The Resident Builder podcast: December 29, 2024

focused sort of Christmas Day. And I know we had quite a bit of discussion around stocking stuff is basically what would come out of the or could go into the tool shed or into the toolbox. On my part that seemed to go quite well. I did end up working a little bit on Christmas Day here at New Suk seed B did eleven til one, and I was about to say, if you got something noisy in the tool department on Christmas Day, perhaps refrained from testing it

out until at least Boxing Day. So I'm sure that the temptation was there if you've got something bright and shiny and possibly noisy for Christmas Day, that you wanted to have a crack at it. So maybe you're into projects. I mean it's pretty out there. I had still a little bit of driving around the city yesterday. It would seem that either people have disappeared on holiday, which is great, or you're all at home doing projects. So if you've got a project on that you would like some help

with a little bit of advice around. Please call now, Oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty is that number you can text through as well. That's nine to nine two from your mobile phone and if you'd like to send me an email then'd be lovely. It's Pete at newstalksb dot co dot nz. So around this time of year, I think, well where was I? I went to a tool shop during the week and a couple of trips to local hardware store, and it seems like there's still

a little bit of activity out there. Even noticed actually driving around yesterday a bunch of trades people still working on a fairly large commercial site. So there's there's still activity that goes on. But if you've got a project and you'd like some help, by all means give us a call. If you've got something that you've got for Christmas and you're wondering how that goodness do I use it, then we can talk about tools and tool use and particularly tool safety. I have to say yesterday I spend

a little bit of time in the workshop. I may well have been puttering as per our discussion last week around getting my sort of dust control and dust extraction set up. It seems if I look back. Over the year, it's kind of been not quite my obsession because that tends to make it something that we do without having

a decent purpose. But it has become an increasing focus of mine is to go what am I doing to ensure that the environment that I'm working in is not quite dust free because that's the nature of construction, but at least that I'm putting in place mitigation, some way of removing that. So if I'm sanding, if I'm using a power tool, then typically I've got a bunch of different little adapters that hock up to the vacuum cleaner.

So take the bad off the tool that I'm using, connect an extraction hose to that, and have that hopped up to the vacuum. I got a little track saw this year, and happily enough, a portable dust extractor, a little wet and dry eighteen vault Rhiobi dust extractor that I can carry around with me. It's actually incredibly useful and just gives you that opportunity to clean up as you go without having to drag out a vacuum a

conventional one. Got a couple of those tucked away inside the workshop, have them hopped up to the drop saw, got them connected to there's a larger dust extractor that I connect up to the table saw when I use that. And then the other day I was looking for a particular type of clamp that allows you to have the hose fixed somewhere if you're using extraction sometimes having the hose sort of flapping around is a little bit difficult.

And I did find them on an overseas website, and then I balked at the cost of the import the freight from the States, that being about one hundred and twenty dollars, and I think I've pretty much ended up making one myself. Anyway, I've got to go and do one more little trip to the hardware store on my

way home today and that'll be that project underway. So if you've got a project on or if you're considering maybe a project in the new year, eight hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number to call, just in terms of where we're at at the end of the year, and i'd be interested in your opinions on that. There's a couple of it's been a remarkably complex and varied. It certainly varied in terms of business out there at the moment, it's pretty tough for a lot of people,

and for those that have got through. I think this is when reputation and relationships will hold your business together. So it's pretty tough. I saw some figures the other day about eleven thousand jobs lost in the construction sector, typically construction employees. I think it's around two hundred and

thirty thousand people in New Zealand. And for eleven thousand jobs to disappear out of that sector, that's had a dramatic impact on obviously on people's lives, but in terms of you know, as we grow, we need those people. Of course, as we go into recession, those people disappear and then do they come back, So maybe you've been impacted by that. So that is part of where we're at.

The other is that as the new government sort of hits its stride, suddenly there's a whole lot of talk about do we want to do remote inspections, do we want to wind back h one of the building Code? Do we want to look at a broader scope of building work that can be done without necessarily having a building consent. We want to be able to build sixty square meters. So it's been a fascinating political year. When it comes to construction as well, radio we can talk

all things building and construction. Will do that right through till eight thirty. I don't have any guests with me today, so it's your opportunity. Need to talk all things building in construction right through eight thirty. Eight thirty. We will jump into the garden with the delightful hundred climb past at eight thirty, and then we will talk all things about the wonderful world of bugs and gardening as well.

Oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty the number to call if you'd like to join me now is a good opportunity. Eight hundred eighty ten eighty is that number to call.

and I appreciate that the texts coming through. Look, I think, for a start, it's right to be cautious about it, like anyone that I know who's had it and their property has a high likelihood of failure. And when I talk about failure, it's a joint popping apart or bursting, often the middle of the night when the pressure is higher, or sometimes when you're away, and those sorts of things.

So yes, it is problematic, without a doubt. I'm curious about how a real estate agent would know that it was in the wall, because it's not something you can see. So I guess it's one of those things. If a current seller a vendor has told you that that's the type of plumbing, it's an unusual question to ask. It's a little bit unusual. And then is it the role of the real estate agent to be advising a prospective purchaser about repairs and maintenance that they might have to do.

I suppose it's all part of disclosure. Wouldn't mind talking to an agent on that actually. But look, in general, I agree with you. I think that if it has been identified then and typically if you do repair, then somewhere else will burst later on. And I know plenty of people that have just taken the plunge, let's say, and they've stripped it out or they've simply bypassed it, deleted the lines, left them in the walls, just run new lines to all of the various outlets and so

there's nothing running through the old duck square. So I agree you've got a concern.

look knowing this, We'll make you an offer, but will deduct forty thousand dollars for the potential cost of the repair. I just thought that was an absurd estimate to give and incredibly vague. From one thousand to fifty thousand dollars to repair. I mean, that's outrageous. Oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call, and Hazel A very good morning, Welcome to the show. Good morning, Hazel.

I turned my test off of this thing, and as I went through pizza toilets. I saw about eight inch shet of water coming onto the carpet underneath the hot water, and so I forgot about going into the toilet. Rang the farbargate and they were absolutely amazing. But when they.

You manage the job yourself. And interesting we had some friends who took a cash settlement for a much more considerable sum for extensive damage to a house and managed it, but then had a slightly more complex claim a little bit later on, and made sure that the insurer managed it because they could see that it was going to be really complicated. So I think you've got to be a bit careful about that. So do you currently, though, have mold still in your house?

or a similar claim. Sometimes they'll say, well, look you've had and this loops back actually the ducks quest thing where in some cases I've heard where a claim has been made for water damage as a result of the pipe bursting, and then they might pay for that once or twice, but thereafter they'll say, well, look, if you don't go ahead and replace it now at your cost, we're not going to cover any further claims on that

sort of thing. So that might be something, But I wonder whether it could be useful for you to get a plumber just to look at it both of the claims, look at the quality that repair, and if your insurer hasn't done a good job on the repair, then I would go back to the insurer, particularly if they're still mold, if they haven't dried it out properly, or if they haven't repaired an extensive enough area to get rid of that mold, I would suggest that they need to come

back and figure that out. Thank you very much, Hazel, and a very good morning to you, Paul.

screw to do the drilling. I tend to pre drill because I think that's slightly more accurate.

take your time with these sorts of repairs. So like the other day, I went to use my I've got an older petrol blower to pull start it, and notice that the cord was fraying to the point where it would barely come out of the you know, you pull it and it's the gems about halfway, and I thought, right, I'm not going to push it. I don't want to

break the cord. And then I've da da da da, went and got some new cord the other day, and yesterday afternoon took it apart, and then I kind of went, actually, I've got like half an hour to do this, but I feel it might be a little bit longer of a job. So I'm going to give myself time, and I suggest you take the same approach in terms of doing the hinges. Give yourself time, don't rush it out, rush and you'll be fine.

we don't give ourselves enough time to do jobs. You know that we look at a job and we go, oh, it's half an hour or it's an hour, but you kind of know in the back of your head that that in fact, it's probably twice that, and so we launch into it and then we're under We put ourselves under pressure, and then the wheels fall off. Basically, so if you're going to do a task, particularly if it's one that you're unfamiliar with, take the time in the same way that when I pulled the cover off yesterday

and I'm looking at how the pull start works. I've got my new bit of chord and I'm going actually this because it's not something I repair every day, right, but I'm pretty determined to have a crack at it, and it should be relatively simple. And I did actually go online to seek some guidance, and now I've got two different approaches to fixing it. So anyway, I might actually play with that later on this afternoon and see if I can get That's another job out of the way.

See that's success on a Sunday, little job like that done. Eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. If you've got a job that you would like to get done, or you'd like to talk about or talk about various options, by all means, give us a call. Couple of texts have come in with regard to the Ducks quest and how it relates to sale and purchase agreements and real estate agents obligations and so on. Will come back and look at that in the moment, but we'll take your calls

as well. On eight hundred and eighty ten eighty by all means, text nine two nine two, and if you'd like to email, it's Pete at Newstalks b It is six th eighty two. Just an aside as well for again into the texts about the plumbing and the real estate agents and so on, just off the cuff I happened to over the last two sundays on the show. We were talking about stocking stuffers, and I mentioned the fact that I'd wanted into my local, which happens to be dem Put Timber, to pick up a few bits

and pieces. I needed some bolt fix and whatever I needed for that particular job, and saw that they had on the counter Good Rules, which is a New Zealand designed folding ruler. It's a little bit unusual and I've got a couple of them at home and I find them quite useful and they'd make a good sort of stocking stuff a type of gift. It seems like there was quite a bit of interest, and they're not actually

that easy to in terms of retail stores. They're widely available online, but they're not in a lot of retail stores. But Jamie and his family that run Devenport Timber, they happened to stock them and they've supported the team at the Good Rule for quite some time. And Jamie texts me on the weekend and goes mate we've I think I've spent most of my time over the last week answering phone calls from people looking for these particular rulers

and people coming into the store to get them. So if you did pop over, didn't put timber good on you. I hope you enjoyed the drive and the journey down Lake Road. And thanks for supporting the good rule in that way as well. So I wasn't my intention. I just happened to mention it. And yeah, I've used them the good stuff and it's great fun. Oh eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number to call if you would like to join us and if you

want to chip in your thoughts around this. In terms of property and real estate, I guess so the original text was good morning Peak, I work in real estate. The question is around Duck's quest plumbing. When this is located, we and a property, we advise potential buyers to have this replaced, even if it is currently functioning correctly and problem free. Would you agree with this? Would you have any other info I could pass on? So there's a whole lot in that statement. One is I guess if

you know it and you know that it's a problem. Yes, you have a duty to inform as a real estate agent, as my understanding, but do you necessarily have to recommend repair or do you just go hey? By the way, the vendor or a pre purchase inspection has identified that it is Duck's Quest, which was kind of a late eighties sort of plumbing product that has had extensive failures without a doubt. So a couple of other texts have

come in. It's called fujuciary obligation. If you're a land agent and aware of a property or dwelling information, you must advise the interested party. So if you're aware of a particular fault, then you need to advise that. And there was a case actually the other day that went through to the real estate tribunal where someone was aware and deliberately withheld information of damage. And other text has come through. Dux Quest Plumbing is now a general disclosure

on our purchaser acknowledgment form, much like monolithic clad properties. Also, a question about the forty K deduction requested, are you sure it wasn't a type? And the value associated with the works went five to one thousand to five thousand dollars, No, I spoke with the person who this is firsthand, this

isn't a secondhand story. The pre purchase inspector, and you would have to question their ability to be blunt, made an estimate of between one thousand and fifty thousand dollars, and based on that pre purchase inspection and the figure set down, the potential purchase offered the vendor who I know, the asking price minus forty thousand dollars. So, and then eithery wanted to do a whole CCTV survey of the of the line as well, which is kind of unusual.

I don't think I've ever heard of that where someone a potential purchaser wants to get a CCTV survey of the wastewater line like the pipes under the ground across the section to the boundary. It was decidedly odd anyway. In the end, as it happens in this particular situation, someone else was interested in the property and purchased it at the asking price, basically without all of that. Plava. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty. If you'd like to add

to that, I'd love to hear from you. Eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call, and then our first caller, Hazer, was talking about some water damage as a result of I think it might have been a burst pipe, and then the second one might have been a hot order cylinder. And of course someone has pointed out with insurance policies, some insurance policies, because they do very gradual damage, may have a policy limit of just two thousand dollars. In some cases gradual damage has

basically no cover whatsoever. Eight hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number to call if you've got a building project that's underway that you'd like some help with, or you're looking to the future and thinking, actually, is now this is the discussion a number of people are having.

Is now the time if you've held off doing a project, either a new build or renovation or significant alterations to the property, and you've held off, prices were very high, Materials were hard to get, material prices seem to be going up. No one was prepared to offer any fixed price contracts, etc.

Is now the time to press go before things inevitably take off? So I'm interested in your opinion on that as well. The lines are open. The number to call call us now. We've got plenty of spare lines right now, so now's a perfect time. Eight hundred eighty ten eighty is that number to call? Quack text before the break? Good morning Peak. Do you have any tips for removing stains from firewood and sawdust from concrete? So I presume that it's either a gum or a resin or something

like that, or maybe you've had some hardwood. Typically, if you've got staining, it's out of Yeah, Kuiler is the classic one where you leave that out and it drops onto there. Almost impossible to get the quila stains out in my experience. But if it's others, then would you use Basically hydrochloric acid, which has spirit assaults. Is probably quite a good idea for cleaning concrete down, So try that. Agitate and then rinse off might help you out there.

But yeah, stains on the concrete can be difficult to get out. Eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call. It is coming up seventeen minutes away from seven. Join us now lines are free, eight hundred eighty ten eighty. Just thinking back over the year twenty twenty four which has been you know, it's memorable in the sense for people involved in construction, just probably because of how challenging it has been. I mentioned at the beginning of the show.

I saw some figures the other day about eleven thousand jobs in the construction sector have been lost or the numbers employed are down by about eleven thousand. That's a not insignificant amount out of an industry that employs. I think it's around two hundred and thirty thousand people roughly are involved in the construction sector. So it's a tough time. It's a tough time for apprentices, particularly in terms of construction.

They're often the first ones who are let go, and then whether or not they try and stay in construction or do they come back. Typically they don't. I can recall back in what was two thousand and seven, you know, when there was a fairly significant downturn as well, almost a third of construction apprentices were let go. And then of course we go back into an upswing in the sector, and we're desperate for labor, and we're desperate for skilled people,

and those people have gone. And then a little about a year ago, we had a great conversation with John Tukey from aut who's a fantastic commentator on all things can struction, but also sort of a big picture view of the industry, and I was saying to him, is there a way in which we can sort of even out these highs and lows in the sector that we tend to either be chasing our tail looking for labor, looking for materials when we're in a boom, or we're

at the bottom of the trough and it's desperate and we lose a whole bunch of people and a whole

lot of skills. And his simple answer is no, it's just that, I suppose it's the nature of capitalism, it's the nature of the economy, it's the nature of sort of these cyclical movements, and the industry kind of needs it, and so there's not really a way of getting of easing that out, which was I was kind of hoping that he'd have some sort of perfect answer to get that sorted, but no. A couple of texts on exactly that, you know, looking back over the year, because ultimately, if

you're typically if you're involved in construction, you end up becoming a business owner, right. Plenty of small traders, lots of soul traders, lots of limited liability companies, plenty of liquidations and receiverships, and of course there's been if you look back over the year a couple of really high profile companies as well that have had receivers appointed to

try and sort out. And I mean it would be would I be overstating it and saying that almost every week, certainly every two weeks, there'd be a story in the paper about a developer going under or people that have paid deposits. I saw that story a couple of weeks ago, people who had paid deposits to a developer for home basically land and house packages, only to discover that the developer to whom they'd paid the deposits didn't even own

the land. The actual buildings were a long way off, and the money didn't go into a trust account, so their deposits are gone. It's not uncommon either. Right now it has been fairly challenging. Maybe you'd like to add your comments to that. Virtually all businesses are downpeak, most between ten and thirty percent, some far worse. The whole economy has been up and down the last forty years,

but slowly going down. We're not finished, and we need to make massive changes to our whole economic and social structure. And I'm hopeful that it and I'm not hopeful of them being implemented. That's from Bob, so that's a broader summary. A quick one. On the staining of the concrete. Someone has suggested using baking soda and water. Good idea. Someone

else suggesting you should never use acid. I mean we use acid often to if you're doing literally, and acid wash if you want that exposed aggregate, so it works to clean away the cement. But baking soda and water is a good option. Someone here we go. I want to stain the deck. It was previously stained Kofi, which is like a warm yellow color, and I want to change it to gray after water blasting. Is there any

other prep before I use the new color. What I would suggest that I'm always really reluctant around water blasting decks. You've got to know, we've got to do it gently. Basically, it should be regarded as a powerwash, not a water blast. So you want to use a proprietary product like a deck wash to attack all of the mold and mildew that's settled on the deck. That will also help open up the fibers. But then when you're water blasting or

power washing, don't go too close to the timber. You will literally rip up the fibers and damage the decking itself. So if you've cleaned it thoroughly, agitated its apply a cleaner, agitate with a stiff broom. Rinse that off by all

means with a water blaster, but don't go too close. Then, if you've got an existing color and you want to change it to a different one, I would just check in terms of compatibility that you don't end up with kind of splotchiness where you've got slightly more of the original stain remains on the timber and then you've applied a new stain over the top, but in other parts where you've got less of that original stain on the timber,

it will it could give your different appearance. So once you've done your prep, maybe have a look at just doing a test in one small area just to make sure you don't get an incompatibility between the two. If that's okay, then go right ahead. So allow the timber to dry a reasonable amount, doesn't have to be bone dry, and then go ahead and do the new coat over the top and from yellow to gray. I could kind of see why you want to do it. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call. We

got lines are plenty for you. We always get busy later in the show, so now it's a good time to call if you've got a project. All some thoughts on twenty twenty four in terms of the construction sector, give us a call. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty. Actually, what I was thinking about, sort of looking back over

the year. One of the unexpected things something that if you talk to me at the beginning of twenty twenty four, would I have been involved with, or discussed or been in a sense so consumed by I've got to say, has been the l boxes. That's been my real surprise for twenty twenty four. So I think quite early in the year I talked to rud about sort of the I suppose, the re emergence of owls around the country.

I didn't realized that there were as many varieties or species of owl, and that they lived in such an extensive part of the country. And Sot being Root sent me a couple of plans for owl boxes, which during the middle of winter, when I happened to have sort of half a day spare, I went out into the workshop, used up all my off cut bits of plywood and all the rest of it, and made one based on one plan, then another based on another plan. It seems

that there are different plans for these things. Then I realized that the two plans I had were really for small owls, and that the one that I had intended to build was for a barn owl, which is a slightly larger owl. So I've still got one more owl box to go. I've sent one to Waihiki Island, I've sent another one has gone off down country, and over the course of the year, I've probably sent out fifteen or twenty emails from people requesting copies of those particular plans.

So yeah, I didn't expect to be building ol boxes during the year. But if one of those ends up becoming a home to an owl in their new location, I would be as happy as Larry, I've got to say. And then in my research I also discover that the good people at Wingspan have their own particular owl box design, and I'm off the under Wingspan. In a couple of weeks time, I feel that I might make my own

olbox and take it down. They can give it away to someone, But you go, I've just given myself another job. If you've got a job and you need some help with it, give us a call. Oh, eight hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number to call. We'd be back straight off. Well, a very good morning, and welcome back to the show. It is. Let's have a look. Six minutes almost seven minutes after seven on a Sunday, the twenty ninth of December, the last Sunday show for

me for twenty twenty four. But we'll be back, of course bright nearly. Will it be the morning of the fourth or something like that, fifth of January twenty twenty five. And I'm interesting in the news bulletin. They're talking about, you know, the year ahead economically, in terms of business

and so on. It's still you know, I think at the beginning of twenty twenty four, the phrase that emerged was survived to twenty five, but increasingly people are now talking about not just surviving until twenty five, but you've got to kind of get through twenty twenty five as well. And you know, ultimately, I guess building the sort of building that we're talking about, the renovations, the alterations, the

repair work and so on, it is. It's a business, right, so we're talking about business as well, and how businesses are going to survive whether there is every time you hear of green shoots, it seems like someone's following along with a bit of weed killer as well, So it's still going to be pretty grim out there. Oh, eight hundred and eighty ten eighty for your calls about all things building and construction related. I'd kind of forgotten about this.

I got a call from a mate cautionary tale. Let's say, when was it. I was out doing lawns and gardening and bits and pieces, and we're up and out of town and the he rings and goes oh, have you got some ply and I'm like, why, ah had two panels of a four panel bifold window blowout. You know, we've had incredible winds, just persistent heavy or strong winds across the Auckland area, across most of the country, I know, but in this particular instance, it literally sucked out two

of the four bifolds. Two point three two point two meter high doors, about seven hundred wide, single light, probably thirty forty years old, facing essentially south, so exposed to that so westerly that was coming through sucked the doors out. No one was in the property at the time, broke the glass that shattered all over the ground, broke one of the sashes completely and left a gaping hole in the property. So thankfully, I actually keep a few sheets

of plywood at home underneath the house. Grab those went around, screwed them over the opening, and a little bit of a tidy up. That was I suppose a cautionary tale in terms of, you know, just being aware that we do get these strong winds and you need to have your house prepared for that as well. So if you've got you know, fasteners that maybe have started to come loose, so they don't really hold. That's the inevitable consequence. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty is that number? To call

STU A very good morning to you. How are you this morning? Hang on the mouse? There you go, gotcha, Happy.

size and all cut the same wed shape. Now it's six hundred wide by two two meters long, and I'm wanting to get six rows of these shingles across on each shutter so that I get If I put them normally, i'd probably only get about three rows. So I'm going to have to cut the wider portion of the Soligna single to lessen them down from the three to ninety, probably take one hundred mil off or something like that. Is that normally how you do it? Or am I doing it?

But someone had taken the time to rip them down to exactly they probably would have done by hand, exactly the same width and then put an arrowhead on them, so a point right. So when I replaced them, I took off the old kardi ones that have been up there, I presumed since the house was built, and got some new cedar, cut them to match, and then relaid it in the same pattern. So in terms of the cligna, you want to have a certain number of rows, but your actual shingle is longer.

hundred and ten hundred and fifteen mil. And that's your cover. And then as you get to the top, you end up cutting the shingle down off the tapered edge, so the thick edge stays there.

where did you get these? You can't get them anymore, And well they're about age ninety years old, but as old as the previous owner. And I wish I could still get them because I mean cedar has gone up through the roof, yeah and this stuff. He said, they're very very stable. The only trouble is they're all the same width, so I'm going to have to cut some. I can get plaps and all that.

do that little point on them and so on. To be fair, it's almost my favorite job as doing shingles. I just especially the decorative stuff, you know, like curved on a bay window and on a bungalow where it's curved and then flares out at the bottom. Or I did one on a gable end that actually had a round window in the middle of it. So you came down and then had a local plumber come and just hand beat a lead flashing so that it went around

the window. And he made it in two parts, so he had the bottom one and then the top one coming over it, and then scribing all of the shingles around it. It's just it's lovely work.

an approved inspector to come through. And when I had a look on the Auckland Council website, it brings up quite a long list of contractors that they I guess have pre qualified, right, so it stops people from just writing something out themselves and sending it in. But yeah, you have to have them inspected, and you have to prove and it has to be done by an improved contractor. And is there a fee? No this I presume that

submitting the detail is free. But of course the inspection is going to cost you every year.

looking at water bills the other day. I was doing some budgeting at home, and I was looking water bills and I was trying to calculate, you know, the cost of the fixed waste water charge, right, and then trying to figure out what that costs on various properties over the a year, right, And then I was thinking, gosh, if you were you know, obviously that is a contribution to maintaining the waste water system if you're connected to the council line and if you've got town supply water.

But I was just thinking about a situation where you might have town supply water and a septic tank. Are you still having to pay the wastewater charge even if you don't connect to the wastewater.

impact potentially on neighbors and that sort of thing. So is that what is driving council to introduce this legislation.

your conversations. Quick text before the break, Pete. We've got some stubborn growth starting on a two year old polycarbonate roof. I'm sure the pollen and the dirt settling on it is to blame. We've washed it with soapy warm water every season as per the instruction, being told under no circumstances to use benzil conium chloride or sodium hyperchloride. Any suggestions, I would have thought you'd need more than warm soapy

water on that. I can understand why the manufacturer is careful about particular chemicals, but at the same time, oh, simple green might help out there just the thought instant in any text questions text responses to that too. Oh wait, one hundred eighty actually talking about roofs. Here's another quick text as well. Fill here from the North Shore six month old new black color steel long run roof, which

looks great. However, we've had a huge pollen drop this year and a lot of the surface has pollen scum or residue on it that won't wash off. Any ideas how to remove it, such as water blasting or a chemical wash or a roof wash contractor. I think you'd probably want to get someone in who could do a treatment and then a wash, and you would have to do it, you know, like not something you could do

from the ground. You'd have to have a contractor up there, in which case you need someone who's got all of their working at heights and the right safety gear to do that. But yeah, I guess black roof lots of pollen. That stuff sticks, That's what it's designed to do. You're going to have to get a contractor in chemical wash or a roof wash contractor. I would suggest you're on the right track there. Back after the break, if you'd like to join us, the lines are open. The number

is eight hundred eighty ten eighty. Your new stooksb If you've got a little project on you'd like to talk about eight hundred eighty ten eighty on the show. Over the last couple of years we also focus but on legislation as well. The rules and regulations in this whole safe septic thing is kind of new again. It's not something I have first hand experience of. We're in a suburb, you know I'm connected to the waste water et cetera, et cetera, but if you are on a tank and

I don't know if it's every single territorial authority. I don't think it's every single council, but certainly Auckland Council now is expecting you as the homeowner to undertake an inspection or have an inspection undertaken by a pre qualified contractor and then you need to admit that information I guess to a database at council that will keep track of it. How do you feel about that? Oh, eight hundred and eighty ten eighty the number to call Rose A very good morning to you.

tool shed. This is a second visit, so we've been to cash converters whatever. We wonder where all this stuff is going to. Somebody's buying it. But they did say if you could photograph it, get the serial numbers. You always said you're going to do this and you never get around to it. So he lost all his tools. Yeah, so that's the first part of the story, and the second part is it's the second time they've been and with the Book of Koe it was a really safe

area at the time. We've been here five years. We're down a lane and it's unbelievable the guts of these people. There's four to five houses using this same lane, and we heard from some neighbors at the back who came home and this car was pulling down the lane as they were coming in. So we almost got these people. So they told them to move up to the other neighbors driveway so they could get and they were a young couple. So I don't know if I should have a description, because no, yeah, just.

out of the site shed and so on. And I remember talking with Tom at the time and he said, you know, it's like a box of tools that I've had for years, and there's all sorts of different drill bits and you keep finding for months later, Oh I'm missing that. I'm missing that. And I have to say, I I can't express in language that I can use on the radio how enormously upset I get about. You know, the reason that people steal tools is because people buy them, right,

so you know, they become currency. So you know, I'm equally annoyed at people that steal them and then people that buy them. So you know, if you're thinking, oh, great, I can get a Pazlo gun, for turner bucks from a mate around the corner. It's you know that it's been stolen, right, so don't bloody buy it. It's just enormously frustrating.

police are still doing. This is what you do is you engrave your driver's license on your power tools, right, And sometimes what police do is they'll actually be I've been at trade breakfasts and that sort of thing at different stands, and they'll be there with an engraving tool, and while you're grabbing a sausage and having a wand around, they'll just give them your driver's license and your tools, or they'll come out to the vehicle and they'll engrave

your tools with the driver's license. Because for years and years and years, I might write p W on my tools, or I might paint my tools green or whatever. That makes no difference to the police, right, I mean, they don't know who PW is. They don't care that my favorite color might be green. Right, So we identify our tools that way, but it doesn't help with recovery. If, however, you engrave your driver's license on your tools, then even if you've ended up selling them, it gives them somewhere

to go. And police will often in doing drug busts and that sort of thing, they'll find collections, large collections of stolen tools, and ideally they want to get them back. So I would say, if you've got your tools and you haven't done that, go out get a little engraver or get someone to do it. Engrave your driver's license on your tools.

She says, one of your gates was open because they knew we were all away. And she said there was a like a blue maybe blue sort of gray. She thought it was a creative wish, and she didn't She didn't know what to sort of say to me because she felt guilty that she hadn't rung me earlier because it was I said, no, that car should not have been in our driveway. And the thing was, she said, oh, it's about six o'clock, so she thought you might have

a visitor. Right. She knew my partner wasn't a home anyway. Another hour later, I get another call and it's our neighbors at the back her have been having a garage sell and coincidentally on seven sharp they had this item on garage shells. The very aware people are coming in just to hunt you placed out or whatever. We're just wondering if it's a link for that. But you know

how they got in. They actually grilled what was it, grind ground the part of the operating gate, and there they were able to open the gate and put the car. And that's when I said before about.

then people buy stolen tools. And I love this text, Pete. I'm willing to bet that none of the people who steal those tools are using them to earn a living. I wholeheartedly agree with you. But yeah, seriously, engraving and someone else's text through. I use a soldering iron to put my phone number on my tools. It's harder to erase than engraving. Good point. Look, whatever works for you, But the driver's license idea is great. I mean, you can use your telephone number, but I guess if you

change your telephone number gets a little bit tricky. Anything like that, or just your well, it's all right if you put wolf Camp on because there's only one wolf Camp family, that's easy. But if you happen to put Smith on your power tools, that's not terribly helpful either. Oh, eight one hundred eighty ten eighty. We're talking building, we're also talking in it a little bit as well. I do feel sorry for you, Ruth Rose. I really hope

that there are some resolution to that. Mark very good morning.

and big enough for the possible capacity of your house. Yes, I could turn a lounge into a bedroom. And that's your argument. But anyhow, you're going to have to increase the capacity of your system, right, twenty thousand dollars to pull out an existing good system, you know, it was working, no problems it and put a bigger one in. Then to receive a notice that or you're going to go to six monthly checks and I'm going, well, that's ridiculous.

It's a new system. Why six monthly when I've already you know, we've been operating on a yearly checking system and no one's complained and works. It's got an alarm system on it should should you have a phone?

It be a little bit like War on a fitness you know, if you say, hey, look, I had a system that was installed in twenty twenty three, for example, you could reasonably expect, let's say, for the first ten years of its life, that it would perform as per the manufacturer's expectation, and that maybe a check once a year, and that after five years or ten years, then you

need to swap six months. A little bit like War on Fitness, Right, if you've got a relatively new car, you need a warrant every year, and that would relieve some of the burden. Yeah, and of course you need to use a contractor that's pre qualified too.

we've been complying yearly. So just to me, it's just bureaucracy poking its nose and creating more expense to you, your landowners.

people that buy stolen tools are also criminals. Is they're a process I can follow to check if it's a secondhand tool, is not stolen, I don't know, you tell me. I mean, look, I've bought secondhand tools. I have no objection to buying them from someone who's the actual owner, and I have bought not for a few years. I bought some gear, you know, through a basically a pawn broker, second hand dealer, And there's always that lingering doubt in the back of your mind where you go, you know,

is this legit? Like is the story that they're telling me? Absolutely honest. I'm sure there's a process, but I'd love to know. Oh eight hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number to call. Karen A very good morning to you.

You know, people have booked after pay HP's telecommunications and when I said, well, how did you know it was me? You know, how did your I d they have my driver's license number.

to work with on this around. You know, do they have a concern around having your driver's license there in terms of the identity theft? And perhaps there are better checks and balances now so for those.

You would look after it, right, But I guess there have been failures, and when there are failures, it has an impact either on the environment, so where you are because it's close to a river, or if you're in an area where perhaps you do have neighbors and you worry about contamination into another person's property or even contamination on your own property as a result of a faulty system. So then suddenly it's like, okay, well, we know that people should check them, but how do we know that

they're checking them? This is the way to do it, So every six months now you have to check it. I guess for people that have done it and been responsible for all that time, it's an unwelcome burden. It's an extra expense because I think the inspections seem to be somewhere around the sort one hundred and seventy five to two hundred and fifty dollars, and that's every six months forever.

six months, which puts reasonable burden on homeowners. George, you were talking about your system, which has worked, Okay, obviously there's a few issues. You made the comment about council. I mean this is a genuine concern, particularly in Auckland where in the last month or so Water Care have announced areas where they will essentially not be providing services

in terms of wastewater for a number of years. And these some of these areas are where developers have already bought land intending to buy houses, so that's going to be a huge issue in terms of development. And then there's a couple of other areas. I was genuinely kind of shocked, really and disappointed to see this article probably two months ago where a bunch of houses and new subdivision out sort of northwest of Auckland. They hadn't been

connected to the public wastewater line. All of their sewerage goes into a tank in the subdivision and then water care comes and sucks the tank out every couple of days, which to me just seems like such an ad hoc solution. Yeah,

that's a shocker. And then with the heavy rain Gisbon, they ended up having to open the sewer or the settling ponds into the river because they were worried about it backing up and coming back into people's houses, which again I guess is a sensible precaution to ensuring that individual houses aren't impacted by sewage overflows. But at the same time, releasing raw sewage into the river is not great either. So you're right, we've got to huge infrastructure issues.

modeling basis. He's saying, well, it's not actually a survey, it's a model that thinks that after the rain it'll have higher levels of equal matter in it not safe to swim. You can make your own judgment on that. Eight hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number to call. Here's an interesting text from Ian Syria System's Pete.

I'm not a huge fan of bureaucracy, but I'm also aware that regulations require enforcement and they require record keeping, so bureaucracy is unfortunately essential in terms of running a civil society. That's why if I feel that I need to will defend it. Is it sensible to require homeowners to prove that their septic system works? I think it'd be hard to argue that it's not unreasonable. Is a six monthly inspection required, particularly on relatively new systems? Probably

not your thoughts. Eight hundred eighty ten eighty the number to call. Jan A very good morning to you.

usefulness in double glazing. I think that you know, there is so much evidence, So I know the statistics and the numbers and the dynamics of if you have a piece of single glazing, how much heat loss or heat gain you'll get versus what double glazing does in order

to reduce that. So some way like christ Church and retrofitting is really important because often as we up skill or sorry not upskill, we increase the thermal efficiency of our buildings by adding insulation to the ceilings or to the underfloor or maybe even retrospectively fitting it into the walls. Then our glazing becomes the weak point, right, it's the one part of the thermal envelope of a building where

heat loss will occur. Now, the beauty of a house it's about twenty four years old is that chances are when it was built it had insulation in the ceiling. If it's on a concrete slab, it may or may not be some sort of thermal break there, but it will have insulation into the walls as well. Possibly not as much is what we do today, but it will be there in which case, and it will have relatively

new aluminium jewinery, I presume. Okay, So you look at that and you go where is the heat loss coming from? And you can just point to the glazing, the single glazing and go that's where your heat loss happens. Because it's relatively modern aluminum jewinery, it's not that difficult to retro fit into there. And the performance gains are great

and so very basic level. If you take a piece of single glazed glass or single glazed jowinery and then you replace that with double glazing, the heat loss reduces. Double glazing is seven times more effective, right, keeping the heat in, And there's numbers and evidence to back all that up. So yeah, I've chosen to work with them and they've chosen to work with me, but for very good reason. It makes a significant difference to a house.

require a building consent. However, if it's on a Crossley's property and the deck has not been added to the flats plan, that can become quite a costly process.

certificate of acceptance. The burden of proof for a certificate of acceptance is now much higher than it used to be, so typically in the past, inspector would come out to do a safe and sanitary report. They'd look at it and go, is it going to fall down? No, it's not.

Here's you're safe and sanitary. I'm being a bit flippant, But today they would expect you to have someone draw up an as built plan so to ensure that it does the way that it's built does actually comply with the code in terms of the type of piles, the amount of bracing, the span of the bearers, the span of the joysts, the height of the handrail, the way in which the handrail has fixed, all of these sorts

of things. And if what's built, even if it is sturdy, doesn't comply with the building code, then you'd need to upgrade it in order to get a certificate of acceptance. But you know, you could spend five ten thousand dollars trying to get compliance for it, and that one of the tricky things would be is how do you determine that the foundations are as per the spec You know, do you dig down next to one of them and find that it's four hundred deep and does that then

imply that all of them are four hundred deep? So you can see that there's some fishshocks in it. I'm always reluctant to say, you know, don't do something, and I'm not suggesting that, but I am suggesting that it does get complicated, and typically with building, complicated means expensive.

the other property, the maintenance thing. I don't know that that's typically included in the title, but I think maybe under the Property Act you might find that you can do that. But again, there was an interesting story the other day in Takapuna, or on the North Shore, where ten properties that shared a driveway. They nine of the homeowners were able to be contacted and agreed to contribute

to the cost of maintenance. One homeowner, who couldn't be contacted and therefore didn't give their agreement, was sent an invoice for their portion of the repairs. Said I didn't consent to it, therefore I'm not going to pay, and the courts upheld that. But that's a slightly different issue. That's around consent essentially, and you can't undertake repairs expecting someone's going to contribute if they haven't given their consent contributing.

So I wonder whether in your case, with the title and the easement, if there was maintenance, you would you would need to get the agreement of all of the affected parties before you undertook any expense.

talk to at around eight point thirty. If you've got a comment to make in the very very briefest bit of time that we've got left, you're welcome to do so. Oh, this is interesting. We've talked quite a bit about septic systems. This is the new regulations. So this is just come in morning read the council and the septic systems orcan Council imposes different rules on comparable properties. We live in north west Auckland, with most houses less than three years old.

Council have been unbelievable with their requirements, very inconsistent, requiring some owners to spend thousands of dollars, ranging from soil testing, river assessments, and extensive planting others. No special requirements in grass growing over the drip lines. I'm all for common sense rules, but inconsistency in rules and application the rules reinforces that our council are incompetent. I'm just reading the text out to be here. The inconsistency would be frustrating though.

Soil testing, river assessments, extensive planting that would have to be part of the actual construction if you're proposing one, if there's one there, would you still need to do soil testing? Oh eight, one hundred and eighty, ten eighty, there's the number to call. Should we take a break? Now? Do we take a break?

a number of years. I continue to support what they do because I think double glazing works basically, so why wouldn't you have it? And so metro or retro DG metro performance glass that I've worked with them for a number of years and I really appreciate that. I also work with Bailey Tanks, so again rainwater harvesting, sustainability, but of resilience. These things are really important and they're also

part of innovation. So whether it's you know, tanks for urban environments, tanks for using up underused space underneath your deka, under the house, or the brand new in ground tanks that they've just developed, it's all part of making our properties a little bit more sustainable, a little bit more

environmentally friendly, and certainly a lot more resilient. And certainly I'm looking forward to the fact that over the summer, when it really stops raining and a water the garden that I can do so out of a water tank, that I've done my own little bit of rain water harvesting in an environment, in an urban environment. So my thanks to the team at Bailey's, the good people at

J and L. Duken. So this is Jayframe and tryboard long association with them as well, and continuing to see sort of the innovation that they bring to the sector, particularly around in some cases some affordable housing solutions that Tryboarder is part of, and just better building with Jaframe Framing as well, and Mike Colds has been regular contributed

to the show. So Razine Construction Systems again, my thanks to their team and to the fantastic work when it all get a but tricky, you know, with exterior clouding systems, they were one of the first hour of the blocks to go okay, well we can do better and here's what our systems are going to be like going forward.

And I really appreciate again that innovation and that forward thinking that we see from a company like Razine Construction Systems, Jay and Bryce from Razine Paints in general, they've been fantastic on the show this year offering up their advice. I've had a number of really outstanding contributors have joined us kind of on an ad hoc basis, so from people from the dispute stribunal. We've had Hamish Firth, our

planner talking about Auckland. Well we're talking about planning rules in general, but Hamish has been really good, very succinct around changes to the RMA. I know we've got some time booked in with him in the new year to talk about this latest water care announcement, saying this is where the development's going to happen and where it's not, or where our infrastructure is going to be and where it's not. So we'll talk to Hamish, Mike Thornton who's been on the show a couple of times offering up

some legal advice. Ben Johnson as well talking about the Property Act. We'll get him back on the show this year. So and to Hailey from Doozy who helps manage my business affairs and so on, I really appreciate your support as well, and more importantly thank you for being part

of the show in twenty twenty five as well. Ratings are reasonable, listenership is pretty good numbers across the country, and more importantly for me, it's the occasional sort of bumping into someone at a hardware store or at home and garden show. Actually, the good people at Jade Promotions who run the home and garden shows really enjoy working with them as well and will continue to do so. And an increasing range of home and garden shows around

the country. I think first one will kick off and wrote au next year there'll be new shows in Queenstown, There'll be a new show in Needen. Hoping to get back to tim as well. So looking forward to being on the road with the Home and Garden Show and

the home and Better Living shows around the country this year. Yeah, but for you to my listeners and callers and texters, and I have to say at the end of the year, I mean, I've got fantastic texts, not all of them complementary to be fair, and possibly the most memorable amongst a number of memorable ones. I made an off the cuff remark about someone was looking at at how do I you know I've got a loose screw in a door hinge? Is there a particular type of product that

I need to use? Looking for sort of I guess elaborate or complex solutions to that. And I just suggested that, hey, look what I do in those in some of those situations, take the screw out, get a match to jam it in there, snap the top off, put the screw back in. Job done, And a couple of weeks later I got a text from someone who described herself as a seventy three year old woman living on her own who doesn't do a lot of DIY. And she said, there was

a loose hinge in my kitchen. And I remembered what you said, and I got a screwdriver, and I took the screw out, and I put a match sticken, I put the screw back in, and it's fixed. It's probably the first time I've done any DIY. So I figure as I get to the end of twenty twenty four, if I managed to encourage a in her own words, a seventy three year old woman who's never done any DIY to fix something for herself, that's mission accomplished for me.

Righty oh, let's get into the garden. Thanks again for your company this year. It's been an absolute pleasure. Let's get into the garden for the last time in twenty twenty four. But don't worry, Rude'll be back and around in twenty twenty five as well. Like the weeds that we often talk about, he is pretty much indestructible. Right, rud climb passed after the break, oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty. If you'd like to talk to.

You have become quite infected in things. So that's the yeah, But I just want to get rid of it anyway because it's just ugly.

and the education side of what you do. And I would imagine that it must be if you took a moment you probably don't do this, but if you took a moment, stood back and went hey, I was part of this rejuvenation of people restoring wetlands and looking after You know, you'd have to say, you'd have to put yourself on the back, and I bet you don't do it, So I'm going to do it.