[Diny]

I found a really intereting article in a 'Home' magazine here today whilst in the waiting room at the solicitors. I hope they don't mind the fact that I ripped the page out so that I could relay some of it you you guys.

The following kind of puts paid to all that 'tough Kiwi - get use to it' attitude.

Is your home making you sick?

Too many New Zealand homes are damp and cold, leading to colds, flu and perhaps worst of all, aggrivated asthma. Mildew and dampness occur in nearly half our homes, and we have colder houses than many other countries. We have one of the highest rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses in the world.

A recent study undertaken by the Housing and Health research programme, involving people with respiratory problems in over 1400 homes, showed significant benefits for both adults and children whose homes were insulated half way through the study versus those that were not. The same study also reported drier, warmer homes, improved energy efficiency, health, well-being and less visible mould.

A healthy home is dry:

Even in cold parts of the country New Zealand has a humid climate, so managing the moisture content within the home is important. This starts with keeping the damp out and reducing the amount of moisture we create around the home. You'll notice improvement, with fewer musty smells and feelings of dampness. Here's how to keep damp out and create a drier environment.

Check for leaks from guttering, plumbing etc and repair them.

Plant away from the walls of the house to allow air movement and to use the sun's free heat.

Make sure air can circulate freely under the house.

Ensure adequate drainage around your home.

FACT. Dry air is easier and cheaper to heat !!

Short showers with ventilation are better than a long soak in the bath.

If building a new home, consider installing double glazing.

Make sure no moisture is venting into the ceiling.

Air the house at least once a week.

Put lids on cooking pots.

Dry your clothes outside.

FACT. A healthy home is warm !!

Every type of heating has a cost, so it is important to choose heating that is both healthy and efficient. For greater savings, choose heaters with smart electronic timers and thermostats. For the healthiest heating, avoid heaters that give off large amounts of moisture.

FACT. Mildew and dampness occurs in almost half of all New Zealand homes.

FACT. the average temperature inside many New Zealand houses is well below that recommended by the World Heath Organistaion.

FACT. Up to 15% of the population is allergic to moulds, spores and their toxic by-products that grown in most New Zealand households. The allergies manifest in asthma, headaches, eczema and sneezing fits.

.....................and so it goes on .......................

If I stay in this country until the day I die I'll NEVER get my head around the housing. Thankfully the people who sold us our house had a modicum of sense and insulated it throughout, installed warm air heating and it's properly ventilated. I wouldn't have looked twice if that hadn't been the case.

All this 'Clean Green New Zealand' twaddle kinds of flies out of the single glazed, metal framed, ill fitting window when it comes to energy efficiency in the home.

There are so many wonderful things about this country, but sadly their housing isn't one of them. It's just plain stupid !!!!!

Diny

[Singel]

Diny, thanks for sharing :cheers

I saw some quotes that say something like this ............. :D

Dust is a natural, protective covering for all furniture.

You either make dust or eat dust.

There's no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse!

:D

[Avalon]

This is really intersting. I was under the impression that a big problem we had in teh UK was that our homes were TOO warm and dry, and that this was contributing to the high incidence of colds/ ashma and other health problems - especially in children.

The theory was that double glazing, central heating, and wall to wall carpeting was causing an reduction in air moisture and quality.

I wonder if that was wrong - or if theres a "middle ground" we ar supposed to aim for?

[Diny]

I think you have a good point there. A middle ground - somewhere between roasting and freezing - with plenty of fresh air in between.

Regardless of the health factors - you can stick these NZ houses where the sun don't shine. They have to be at the top of my 'things I hate about NZ' list.

Diny

[Moorf]

Just a bit of advice that we got from a Brit here who learned from experience - the wood in the floors and frames of old villa's etc may have a high level of moisture in them, and that may have been constant for a long time. When us Brits go and put in our central heating systems and warm up the houses considerably, this dries out the wood and it shrinks and can cause wooden floors to crack, doors to stick and other probs... take advice first. ;)

[driver]

Good advice moorf that does seem logical, do they have timber and damp blokes over there?

Funny last night I was on the phone to an ozzy friend who passed on a link to another thread elsewhere (in oz) where they are all desperate for double glazing to keep the heat out!!!

I wish i had a lottery win or something to get out there with and buy up some big factory to make upvc windows to help everyone out.

What about a dehumidifier? We used one in a house we had and it made such a great difference. The water it collected was great for watering plants.

From all that in Dinys article it really looks like when you get a house out there, its a problem as to which bit you start with first. Drains, walls, windows?

Our son has asthma here and I was hoping it would be better over there. Makes you wonder where they get their facts from. Quote "We have one of the highest rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses in the world". I hope they are wrong.

[Carol]

It never ceases to amaze me how many times I have to empty my dehumidifier.

Oh for a proper, insulated, centrally heated, double glazed home.......

[Glenda]

This is a fascinating subject as at the moment we are looking at house designs with regard to heat and dampness.

The tatty rental we are in is, on the whole, not damp. It is of weatherboard construction on a brick plinth and apart from the roof space probably has no insulation. The main room and two upstairs bedrooms have a ceiling height of 2.6m (8'6"), the kitchen and master bedroom are octagonal and have a height of possibly 3.5m (11ft?). What is so great about the house is that the rooms benefit from generous north-facing window area, so the sun does a great job of warming up the house.

It can get chilly in the mornings, but not for long. On a grey day the air is warmer anyhow - well, it is here in the north of the north island.

It is not all good - there are two small downstairs bedrooms facing west/south with normal ceiling heights. These do smell a bit musty and have very little sunlight.

I will be fascinated to see how hot it does get in here during summer - there are generous overhanging eaves which I wonder could protect from the summer sun as it does the rain.

Position, design and ventilation seems to be the key with this house.
:)

[Diny]

The house we've bought has had EVERYTHING done to it, it's insulated, ventilated, main living areas are north facing, had new windows, new roof, warm air pumps, new super efficient wood burner, etc etc etc....... in fact it's perfect for us. Like I mentioned above, we wouldn't have taken a second glance if it wasn't totally up to OUR spec.

My eldest son suffers from Asthma and it's been MUCH worse since we arrived, at times his breathing possitvely rattles. Thankfully our days in this darn rental are now VERY few !!!!!!!!

If you don't know what to look for and what questions to ask when you're looking for a house there's alot of things that can cause potential problems. Aswell as any LIM reports etc you may want to get when buying, my advice is to employ the services of a builder to go over the place with a fine tooth comb, somebody with local knowledge who knows exactly what to look for. This is what we did - and seeing as he was a friend of my brother in law it only cost us the price of a slab of beer. Money very well spent.

Remember ... fore warned is fore armed.

Diny

p.s. When all is said and done ....... I still think this country is stupidly backward where houses are concerned.

[selchie]

I do agree that a relatively dry interior environment is important in controlling respiratory ailments. I love my central heat and openable windows. But I still have to bleach a couple of poorly ventillated spots now and again to keep the mildew under control.

Do be aware that many modern home materials (e.g. paints, carpets, upholstery) contain substances that offgas and can cause respiratory problems, too. While with my last employer, we moved into a new office space with fresh paint and carpets. Within a couple of days I had a sore throat & raspy breathing, and soon had a horrible case of bronchitis. This lasted about 6 weeks, until we got the HVAC working & venting properly, and the nasty chemicals were mostly offgassed. Several years later, I dropped in to say hello, went into a new addition, and began getting the same reaction. Now I seem to be more sensitive to this stuff, which hampers the "tough girl" image of myself. Just can't inhale the space age polymers like I used to.

[Avalon]

Several years later, I dropped in to say hello, went into a new addition, and began getting the same reaction. Now I seem to be more sensitive to this stuff, which hampers the "tough girl" image of myself. Just can't inhale the space age polymers like I used to.

Its worth bearing in mind that from certain points of view (holistically speaking), your ability to cope with allergens changes depending on many things.

I have eczema, hayfever and sometimes an allergy to cats and dogs. Whether or not I get these things seems to be determined by whats going on in my life as much as the actual physical reaction.

This was explained to me as : I was more reactive - I was less able to shut things out (phisically, mentally and emotionally). Now bear in mind - when I was at my worst - I was about to get divorced and my job was hellish! These types of situation can reduce your "protection". (this goes against EVERYTHING i was taught at Uni!)

When I came out here, my eczema cleared, but my animal allergy came back. That now appears to have gone.

Diny -

Im with you! :laugh

[driver]

40 yrs ago my husbands family emigrated to NZ. He was only a baby. They lived in Christchurch.
The stay didn't last very long as his mum left a UK Hayfever season to go to another in NZ. She blames the fact that Chch was built on a swamp and her problems got worse from the damp. I'm glad they came back as I wouldn't have met him otherwise.
Not knocking Chch remember it didn't look anything like it does now 40yrs back.

Theres a lot to think about with schools and houses etc. I hope that when we eventually get there that we won't get carried away with all the excitement and rush into to stuff. Knowing the builder is good and not just plucking him from the yellow pages is one less worry.

I'm getting lots of good advice off here keep it up.

[Mildred]

Diny

Quite concerned about the asthma being worse. How often was he weezy at home? Rose hasn't had any weeziness since she had her tonsils out which was about 10 months ago. Up until then she had been in hospital numerous times. When she had an allergy test she was completely clear for pets but went off the scale for house dust mites!

[veronica]

One of the things that we have been advised to do in Chch (so I would assume it would work elsewhere) is to get either polythene laid on the ground in the crawl space under the house or to get underfloor insulation put up against the underside of the floorboards. Both of these are said to reduce the damp in the house and raise the inside temp. significently. Although the backpackers is an older style house, (timber framed and when we bought it completely uninsulated) it shows not signs of damp.

One of the things to be a bit careful of is that we are all coming over here with GB£'s and can afford, and indeed know about these things. A lot of Kiwis haven't experienced the benefits of insulation (in both summer and winter) and central heating and an awful lot more of them can't afford to put it in even if they wanted too.

[selchie]

We probably wouldn't have as much insulation and other energy savers, but in the 70s there was a big rebate campaign by the gas & electric company for people to nsulate. Since then, they occasionally offer rebates for double-glazed windows, insulation, solar cells or energy-efficient appliances. Good motivation.

[selchie]

Its worth bearing in mind that from certain points of view (holistically speaking), your ability to cope with allergens changes depending on many things.
I agree that emotional and physical health influence each other. In my own case, I've been healthier overall since the bronchitis episode. However, when I paint or varnish inside, I have to air out the house well, because the vapors will give me a sore throat and mild asthmatic reaction.

[sarahw]

Its the one thing that lets NZ down. The average temp. inside a NZ house is 14 degrees C - the minimum recommended temp. by World Health Org is 18 degrees C - they say that the average NZ house is colder than the average house in Siberia.

As I'm sitting here having breakfast (in my kitchen!) I can see my breath in front of me - its not a particularly cold morning either! We have Pink Batts insulation as well - but that's no good when you're losing out of the roof & windows! and your average house has a lot of large windows here to take in the views (and to make the most of daylighting - capturing the sunshine that comes in!)

We're biting the bullet & having a gas heater fitted in our living area - I had a flu bug that lasted a month & I just know it was the house that made me sick! It'll be fine in the summer but I dream of sealed UPVC double glazing... My parents will die when they come & see the housing!

I also have to clean the largest amount of mould off the walls, floor & ceiling in our downstairs loo - I'm sure that's not good for health unsettling all those spores! But the windows don't have things on them where you can leave them slightly open to ventilate (we only have 2 windows in the whole house that do that and they're in the kitchen!!!!) So we can only ventilate rooms when we're at home - a trip to Bunnings to get something to fix it sounds like a plan!

[Diny]

I remember last Christmas at home. It snowed - and we sat by the bedroom window at about midnight, all of us in nightclothes - watching the snow come down. You can imagine the temps outside !!! But there we were, sitting behind double glazed UPVC windows, cavity insulated walls and enjoying the benefits of central heating (not to mention loft insulation !!). It's little things like that that I miss.

OK OK - so I know I shouldn't compare one country to another - but it's only natural to crave the comforts of home when you're camped out in little more than a garden shed (thankfully only 4 more nights in this place they laughingly call a house).

I also know we should understand that the average Kiwi can maybe not afford to insulate and heat their homes. But we also need to understand that it appears the average Kiwi has no desire to. Cold houses are what they've always known so it's normal to them. And besides ...... I'm not an average Kiwi, I'm a person who is use to basic, healthy comforts ..... so hang me.

Diny

[Paul and Linda]

This is all excellent advice and warning. I for one will be looking for a house similar to our UK one (temperature wise).

After all it's not just a roof over your head!

[Avalon]

I also know we should understand that the average Kiwi can maybe not afford to insulate and heat their homes. But we also need to understand that it appears the average Kiwi has no desire to. Cold houses are what they've always known so it's normal to them. And besides ...... I'm not an average Kiwi, I'm a person who is use to basic, healthy comforts ..... so hang me.

Diny

:laugh I remember the first time I lived with central heating (in university halls) - I nearly died from heat exhaustion! Could belive how nayone could sleep in a place so hot!

I had been brought up in a draghty old farmhouse, whose main heating was a big open fire in a huge living room, and fan heaters in teh othe r rooms!

Now of course - I want my heating!

(Do miss the huge fire though!)

[Avalon]

I agree that emotional and physical health influence each other. In my own case, I've been healthier overall since the bronchitis episode. However, when I paint or varnish inside, I have to air out the house well, because the vapors will give me a sore throat and mild asthmatic reaction.

selchie,

I very rarely use paints or varnishes that are not water based anymore. If I have to use oil based - I go for low odour ones (not sure if these are available in NZ). I also found even a paint stipper in the UK (Kwikstip) which was water based and had no fumes.

Rescene advertise that thier paints are "green" - so theres a chance that they would cause less problems - but I havent actually investigated this yet.

Again in the uK, i had investigated envionmentally friendly paints and varnishes which would cut down on fumes and odours. You cant get quite the range of colours, but i rmemebr them being very nice anyway. May be worth looking for something like that here. Ill be looking in the next few months, so ill let you know if i find anything.

[Singel]

I would say orientation of the house is very important.

We arrived last year during the winter time and we rented a newly build house which had morning sun only. In the day time, we were in thick jumpers.

Our present house is north facing and getting the whole day sun. In the day time, we are in shorts and t-shirts. Every night, we slept with the air-conditioning switch on because it is warm and a bit murky.

Of course, the winter last year is like a bad summer and this year, the winter is like a good spring.

:cheers

[katandbob]

Hi to all the NZ based members, in regards to the houses your all scarein me now! surely they arn't all bad?

Diny, how much have you paid to get your ' comfortable' house?

Are there any B&Q's out there for a 'handy' OH to renovate a basic NZ home?

maybe I could get the youngest to become an Architect? he he

[Diny]

Hi there. We paid $270k for our house. You need to bear in mind though that we are in the Manawatu and houses down here are alot less than those up north or in the larger 'trendier' cities.

We've been in this house for 4 weeks now and I have to say that it is proving to be a comfortable place to live, but even after all the cladding, insulation and lord knows what, I reckon come the winter we'll still be wrapping ourselves up in jumpers and blankets. Houses here just don't seem to have any guts. Bearing in mind that ours is a weatherboard house, built in 1910 ...... with amazingly huge rooms and VERY high ceilings. We have friends who live in a new build brick house - all mod cons and looking like something out of an Ideal Home magazine ........ and it's still a cold house to live in.

Houses in NZ just don't seem to be 'up to it' as far as keeping out the cold. No doubt I'll get somebody snapping at my ankles for making that comment, saying that folks over here can't afford adequate housing. This 'may' be the case but in my experience alot of Kiwis don't like a warmer house. My inlaws and Kiwi mates come into my house and complain about the heat .... and here's me thinking of ways to make it warmer.

It's just one of those things that you have to get use to .... so they tell me anyway. There's 2 things about NZ which I really dislike ..... the chocolate and the standard of housing - neither cut the mustard.

As for B&Q ..... well they have similar kinds of places (but on a much smaller scale) - places like Mitre 10 and Homemakers. From what I've seen so far DIY materials (especially paint and wallpaper) are VERY expensive over here.

I reckon it's just a case of finding a place you like, heating it as best you can and then go all out to adapt. Spring is here and the weather is getting warmer (slightly) ... I'm hoping I win the lottery between now and next winter then I can fly off to warmer climes for a few months.

Diny

[bricky]

Some very interesting food for thought here. I have puzzled for quite a while over the reason for my wifes increased asthma problems (She used her inhalers a couple of times a month in the UK, now its a daily routine). The fact that the two houses we've lived in since arrival have been freezing in winter seemed an obvious connection, but we wondered initially whether the logburner (which was more decorative than anything else) threw out fumes that irritated her. I would agree with the sentiments of many before me, that warm housing in the UK is one thing I do sorely miss. Walkers cheese and onion crisps is another.

[kiwidebs]

This 'may' be the case but in my experience alot of Kiwis don't like a warmer house. My inlaws and Kiwi mates come into my house and complain about the heat .... and here's me thinking of ways to make it warmer.
Hi Diny - well, I'm one Kiwi who hates being cold (always have) - and having got used to double glazing and central heating I'm not giving it up easily :no . I keep saying that we need to keep some money aside in our house buying budget to allow for upgrading these things if needed!! Will keep you posted.

Debs

[veronica]

I think that most of us would agree that the standard of heating and insulation isn't what we are used to from other parts of the world, and no Diny I wouldnt 'snap at anybodies ankles' for saying that. All I said last time was that you were lucky that you didn't have to put up with it. Its obviously quite an issue with you.

Its not that the houses are timber/tin thats the problem as any one who has lived in a timber house in North America, Canada or any of the alpine areas will agree, its just the lack of insulation in the walls etc. It does puzzle me to an extent that with the climate being warmer than the UK why the houses are so much colder, in Chch we have tended to put it down to the fact that its all built on a swamp, but if its that cold in other parts of the country it puts the khybosh on that theory. Timber wall cavities can be foam filled, insulation can be put under the floorboards, and the loft is the easiest one. High ceilings make a place difficult to heat and my own feeling is that a two storey house is warmer than a single storey.

The new builds in Christchurch area often have double glazing and the current building regs have reasonable insulation standards, they are more expensive than the older houses though, so to a large extent you pays your money and takes your choice.