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leaky homes

Moisture Detection Companies and Services NZ

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With the leaky building crisis in full swing, and the building industry slowing down again, there is now a glut of new building inspection and moisture detection companies entering the market.

How do you know who the ‘newly registered’ home inspection companies are in the past year or so? Simple. Just go to the companies office website and do a search for their company name… that’s the fast and most accurate way to REALLY tell how long they’ve been in the business for!

We pride ourselves on being one of the longer standing moisture detection companies in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch (operating NZ Wide) with some of NZ’s most high profile companies on our books, including several councils and publically listed companies who use our services time and time again.

What’s happened recently in the NZ building inspection services industry, is builders started to run out of physical building work, and as a result they suddenly turned into inspectors.

What happens next? They start inspecting homes with a potential ‘hidden’ agender. We called up 1o companies who have started inspecting houses in the past 2 years and asked them if they fixed any problems they found. 8 out of the 10 house inspection companies surveyed said “YES”, or they could refer someone who could. 5 of them did not carry a thermal imaging camera.

So now… is it really an independant inspection if they also sell repair services also? Possibly not. This goes for pre sale, pre purchase moisture detection and building inspection services.

The way we’ve built our company over the years, is by sticking to a policy of non-biased inspections, which means it makes absolutely no difference to us if we find zero leaks, or 10 leaks using our leak detection equipment and techniques. In addition, we do these moisture inspections with reports at the best possible price possible, based on the area where you live.

Buying at Auction Costs & Tips

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Are you buying at action?

Sadly, many people get ‘caught out’ at auctions in NZ because they don’t know what to look out for.

It’s almost sickening how many properties we end up moisture testing in NZ for clients who ‘just purchased’ at an auction, only to move into the house and find signs of leaks (most of which were hidden under carpet and behind furniture etc). Most of them ‘thought’ the house looked fine from what they could see… before they purchased the house. In addtion, they thought they got a good deal!! I wonder why?

Basic buying at auction costs and tips:

Is getting a thermal imaging leak inspection a cost, and money I could potentially loose before an auction ? Yes it is… but don’t miss this step! It’s AMAZING how many times clients say to me “We didn’t want to pay for an inspection incase we didn’t win the auction”. Just plain silly thinking don’t you think? Absolutely.

99% of my clients have it written into their property contract to get a building inspection and/or moisture test prior to buying the house, so why wouldn’t you do the same in an auction scenario?

What should you look for prior to buying at auction? (From a leak detective’s point of view)

  • Look for swollen skirting boards
  • Look for discoloured carpet grip in the corners under the carpet. This will most likely mean a leak is coming in from somewhere
  • Look for any visual signs of joinery failures
  • Look for any bubbling of paintwork under windows, on ceiling, in bathrooms and on just about every surface of internal and  external walls
  • Cracks in cladding and around windows
  • Lack of ground clearence
  • Any leaks around plumbing, such as under sinks and in the corners of shower screens.

These tips listed above are only a hand full of what to look for in your initial ‘visual’ inspection. The next step is to get an experienced thermal imaging company to take a look using infrared technology to detect issues you will not see, like these ones… coupled with experience in moisture testing nz houses.

Do not buy at auction until you are 110% sure there are no moisture issues in the house… and we say this with certainty after seeing so many home buyers getting caught out buying lemons. If anything, we can do a verbal inspection for you (no report), which is cheaper and will give you certainty when you buy. If you are happy with the inspection results and win the auction, you can then request a report for a small fee.

Moisture Meter – Measuring Moisture Content of Wood

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We have a serious moisture problem in this country when untreated timber comes into the picture!

The moisture content within timber has a very important bearing on the uses for that type of wood. Having a good understanding of how moisture and leaks effect timber types is therefore critical to determine utilization. Moisture meters are the fast way to read moisture levels in wood.

Here’s a quick lesson about wood moisture, how it works in timber… and why we have leaky homes and leaky buildings in NZ:

The makeup on wood is best described as 1000’s of tiny cells… and within those cells are cell walls and cavities. Heartwood and Sapwood in their raw form (freshly cut) are saturated with moisture, and you may have noticed this yourself when you cut down a tree. In between the saturated cells are very small spaces of air. Once the wood has been cut, and the drying out process of the timber begins, the first part of the cell to loose it’s moisture content is the cell cavity, and then the cell wall.

Important to understand: Once the moisture from the timber cell walls has completely evaporated and the timber itself has somewhat shrunk in the process, the woods moisture content will then be in equilibrium with its surroundings (EMC – Equilibrium Moisture Content).

Once the timber framework of your home has been put in place by the builder, from then on its integrity and life span will be subject to the variations in surrounding relative humidity (and to a lesser extent, temperature). In general, most countries around the world including New Zealand, will have wide variances in humidity between winter and summer months, therefore the Equilibrium Moisture Content of the timber will affected (swelling and shrinking) if it wasn’t originally dried to the average moisture content is will attain in use. That’s why moisture meters quickly help us to determine if the timber is either dried out, or wet.

Are you starting to get the picture about why the high moisture content in untreated timber is causing major issues here is NZ with leaky buildings?

How does temperature affect moisture readings?

Most companies will initially calibrate their moisture meters around 19 -21 degress. The problem with people who aren’t experienced and don’t know how to use a moisture meter correctly, is they aren’t aware of how to add or subject readings based on temperature corrections. The basic rule of thumb, is that you subtract 1 from the meter reading either way per 5 degrees in temperature variance (this only applies up to 70 degrees in temp). The best moisture meters for sale in NZ will have this correction feature as a function.

You should have knowledge about the different timber species used in NZ buildings prior to arriving at a benchmark moisture percentage to work with. Treated and untreated timber will require adjustments. Untreated timber will actually give the most true reading because there aren’t any chemical preservatives to throw the moisture reading out.

We use a moisture meter to test NZ houses daily, and it works out cheaper for us to do the moisture inspection for you then buying one for yourself. 

(Source: Some of the above info was provided by NZ Forest Research Institute)

Leaky Homes & Monolithic Cladding – 20 Years to Go??

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The leaky home statistics keep on coming… the key being not to buy one, or own one if possible!

So what’s in store for these leaking homes (leaky buildings) over the next 20 yrs or so?

There was an interesting article in the NZ Herald over the weekend that talks about the leaky home crisis, and how long it’s predicted to last before the mess is all tidied up. Greg O’Sullivan predicted these building issues where bound to happen back in 1994 after noticing “things weren’t built decently, or certain cladding types were not performing”. Put simply, if your home was built in the 90’s or early 2000’s, you could be living in a leaky home.

 On the same page of the Herald which features the above story, there’s also an article titled “Warranty hope for owners of mono-clad houses”. So why would a company specifically single out monolithic cladding homes to offer warranties on? Are monolithic clad homes of higher risk for moisture ingress and leaks, or is it the negative stigma involved with the looks of these homes? It appears their warranty is more to do with the stigma involved with these homes, which further confirms what I had mentioned in an NZ Herald article recently.

Not all homes with this type of cladding will leak… it can depend on the workmanship, if there’s a cavity system and how well he plaster finish is holding together.

A moisture inspection on your home is a very good precautionary measure if you haven’t had one in the past, and if anything, a peace of mind.

What Does a Leaky Home/Building Look Like?

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If you don’t know what a leaky home or leaky building looks like, then you’re not the only one.

What is the perception created from a ‘look-a-like’ leaky home?

Recently I was contacted by newspaper reporter Michelle Coursey at the NZ Herald regarding the first thoughts some home buyers have when they come across a property for sale that ‘looks like’ a leaky home… or when they find out the home was built in the 1990’s. (A link to the published article is at the bottom of this page for you to read). 

You can read about my own personal ‘first thoughts’ when I drive up a driveway to do a thermal imaging leak inspection, and see a home with no eves or window flashings infront of me (contributing factors to a leaky home) in the Herald newspaper article. You can also read how the different real estate agents responded to the same question. One agent said one of her clients ‘freaked out’ when taken to view a home with monolithic cladding, while another agent said people won’t even get past seeing a picture on the internet of a home for sale that ‘looks like’ a leaky building.

Not all homes that use ‘that type of cladding’ leak… but unfortunately the stigma surrounding them could have a real impact should the home owner decide to sell. I’ve spoken to people who have a leaky home, and they tell me they certainly will be changing the type of exterior finish when they come around to doing the re-clad, to help prevent being labelled having a leaky home before it’s even been tested for moisture.

Take a read of the NZ Herald article here….

‘Leaky Look Deters Buyers’

NZ Leaky Homes – Signs of a Leaky Home or Leaky Building

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If you suspect you have a leaky home, or signs of a leaky home(s), there are a few basics you can take to help prevent water infiltrating your asset.

First you need establish what area the leak could be entering. This is usually very hard to work out with the naked eye, as water can travel up, down, sideways and into the smallest of cracks and voids.

leaky home mould

DIY basics to help avoid water infiltrating your home:

1) Walk around your home and carefully look at the surface of every wall for cracks or pentrations. Something as simple as a nail poking out could let water in around it and cause moisture damage. Seal it fast!

2) Sill flashings under your windows. Check the joinery is sealed and no ‘obvious’ gaps are present for water to infiltrate. This is a common area for water leaks.

3) Meter boards need to be sealed properly.

4) Where your deck balustrades (hand railings) connect to the wall.

If you find penetrations on your exterior walls, the chances that water could have already entered your walls is high. Simply fixing the penetration isn’t enough… the area of concern should be checked with a thermal imaging camera and moisture meter to help determine the extent of the leak/damage. You may need to open up the area and let it dry out, which in turn will help prevent future structural integrity issues.

At the end of the day, the majority of NZ home buyers will now get a moisture inspection & building inspection before signing the dotted line. If you think you could have moisture behind your walls, you should call us asap… every day you leave it sit could mean a decrease in the equity of your home. Catch the moisture issues early before you suddenly become an owner of one of those NZ leaky homes!

Contact us today for a free thermal imaging quote.

Consumerbuild has detailed info regarding the above here