[eassae]

Today my OH noticed a moldy smell in our bathroom that she thought was coming from behind the mirror. I removed the mirror and there was some mold, but there was also no paint. Yes they had put the mirror on the wall then painted around it, in a bathroom with of course tons of humidity. The wall board felt a bit squishy.

We actually looked at an apartment in this building that was for sale on our initial scouting trip. I think it was going for $325,000.00. I know paint is very expensive here, but for that price I think it should include paint behind mirrors.

If you decide to buy a place be sure to check out every detail.

[sks]

Sounds like a case of poor scheduling, rather than shoddy workmanship per se. I'd bet that if the painters had been scheduled to be there before toilet accessories were installed (as they should have been), they'd have painted the area in question. Problems like this are common with multi-unit housing -- even in high-end condos, sad to say.

Paint would not have prevented the mold from appearing, BTW. Organic materials that support mold growth (in this case, the paper covering on the wallboard) simply don't belong in a humid environment if mold is a concern.

(FWIW, I agree that you need to check every last detail when buying property, but this is hardly a NZ-specific concern.)

[Kanga]

Sounds like poor workmanship to me- even if the mirror was up before the painters came in couldn't they have done what the OP did and remove the mirror to paint under? You say the board felt squishy but aren't they supposed to use special bathroom gibb designed for the damp and mould?

Thank goodness you didn't buy first!

[eassae]

Sounds like poor workmanship to me- even if the mirror was up before the painters came in couldn't they have done what the OP did and remove the mirror to paint under? You say the board felt squishy but aren't they supposed to use special bathroom gibb designed for the damp and mould?

Thank goodness you didn't buy first!

They are supposed to use different board for the bathroom.

We are definitely happy we didn't buy. The stuff we saw when looking for houses here was enlightening.

My wife read a quote the other day, I forgot the source, but it was from someone from Denmark I believe, saying that "the houses in New Zealand would be called gazebos back home.":laugh

[ByeByeUK]

Mate, I've seen plenty of shoddy workmanship in London too...and not just by New Zealand builders either :laugh

It's funny what you get used to. When I first went to the UK, I thought some of the building and landscaping work was absolute ?%*#$, seven years on and my outlook on things is different and now some of the NZ stuff makes me want to cry. There is a happy medium there somewhere.

[ourquest]

Sounds like poor workmanship to me- even if the mirror was up before the painters came in couldn't they have done what the OP did and remove the mirror to paint under? You say the board felt squishy but aren't they supposed to use special bathroom gibb designed for the damp and mould?

Thank goodness you didn't buy first!

This is a difficult one, because it's obviously poorer workmanship than if the wall had been painted behind the mirror.

Firstly you can be fairly certain that Aqualine Gib was used for the wet areas...the building code requires it.

So then it comes down to whether having some partially exposed Gib is really a big deal or not. It certainly isn't significant enough not to buy a property because of it, there are far worse issues you could be faced with. It could potentially be an indicator of other issues existing, but it could just as well be a once-off error on the part of the construction team.

New Zealand houses get their fair share of criticism for the lack of attention to detail. Problem is, this sort of goes hand in hand with a general relaxed attitude and resulting slow pace of life in NZ, and you can't have both. People arriving from other countries appreciate not having to worry about the small stuff in day to day life, but when faced with small stuff in their houses they understandably prefer perfect workmanship. It takes a bit of "stepping back" and a change in viewpoint to realise how the two go together, and it takes a type of street wisdom to embrace the relaxed lifestyle knowing that this will reflect in the details too.

Another way of putting it would be to say that if everyone began demanding exacting results (across the board but in this case in property development) then it would follow that New Zealanders would experience more tension in day to day life and socially (and with time) the country would change for the worse.

Practically, by all means be pleased you didn't buy now but when you do and you find a similar aspect you're not happy with, the best way might be to just paint it and put the mirror back. Then go snowboarding.

[macs gold]

Practically, by all means be pleased you didn't buy now but when you do and you find a similar aspect you're not happy with, the best way might be to just paint it and put the mirror back. Then go snowboarding. No - always go snowboarding first. Skiing season is only 2-3 months, you can fix the bathroom anytime. Mind you, when its not skiing season then you might be wanting to go sailing, or fishing or for a bike ride. Of course, how much you can handle of nagging from the missus might be the real deciding factor.

[James 1077]

:nice1

:laugh

[eassae]

Another way of putting it would be to say that if everyone began demanding exacting results (across the board but in this case in property development) then it would follow that New Zealanders would experience more tension in day to day life and socially (and with time) the country would change for the worse.

I get where your coming from, but I don't necessarily think quality workmanship has to necessarily lead to a diminished quality of life. If people just do things right the first time without cutting corners It makes everybody's life easier and better. There is nobody to complain and the worker has the satisfaction of a job well done. I do understand that meeting budgets and schedules in a speculative industry can be demanding and labor is often pushed to cut corners. I have seen this in the US as well, just not this bad.

I should also mention the frame for our glass sliding door just came apart one day and the carpet is coming up and in places the tacks come through not deep enough to injure your feet but it still hurts if your not expecting it.

We are actually used to living in places that my parents would say had "character", basically old. They live in the general mid west America new construction tract housing. This is the first time we have lived in new construction and since it's new the OH and I don't see the character we just see that it's a really expensive piece of ****. We also looked at the old houses here from what we saw we wouldn't say they had character either, more like they had cooties.:)

[Kanga]

I don't think expecting qualified tradespeople to stick to the building code (bathroom gibb for wet areas) and to take the time to not cut corners that compromise their workmanship is going to result in an erosion of the 'laid back' attitude and quality of life in NZ. We found the tradespeople who worked on our build had incredibly high standards and I know many others who have built in NZ have found the same.

I think to suggest that sloppy practice is OK because it's merely a facet of the laidback lifestyle excuses crappy standards, does NZ no favours and NZers deserve better, imo.

[Familyofmonkeys]

I don't think expecting qualified tradespeople to stick to the building code (bathroom gibb for wet areas) and to take the time to not cut corners that compromise their workmanship is going to result in an erosion of the 'laid back' attitude and quality of life in NZ. We found the tradespeople who worked on our build had incredibly high standards and I know many others who have built in NZ have found the same.

I think to suggest that sloppy practice is OK because it's merely a facet of the laidback lifestyle excuses crappy standards, does NZ no favours and NZers deserve better, imo.

Completely agree. :)

[benandclare]

So far our builders also have very high standards :nice1

Perhaps it's not so much poor workmanship but more of a case of cheap houses being built because by following the "building code" you can . In other words they can get away with building a house with significantly less spec than your home country, UK in our case.

I think in our case every NZ standard has been replaced by the next level up so we are building at a higher cost than some building franchises are quoting, about $300/sq m more from one qoute.

As to aqualine gib, there is a well know national building franchise whose manager does not advocate the use of it in wet areas as it is not needed. To quote him, " Why would you want it? Are you going to throw water at the walls ? " :exit

[Familyofmonkeys]

As to aqualine gib, there is a well know national building franchise whose manager does not advocate the use of it in wet areas as it is not needed. To quote him, " Why would you want it? Are you going to throw water at the walls ? " :exit

:eek: I hope that isn't one of the companies we're considering!

We plan on seriously upspecking insulation of walls, ceiling and under the slab, plus windows. What else should be upspecking that haven't we considered yet?

[benandclare]

:eek: I hope that isn't one of the companies we're considering!

We plan on seriously upspecking insulation of walls, ceiling and under the slab, plus windows. What else should be upspecking that haven't we considered yet?

No I think I've already warned you off them, we can double check :nice1

We "upped" on wood treatment and looks like you've got the main ones covered :clap

[Sam B]

My builders were typical Kiwis - year round shorts wearers, fishing at the weekends, baches at the coast, etc etc, but they had extremely high standards and paid attention to every little detail to the point where it started to drive me mad (they weren't keen on my need to introduce reclaimed items to the house because it would spoil the perfection).

I think you can be laid back and still have high standards at work.

[Sam B]

PS I may have stereotyped the typical Kiwi there a bit - ha ha.

[NikT]

As an electrician, I've worked with a variety Kiwi tradesmen & builders.
Sure, there's a laid back attitude but the quality of work is always top notch.:yes

Unfortunately, you'll always get a few bad iggs.:exit

Nick.:cheers

[eassae]

It's good to know that people have had luck with their personal contractors. Maybe most of the problem is with speculative developers.

[sks]

Well, of course. A developer is not going to skimp on structural work, wiring, plumbing, and so on -- these are the trades that the local building officials actually inspect. Only the ultimate purchasers care about finishes (which is why, if I were going to buy a new condo, I'd buy it unfinished. I know the builder isn't going to give me a fair discount for deleting the finishes, but since I'm just going to do them over again to my own satisfaction, I'll take whatever credit I can get).