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Moisture Damage

Early Moisture Detection in NZ Homes is Critical!

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After doing a pre purchase moisture detection test on a home in Auckland today, it really drove home the point that letting moisture go undetected behind your wall can cost you big $$$ long term!

In the case of this particular home, the cladding finish had perished around the windows, and water had been finding it’s way into the walls via the ‘gaps’ around the window… and slowly filling the below walls with moisture.

leak under window

And here’s the part that hurts most…

This was a pre purchase inspection… the home owners, home buyer and real estate agent were all present. As the inspection progressed, we hit a spot on the interior wall below the window that sent the moisture meter reading through the roof! To make matters worse, the issue extended the whole way along the bottom half of the north facing wall. The home owner wasn’t impressed, and the home buyer was impressed! The negotiation power suddenly feel right into the hands of the buyer is this situation.

Who’s to blame here?

The home owner is 100% to blame. If they had a moisture test done years ago, they may have caught the issue early and found the source of the leak. Instead they remained complacent and assumed everything was ok because they couldn’t see any signs of moisture or mould on the interior wall.

The vendor may now end up with a ‘low ball’ offer from the potential buyer, if they make an offer at all. A 1-2 hr moisture test on their home years earlier could have prevented this whole situation. Too many vendors get a rude shock when they find out a contract on their home falls over based on a moisture report… they were so busy counting the equity they ‘thought’ they had, and forgot the basic upkeep on their property in the meantime.

Please don’t let this scenario happen to you and your families future. Call us for a check up today!

A Moisture Test is Critical When Buying a Home in NZ

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One of the biggest mistakes a home buyer in NZ can make is not getting a moisture test!

Finding a moisture inspection company/consultant to carry out an internal moisture test on your current home, or the home you are looking to purchase should be a BIG priority here in NZ.

Usually a pre purchase moisture test will go 1 of 2 ways when buying a home…

1) You could save yourself from buying a leaky home, or a home with moisture damage. This could prevent financial disaster!

2) The moisture scan on the home could find a small problem which can be easily fixed. The upside in this case is that you may be able to negotiate a better price on the home.

Before you consider buying a home, take one minute to read this information.

Contact us for a moisture test on your home here.

Water Damage – Flooded NZ Home … What to Do Next?

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Water – It’s flowing all through our home as we speak, and we usually don’t even think twice about it…

… until a leak suddenly appears, or we can smell dampness in the home. What if you returned from the office or vacation, only to find your lounge room half full or water? This water will soak in by the second!

bathroom floor leak

If this water damage isn’t dried out properly, the structural integrity of your home will be compromised, as will your health.
Your insurance policy would usually help out in this situation, so if you’ve had water damage in your home recently, you should get the backside of your walls checked using infrared to give you a better idea if the moisture did actually dry out properly. Unless you ripped out all your walls in the area at the time, then you can’t be too sure.

How can you slow down the flow in an emergency?

Firstly, you should always know where the main shut off to your water supply is in the event of water damage or flood in the home.

You then need to identify where the water actually came from that caused the water damage… and call a plumber right away. If you find that the water has come from a toilet area, you need to wear protective clothing, as you may come in contact with bacteria in the sewerage due to backflow. It may be best to call in a professional to mop up the mess if bacteria is involved.

A common mistake some people make is assuming they can dry things out by turning up the heating system. Too much heat can actually draw the moisture out of some surfaces fast, resulting in further ‘secondary’ damage such as cracking, splitting and warping. This is common with artwork, wooden furniture and some musical instruments that have a very low moisture content to start with. All of these items will absorb moisture rapidly and are vulnerable to the effects of heat and rapid drying.

Who can help with water damage?

You would normally call on a professional in this situation. Typing ‘water restoration’ into the yellow pages, or talking to your insurance company for guidance is the quickest option. If your insurance company refers a professional to you, that’s a good sign that they have dealt with that tradesperson in the past.

Once you think it’s all dried out, you should then call us. We will do an infrared thermal imaging scan on your home to find any traces of leftover moisture.

Contact us today!

Sick Building Syndrome in NZ

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Does Your Home or Office Suffer From the Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)?

A breathe of fresh air, or a breathe of mould spores?

Everyday, we all naturally breath thousands of times without even giving it a second thought. Fortunately NZ outdoor air quality is generally of high quality, which is good news for those working outside. The problem facing NZ homes and offices is the air quality on the inside of homes, and the more the topic is researched, the more ‘interesting’ information is surfacing about indoor air quality in NZ. In a nutshell, poor air quality in the home and office can make you sick… and could well explain those ‘unexpected’ sneeze attacks, asthma attacks and fatigue that we all encounter from time to time (some more often than others).

What does ‘Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)’ mean?

The phrase ‘Sick Building Syndrome’ is a generic name used to cover several different health issues in the home that we can not see with the human eye. The good folk in the 1970s began using the name ‘SBS’ to describe the mysterious, unexplained reactions and symptoms that everyday people began reporting in increased numbers. After years of research, it has now been determined that SBS in a result of poor indoor air quality.

Did you know: A thermal imaging inspection on your home could determine areas of excess moisture hiding behind your walls which could be causing ‘sick building syndrome’ in your home or office? Details about an infrared scan of your home for mould and moisture here.

Common Symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) in NZ Homes.

All the usual suspects that interfer with our quality of life such as headaches, dizziness, lethargy, sniffing, fatigue, nausea, sneezing, sniffing, eye irritation and sensitivity to mould (mold) spores and certain odours are all symptoms of sick building syndrome.

Find it hard to get out of bed some mornings? Did you ever consider you could be breathing in dead mould spores into your system all night long? Damp and hidden moisture behind walls are the likely to cause mould growth in your home.

Do you suspect poor indoor air quality in your home or office? Contact us today for a complete thermal imaging scan of the ‘area of concern’, we can detect the hidden moisture problems in your home or office… fast! If your health and general quality of life isn’t where it should be, take action today!

Free thermal imaging quote here

Moisture Meter Inspection Useful to Avoid Buying a Home Full of Rotting Timber.

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Below you will find a link to a checklist that will  help you to avoid buying a ‘lemon’… yes, some walls are full of water and you can’t see it with the naked eye.

If you’re a first home buyer, don’t fall into the ’emotional’ trap of buying the first good looking, well priced, recently renovated home you see. Always get a certified inspector to come and do a moisture reading on the home first. The inspector should obviously be carrying a moisture meter, but in addition, a thermal imaging camera like our inspectors carry. This is how we detect where the leak begins and ends.

The NZ Herald recently posted this article… and as you’ll read, just about every home will leak at some point in its life, it’s just a matter of you being on the ball and detecting it early before it becomes destructive. Here’s the article…

‘Beginners Guide to Avoid Buying a Rotting House‘

Call us for a ‘check up’ to see what’s happening behind your walls!

We can see what the naked eye can’t!

How to Fix Moisture & Leak Damage Around the Home

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If you’re looking for a simple way to fix moisture or leak damage around the home, there is many ways to fix a leak… but the big question is this… how far has the moisture damage behind the wall or ceiling travelled?

Take a look at this photo for a moment, then test your leak detection skills by answering a couple of ‘home handyman’ questions underneath the photo…

Water Leak Detection Using Thermal Imaging

This leak is quite obvious right? Well no it’s not really, because if you didn’t have this thermal imaging photo to begin with, you may have needed to rip down the walls to find the extent of it.

Is the leak from the bathroom above? It could be. But it could also be coming from the roof or window joinery in the bathroom above… and eventually tracking down both walls. So do you take the risk of pulling down the walls in this photo, and the walls in the bathroom above … only to find it was from the shower pan? It’s coming from somewhere up above… we know that much. Time to gamble … or is it better to get a thermal imaging scan done to reveal the leak source within minutes?

So how far has the problem really extended? This photo shows water above the window. The insulation could also be storing moisture in the dark blue area.

Is that a faint air leak coming out of the edge of the cornice on the ceiling side? Did you even see that? This is why we provide a service that reveals ‘things’ that the human eye can’t see. Air leaks in insulation… and in this case the wall/ceiling juncture isn’t sealed properly. These types of issues will drive up your home energy bill.

Our company can detect a leak fast… and certainly save you alot of time. Problems like the above can really start to suck the equity out of your home if you don’t get it identified and fixed… and the structural integrity of your home is sub-standard and costly to repair.

Contact us today for a free quote!

How to Find Excess Moisture Around the Home, and the Immediate Effects Moisture Has On Your Health

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Moisture and leak detection in your home – Don’t let the early signs slide, otherwise your home equity can vanish real quick through ‘unforeseen’ structural problems behind your walls. Just like humans can get cancer, so can your home and it’s normally undetected moisture that’s the problem!

Moisture in your home can be good, and it can be bad. When you do achieve the correct balance you need within the home, your health and the health of your building is ensured. But when you have too much moisture, your building can fail in many ways that can not only damage the structure, but affect you and your family’s health and well-being. Are you or your child possibly sleeping next to a damp wall that could be full of mold spores? Are you breathing them in?

When moisture is at a balanced level in our home, we are not even aware of it, and certainly can’t ‘see’ that the level is correct. But when the moisture balance gets out of whack, it always marks its territory in not so obvious places… and we don’t usually see these places until it’s all to late: rotting wood, wet walls, rusting metal, moldy surfaces, condensation on windows, peeling paint etc. Depending on your sensitivities, you may experience dryness in your nose and respiratory system when moisture is insufficient, or experience allergic reactions.

One of the many things you will learn about your home from our moisture detection service is that it’s not always natural causes that contribute to filling your walls and ceiling with moisture. The majority of the time, the moisture leak issue in your home can be traced back to the mistakes that builders, plumbers, contractors, building materials, manufacturers and designers make when your building envelope is pieced together right from the very beginning. Did you know in NZ there’s been cases of new homes being built, and suffering from moisture ingress and leaks from day 1?

Do not risk buying a home in NZ before getting a thermal imaging scan… the numbers are stacked against you. Here’s another BIG benefit of using our service in the process of buying a home… this idea is very logical, but most home buyers haven’t even thought of it… details here.

We are a specialised moisture detection company in NZ using certified thermal imaging camera operators, and we can certainly fast track the process of moisture detection in your home.

Contact Us today for an obligation free quote!