Newtown villa update

The villa we're doing up is very near completion - just a few finishing details to do and the furniture is being put in for staging it to sell.

 

What is sarking and scrim

If your home is close to or more than 100 years old, then it's likely it would have been orginally lined with sarking and scrim.
Sarking is short horizontal planks of wood.  It was used as part of the wall lining and also formed part of the bracing (now we use dwangs) in old houses.

Sarking itself isn't a problem, although if you want to install insulation from the inside you will have to take it out to get the insulation in.  Usually the planks are so old and thin they break (you can see a crack in the middle one below) so you can't usually put them back in.  That's not an issue though because you'd most likely want to reline with a plasterboard like GIB in which case you don't need the sarking.

Bracing is now restricted building work in New Zealand so if you are removing sarking you need to have new bracing calculations done by someone who holds the LBP (licensed building practitioner) design category and have new bracing installed by a LBP carpenter.  Most restricted building requires consent from your council so make sure to check with your local council or designer if consent is required.

Scrim is like a hessian sacking which went on top of the sarking (in the picture below this one is nailed in, you can see the nail in the middle bottom with what looks like ribbon).  The wallpaper was stuck on to the scrim.  Scrim is highly flammable and insurance companies often either won't cover or won't give full cover if you have scrim.  We suggest if you do find some you let your insurance company know right away as it is better to keep them informed rather than have your home burn down and then find out you don't have cover!

If you just want to remove the scrim and reline yourself you should check with your council if consent is required – if it is then it is very likely a LBP carpenter needs to do the work (in which case it may be worth considering spending slightly more to have insulation installed at the same time).

Wallpaper stuck to the scrim on the right

Update on villa and moved doors

The painter has been in and finished the home where we moved the French doors.  It looks fantastic!

We're also getting along great with the villa too


Back bedroom

Kitchen

Lounge

Front bedroom

Hallway

 Lounge through to hallway

Homefirst guarantee

What’s so special about the guarantee we are able to offer?  
Our Homefirst guarantee is underwritten by an insurance company, which is rated by Standard and Poor’s.  Certified Builders Association is the only building association in New Zealand who can offer you this!

This guarantee can be passed on to new owners if you sell your house.  If you are getting finance from your bank be sure to let them know about the guarantee because some banks are more likely to lend when there’s the safety of the insurance.

Please note this guarantee is for the building work.  If you’re having an alteration or addition you still need to take out contract works insurance for the current dwelling.  For new builds we will take out contract works insurance to cover the house until it is handed over to you and then your own home and contents insurance takes over.

The Homefirst guarantee is in addition to meeting our obligations under the Consumer Guarantees Act and because it’s a form of insurance it covers you for a range of things.  As it is a form of insurance the guarantee has to be applied for so we can’t automatically offer it, but unless you are literally building a house out of mud there shouldn’t’ be a problem having it approved!

Benefits of the Homefirst Builders Guarantee

1.    Reimbursement of any deposit paid to the builder where the builder is unable to continue beyond site preparation, not exceeding twenty per cent (20%) of the Contract Price, or $50,000, whichever is the less. 

2.    Completion of the dwelling where the builder is unable to complete, not exceeding twenty per cent (20%) of the Contract Price, or $100,000, whichever is the less.

3.    Rectification of structural defects that the builder is unable to rectify, for 10 years.

4.    Rectification of non-structural defects that the builder is unable to rectify, for 2 years.

5.    Alternative accommodation and removal and storage costs.

6.    If a non-completion or defect claim is submitted, Builtin New Zealand Ltd will encourage the builder to remedy the problem and, if necessary, it will appoint another Certified Builder to do so, and the guarantee will cover the whole or a significant portion of the cost.

7.    The guarantee covers not only the Certified Builder’s work and materials but also the acts and omissions of any sub-contractors engaged by him.

8.    These rights are of course subject to the specific wording, limitations and exclusions in the guarantee agreement.

9.    The Homefirst Builders Guarantee is backed by CBL Insurance Ltd, an independent, internationally financed insurance company that is rated by Standard & Poor’s.

10.  The guarantee can generally be transferred to a new owner when you sell the house.  And because having a guarantee gives the buyer peace of mind it can help sell your home up to 50% faster.

Yes, there are four different types of Homefirst Builders Guarantee, depending on what your project is:

1.    Full Contract – where we manage the whole project for you.

2.    Carpentry Labour Only – where you act as project manager and organise all the materials and sub contractors directly, so the guarantee applies only to our work.

3.    Alterations & Additions – where work is being done on an existing building.

4.    Kitset Loss of Deposit – covers you when you’ve paid your deposit but something happens, such as the death, disappearance, legal incapacity, or insolvency of us or the kitset provider, and you don’t receive the materials you’ve paid for.

We believe this is an awesome guarantee – please give us a call on 021 443 129 if you’d like to talk through how it could benefit you.

New Certified Builders TV ad

We love the new Certified Builders tv ads.  You can watch them here:

Newtown townhouses

We've now finished the two townhouses in Newtown which we blogged about earlier.


Framing up unit 9

Roof

Getting the building wrap on - unit 8 then 9

Unit 9 then 8

Internal guttering on the roof

Top floor bathroom - unit 8

Downstairs bedroom - unit 8

Cantilevered deck

Cantilevered deck

Outside unit 8

Units 8 and 9

Wadestown - doors moved April 2012

The homeowners wanted their French doors moved over for better flow and access.

Unfortunately we don't have the before photos because "somebody" forgot to take them so you just have to imagine where it was from the obvious place on the wall!

For this job we moved the doors, framed up the old opening, fitted new skirtings and architraves.

With renovations or work on old houses there are often hidden surprises.  In this job we took out the doors and built a new frame.  When we went to fit the doors we discovered that one door had been planed (where the timber is shaved off) on a angle to fit the previous frame (which had also been packed out).  This wasn't obvious until we installed the doors in the new frames because it was so minor, but in building a few millimetres can make a difference and it would not have fitted on the frame so we had to plane both doors so they were square, true and the same size. 

Whoever fit the doors the last time should have made sure that the frame was plumb and level rather than doing something to the doors.  This goes to show that quick fixes often work out more expensive in the long run!

Door moved from the right to the left

 In this shot the door was on the left by the stairs but has been moved to the right