering the rest of the house is designed well too. I do not think you have a whacky roof, but I tend to think the metal "tiles" might be...

The only reason why I'm telling this, is that you're at a stage of doing something about them. This may be the perfect moment (in a few months :) ) to consider replacing them?

Looks like a nice house in a nice place.

Cheers, John Z

Edit: one thing I may have overlooked in my above story: I do not know about the exact costs of tiles in NZ now, my story was related to "normal" (european) costs. So this might change the context.

[katandbob]

Funnily enough Kat, we have had major tree work done. The house was vastly overplanted near to the house. That picture was taken before we bought it nearly 2 yrs ago.

Over that time we've had approximately 14 large trees removed and had many of the overgrown shrubs cut back from the house. It was amazing the difference. It's a strategic thinning out as we need to consider the weather/winds, and I've already earmarked about 5 more to go. I love mature trees so didn't want to go mad all at once and am doing it year by year. It's getting there! I quite fancy getting another aerial shot done - I believe the local estate agent took this one for the house sale, it's done with a helium balloon with a camera attached!

have you tried your local council? ours has aerial photos of Invercargill (got them to email me ours before I left:nice1

See you next month - Kat

[Moorf]

Sorry for being "rude" but, the metal roof "tiles" seem totally out of style though, I'd expect real tiles or flat metal plates to compliment the contemporary design.

Hi John

The house is actually 30 yrs old (built 1976 by an architect called Brian Collett who is now an award winning retail architect). I suspect the tiles were quite contemporary back then ;). It's a very whacky house through and through with not many right-angles and round windows which had HUGE purple plastic pods on the outside (a bit Space 1999) but the previous people removed them and they are now in the shed!

Are you an architect yourself?

Moorf

[Moorf]

have you tried your local council? ours has aerial photos of Invercargill (got them to email me ours before I left:nice1

No, I haven't, but I will do now! Thanks for that tip. I did try Google Earth but that is quite out of date too by the looks of it.

Cheers and see you soon! :cheers

Moorf

[katandbob]

No, I haven't, but I will do now! Thanks for that tip. I did try Google Earth but that is quite out of date too by the looks of it.

Cheers and see you soon! :cheers

Moorf

we have a great big cloud over greenhills on Google earth:( LOL

Cya soon

Kat

[John Z]

Hi John

The house is actually 30 yrs old (built 1976 by an architect called Brian Collett who is now an award winning retail architect). I suspect the tiles were quite contemporary back then ;). It's a very whacky house through and through with not many right-angles and round windows which had HUGE purple plastic pods on the outside (a bit Space 1999) but the previous people removed them and they are now in the shed!

Are you an architect yourself?

Moorf

Is it obvious?:roll I'm an award-winning architectural-, industrial designer with great interest in anything related: jewellry design (I'm also a silversmith), painting and music. In short: I think I am a holistic designer: from music I learned to look at rhytm in buildings, from painting I learned the emotional impact of colours, but also things like balance and tension. I love to incorporate humor in design (whimsical detailing like Frank Lloyd Wright did) and therefore I can apreciate things like "huge puple plastic pods". Not in my own designs though, they belong to that particular era.

I've seen these metal tiles only since about ten, maybe fifteen years, so I'm still asking myself whether they were in the original design, or that they were added by a former owner?

It seems Brian Collet is still alive? Love to meet him and see what he's done later, now. The house in my avatar is a design specifically for rural Spain. My wife would like me to design something similar in NZ, but I think it will be something less esthetical, more ethical.

John Z

[Moorf]

John

I love the look of your Spanish home, and that's from someone who previously only "liked" or lived in period homes in the U.K. The fantastic designs here in NZ really turned my head.

Brian Collett is indeed still alive and now owns Sumner Art Gallery (in Sumner, outskirts of Chch) - you could probably find an email address and get hold of him. I believe one of his sons is also now an architect as I saw a piece on him in the local paper. He called this house his 3D house and lived in it for 26 yrs until the 2 yrs before we bought it when there was another couple in here who lived here for just 2 yrs.

I am fairly certain that the roof is original - perhaps the photo's don't do it justice. They aren't individual tiles, more like large sheets of tin formed into scalloped shapes that look like tiles! If it interests you I could take a closer, more detailed, photo and email you.

HTH
Moorf

[John Z]

Hi Moorf,

Thank you for your compliment.

Our former house was an 17/18th century mansion (14(?) rooms...) that we managed to rescue. It was a great restauration project, but only untill one certain moment. Looking back, that moment started our emigration project. Of course New Zealand always was interesting (the pull factor), but what really started pushing us away was the fact that during the restauration project a real estate agent bought the 17th century farmhouse next to our house (in the centre of a small/medium sized village) and had his friends in the local council give permission to tear that down to build an appartmentcomplex instead, that mimmicked (blown up/scaled for extra size) our house. It's a (too) long story to tell, but it's my "period-home" period.

Because no expert was able to tell in what style the mansion should be restaured I started studying again myself (daytime) and became an expert concerning old buildings. I learned so much about causalities concerning shapes/ornaments/constructions that now I think it is really silly to still build traditional houses. Even more with bricks: it's inhumane to see grown-up men putting one brick on top of the other, the same way "we" did hundreds of years ago. Didn't we learn? There are new materials, there are new construction methods, there are new concerns about the environment etc. etc. etc.. So (I'm getting carried away again...), where did this story start? Ah, yes, the period homes.
Because of this house I did a lot of research and came up with a new construction method that I hoped would make it able for "anyone" to build a house that respected both the users, the environment, but also nature/life itself. I succeeded in getting it patented, even if it is so simple that I still do not understand why no-one thought of it before. It's the strongest, lightest way to construct a practical house and still not expensive. In Belgium I had the management of a constructioncompany wanting to start with it, but then the constructionworkers didn't approve of it and everything was cancelled. Every professional says it's interesting, realistic and promising, that I'm right with my ideas, even at our local university, but still not one house is build with this system. The house in the picture has a part of/partly the system (you cannot see it, you really can/do not know what hint to look for), but one of the great things in NZ is, is that there's a tradition of lightweight building that people aren't aware of themselves. But lightweight shouldn't necessarilly mean "badly" built, and that's where I'll come in, hopefully. I learned I shouldn't tell NZ-ers how to build so I'll have to show/proove it by actually building it myself, with or without the help of a main buildingcompany that showed interest in my patent, in NZ.

When it's done you'll actually see your house has a hint of it...:nice1

I know these metal sheets you mentioned, but even if they're original on the roof they remind me of an ad campain when I was young. It showed an attractive, naked young woman and said "I prefer to be naked, rather than fake". I thought "Yes, she's right, I want that too". The ad was to promote "pure new wool"... It has formed my thinking: I disapprove of anything fake, from objects and materials to people.

What would that mean for the way I see your house (it's your house, it's only my not-asked-for opinion): if the sheet metal was originally used, they are part of the original architecture/art/object, hence completely acceptable to remain there, if it's your intention to conserve the original idea and respect the designer (and yourselves). But it's also completely accetable (IMO) to find a new solution that respects the original idea and also respects new knowledge, environmental included. I'm sure you know Ian Athfield who did some interesting, inspiring stuff too, even with bubbles, that help to see the joy of life. I think you guys are lucky to have found this period-contemporary house, even if only I saw this one picture, but it seems to have character attached/incorporated, I think you can see the effort that was put into making theses shapes work together. Again, I really, really hope you can see it in the detailling too.

I'll shut up now.

Cheers, John Z

[jubjub]

Just some extra info, we just had our roof repaired. We had two quotes, one repair and one replace, replacement was $5500, and repair was $3300. We have about 135sqm of tin corrugated roof.

We only plan to stay here a couple of years, so took the short term fix approach, the repair is guaranteed for 5 yrs. If we were making this our long term home we would have gone for replacement.

[John Z]

Imagine being a few years from now, selling the house.

How does this sound to you:

"And the roof is repaired 2 years ago"

or

"And the roof is renewed 2 years ago".

If the amount of money doesn't influence your quality of life, I'd defenitely go for the NEW roof. You have to look at these things RELATIVELY.

Relate it to the capital value of your house. What percentage are we talking? (Rhetorical question)

Good luck, John Z.

[Familyofmonkeys]

It's hard to explain the roof set-up - this photo might help.


http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Moorf/waddingtonhouse.jpg

I know where you live :laugh :laugh

Was having a good old browse on google earth tonight while sipping a rather large glass of wine......your roof is a dead giveaway :)

[Moorf]

I know where you live

I read that in a "pyscho stalker" voice.... :p

I hope you weren't looking through the bathroom window - I've just had a bath! :eek:

[Familyofmonkeys]

I read that in a "pyscho stalker" voice.... :p

I hope you weren't looking through the bathroom window - I've just had a bath!

:laugh :laugh

Couldn't think of anything better to do with my time tonight than google earth......legs are a bit wobbly....i'm a lightweight :p

Actually I was supposed to be looking at site of one of the recent earthquakes on geonet, but got sidetracked!

[Moorf]

:cheers Joined you in a wine or three - who are you spying on now? :laugh

[Familyofmonkeys]

:cheers Joined you in a wine or three - who are you spying on now? :laugh

I was looking at my old house in UK.....and I can see my old car in the driveway...sniffle...NOT :laugh

[Moorf]

hahah actually, when you look at our old house on Google Earth it really does have our car in the drive!!

[Moorf]

Let's have a look then - love looking at other people's houses :)

[Familyofmonkeys]

hahah actually, when you look at our old house on Google Earth it really does have our car in the drive!!

I wasn't joking...car is there.....but I don't miss the place....hence the fake sniffle (or maybe I've had too much to drink tonight :p )

[jubjub]

Our old house is still non existent on google earth. just a field! the one before that is still there though, and no cars, we must have been at work that day!