[chrissie]

Is there anyone else out there who has struggled to find a decent house in the North Shore Bays area? One that is solidly built? and dry? Is it just me that can't stand the way the houses are built down these right of ways where you are overlooked by countless other houses or where the house is built into the side of a steep bank and therefore depressingly dark and dank?

We have spent weeks looking at dismal, damp, expensive houses and I am just about ready to go out and buy some Prozac, I am feeling soo depressed!! :wah

We have finally found a house that doesn't smell of damp as it is elevated but because we were getting so desperate to buy a house (we had to be out of our rented house within a few weeks...they called it a house, I'd call it a scout hut with its wooden walls and tin roof!!) we ended up paying much more than its true value, just because I couldn't bear the thought of some of the alternatives.

Unfortunately, when we came here there was very little available on the market so perhaps it was just a bad time to be looking, as I notice there are a lot more 'for sale' signs up now... so maybe it is just me....

Anyway, I'd appreciate others' comments on the subject...

[Carol]

Welcome to New Zealand!
:roll:

[Moorf]

If you scan through some of the posts on here you will find we were all faced with the same housing problem the length and breadth of the country! I think it's possibly the most disappointing aspect of NZ life? Correct me if I'm wrong!

[toots]

If there is one single thing that I find very disappointing about NZ it is the quality of it's houses.

Godness knows how many forests have been hacked down to make these wooden sheds, the resulting houses are usually rotten and damp. How many times do we see these home improvement shows on TV where they remove a wall only to find rot somewhere. Wooden houses are fine in dry climates, even ok in cold climates so long as the winters aren't warm and damp. Not suitable for NZ at all.

Modern houses are no better, all these new "plaster" types are very often applied over polystyrene which is just bonded to a wooden frame. Wood dries out over time, give them a few years and the plaster will be peeling like sunburn.

Very disappointing, we are trying to find a decent brick built house but even those have wooden frames. Would like to have one built but the land prices are way too high at the moment so we're sticking it out until next year.

I remember the wood frame fiasco in the UK a few years ago and can see it happening all over again here.

Good luck to you in your search :hopeso

[veronica]

We have been told by both NZ builders and English that the reason for the timber and tin is because of the earthquake risk. I must say I would rather have a tin roof come down around me than a tile one. The brick houses are outside clad and the roof joists dont actually sit on the brick part, this is to alow the brick walls to fall outwards in quake events. There was a posting here a while back disagreeing with this. I am no expert and don't even know the clay/brickmaking situation here but I am sure expense/viability comes into it. I have also been told that the dehumidifier will improve the damp type of problem.
You sound as if you are not making any adjustment to your thinking about this subject but you are in NZ now and that is the way things are here, you can only try and improve what you have and get it to your own standard. I think you are also living in the more expensive area, any chance of you being able to move out of Auckland and build your own house somewhere, that way you get what you want.

[Gran]

Hi Toots,
I certainly agree with Veronica on this subject, I prefer a weatherboard house any time, although I have a brick one now, because they dont seem to build too many weatherboard ones any more, having said that I would never buy a sprayed house.
There are weatherboard houses in Auckland from 1840. standing as strong as ever, they will have been built of Kauri, which is as strong as iron. We really do have to adjust our thinking when we move countries.

[toots]

My thinking is based on personal experience.

The first rental we had was a weatherboard one, very cold and damp and lots of holes through which cockroaches and other beasties could and did crawl. The windows ran with condensation during the winter and it cost a fortune to heat. My son's room was so damp you could smell the water when you walked in.

Our present place is modern, brick and tile, properly insulated and noticably warmer in the winter, no creepy crawlies either. The only use I have for the dehumidifier for is to dry the washing as we never have problems with condensation.

I know which I prefer :yes

Since the risk of strong eathquakes is pretty low in Auckland I'd take brick and tile anyday. If I lived somewhere like Wellington I may have a different point of view, who knows. There's no guarantee a wooden house would stand up in an eathquake anyway unless it had been specifically designed or modified to do so.

[veronica]

I dont think the cold, damp and condensation is anything to do with the materials the houses are built of, more how they are built. Certainly a lot of houses in the states and alpine places are built of timber and they are warm and dry. Its the lack of insulation and double glazing that are the biggest problem. and that can be sorted easily when you buy your own place.
Its easy to forget that the rental places we all start off in here are just money earners to the landlords and there are better place about that are peoples homes. The landlords don't want to spend any money on improvements that will earn them no extra income, and NZers seem to be philosophical about the cold because they very often haven't lived in a centrally heated house, so they are happy to rent them even if you aren't.

[catjlin]

"We have been told by both NZ builders and English that the reason for the timber and tin is because of the earthquake risk."

Having grown up in San Francisco, earthquake central, I have to say that I think these builders are just trying to excuse shoddy workmanship. There is no legitimate reason that you cannot have a safe modern house with materials other than wood and tin in NZ. Is it perhaps that it is the cost of materials that is prohibitive to good work? Are materials produced nationally, or must they be imported from OZ?

Cat

[toots]

Veronica, the landlady in our first rental had split the house in two and was living in the lower half. Bless her, she was just as cold and damp as the rest of us upstairs. She had recently emigrated from South Africa and bought a "home and income" to make ends meet. We too lived in Africa many years ago and always had brick houses there so it must have been a shock for her.

As far as I'm aware there are no government grants here to insulate and damp-proof houses. So retro-fitting can be quite expensive. You also have to live somewhere whilst it's being done.

Remember a lot of these houses were built when electricity and fuel was really cheap. Fuel prices have increased markedly in recent years and shows no sign of getting any better. We had a similar situation in the UK before the oil crisis, no one had insulation or cared about the conservation of energy. Government grants and building regulations have improved things greatly since then.

There is a movement towards building masonary houses here. Insulated slabs are being laid, new houses have insulation in walls and roof spaces, they are being built on reinforced concrete slabs and roofing felt can now be found under the roof tiles (keeps out dirt and sand). If you want you can have double glazing and central heating too. You can even get heat pumps to warm your house in winter and the pool in summer! ;)

[chrissie]

Thanks for the comments...it helps a little to know that others feel the way I do. I must say that the whole housing thing has put such a dampener (pardon the pun!) on everything that I am finding it very difficult to settle now and I am feeling very depressed!! I never dreamed I would wish to be back in UK but my beautiful brick, solidly built in the 50's house just seems soooo enticing now. Trouble is, we've lost sooo much money with the move, the bad exchange rate etc. that we'd never be able to buy something like that again if we went back..... :wah :wah

Sorry to be a damp squib but hopefully anyone thinking of coming out will read this and come in with their eyes a little more open than we did!!!

[toots]

Don't give up yet. There are some brick houses around, even saw a couple of them being built today on the land at Albany Basin.

Would it be possible for you to have one built? There are quite a lot of cheap sections around Albany.

Failing that take a look around The Oaks and Schnapper Rock.

Or have you already done that?

Be brave with the exchange rate, another 6 months and it will be back in our favour, plus houses will be a lot cheaper by then. Take a look at the westpac economic reports.

[chrissie]

Thanks Toots...but you're only making me feel worse!!!

We have already sunk our money into the house we've bought here in Browns Bay (some brick but a lot of plaster!!) as we couldn't find anywhere decent to rent and we had to find something fast! We paid well over the odds for it as we were so desperate, so when the house prices go down later on we will only lose more money when we go to sell!!

We did look at Schnapper Rock but were tied to this area for my son's college, Rangitoto. I am trying to focus on the positive side of things. This house is dry, clean, elevated and has sea views, but it feels so small compared to others we've seen and I'm sure we won't get back anything like what we paid for it.

Sorry to sound so pathetic, but I have been making myself ill with the stress and worry of it all. Anyway, I am trying to focus on the positive side of things and thinking of this as a temporary place until my son finishes college. Hopefully, by the end of next year we will have had time to look around more and look at some better alternatives. It is just very hard at the moment to feel positive......I have never felt so depressed in my life!!

[veronica]

Hiya, I know its a trite thing to say and I am not at all religious but some times it helps to stop and count your blessings and smell the flowers.

Are yourselves and your family healthy....
you've said yourself you're warm and dry...
you've enough to feed yourselves...
and Summer is coming, flowers are out and birds twittering etc...get outside.

When all is said and done its only money that you MAY be out so just let it go, whats done is done and just go forward and banish the negative thoughts.

[toots]

Chrissy Oh, no!

I hear Rangi college is a very good school, is he enjoying it there? My daughter is going into Northcross after Christmas and counting down the days, can't wait to go.

At least some brick is better than no brick at all. However, houses in the Rangi zone will always attract a premium and are sought after by many immigrants. (Our street is out-of-zone, so houses here don't seem to be selling well) you have "Location, location, location" plus sea views.

When the time comes give the place the "showhome" treatment and it should be fine. :hopeso

I think the difference in houses between here and home just distills the feelings of alienation and homesickness. It's a constant reminder of where we are not. My way of dealing with it is by thinking that plenty of Kiwis and other immigrants are happy with their homes so it can't be as bad as I perceive.

Some of the happiest people I know have 4 kids and live in a rambling wooden house in Torbay, their doors are always seem to be open and the house is full of sunlight. Their kids are bright and warm hearted.

Things will turn out ok, take heart.

[leslie]

i have moved cont's 4 times and figure it takes a youngster 1 year to settle and at least 2 for anyone 30+. its not you... and when it feels truly crap remember you've done something brave for your family that is legacy material. houses much easier to fix than childhoods-past.

hub had kiwi arch working for him and they went to great lengths discussing probs etc with kiwi housing stock. also looked at what nz archs/ devs are doing. it is for the most part a 7.2 disaster in waiting and from sounds of it they are only beginning to acknowledge. funny to think that the average uk house was absolutely DIRE 20 years ago - standards are so much higher now. it will get better in nz too.

when we lived in a v basic cottage outside cambridge the only heater was a portable one - it must have been freezing sometimes but 11 years on i dont remember that. maybe a bit like childbirth...

[chrissie]

Hi Leslie
Thanks for those comments. They did actually help!! The main reason for getting out of the UK was for the sake of my kids. The 17 yr old loves it here and says he doesn't ever want to go back to UK (talking to his friends on MSN it seems all they are doing is going to the pub (as there is nothing else to do)and/or being beaten up or watching someone being beaten up on the way home!!). My 18 year old is liking it here and treating it as a gap year but as he knows he is going back next year to start at the the London College of Fashion, he isn't too fussed either way.

We also lived in South Africa for 10 years but I never experienced the difficulties with housing that we've experienced here, or the feelings of frustration and isolation that I am currently feeling!! Maybe I am now just too old at 47 to be making such a huge change in life??? But I will cling to that thought that it is for the boys' future and hopefully things will EVENTUALLY feel better....

[veronica]

No its not you're to old. me and Pete are both older than that its just different things get to different people. keep your chin up.

[leslie]

i find big moves a good opp to try something completely new - even strange. even if that thing turns out to be of little interest something else usually progresses from it. its like planting a tree - new roots shooting off every which way (careful what you plant and where!). creative things work well for me... pottery, photography, weaving, painting etc (my work v cerebral and can be v stressful) and i highly recommend. when we lived in cambridge (deer stud) i made a veg patch - never having touched a plant in my entire life - and we had much amusement over the fallout. who knew how fast things grow in nz??? who knew one marrow plant would overrun the place? who knew picky deer will eat marrow?! who knew how fab gazpacho tastes made with fresh home-grown veg? it wasn't easy but it kept me amused... and i have happy memories even though haven't done anything similar since.

[Michelle and Richard]

Just spent a morning house hunting on the north shore. Very disappointed every house was badly overlooked down a right of way that required a 15 point turn to get into and then the smell of damp hits you when you do finally get to the house. you certainly get more for your money the further up the north shore you can go but anywhere with spitting distance of the city or bridge is very poor. A view comes with a million $$$ price tag. We were looking in Takapuna and Milford.

Go for the good school zones if you can though as you are always guaranteed a market but make sure it has 3 and preferably 4 good sized bedrooms. Dont buy in a dip, dont touch "harditex" exterior, and dont buy any house without eaves. This is what we have picked up from our friends. Most importantly study the Lim report and get a full building inspection.

Michelle