You're listening to the Resident build Up podcast with Peter wolf Camp from News Talks at Bay.
The house is a hole even when it's dark, even when the grass is overgrown in the yard, even when a dog.
Is too old to bar, and.
When you're sitting at the table trying not to start scissor home, even when we are band gone, even when you're there alone. A house is a hole, even when those goes, even when you got around from the world. You love your moves, scream broken plans, being in funder locals, vestball when they're gone, leaving the cars, even when weilravan long, even when you're there.
Alone, And a very good morning to you. It is a beautiful Sunday morning. Actually, it was a gorgeous sunrise as I headed across the Harbor Bridge this morning on my way into the city and caught a glimpse of the sun rising through the Putakaoa trees alongside the beach not far from where we live. Stunning, stunning day. So
hopefully it's going to be a beautiful day. I know that it has been terrible, terrible weather in parts of the South Island and reports of severe damage to the motorway network and pictures of cars floating down rivers down in the South Island as well, so a day of some contrast. Anyway, good morning, welcome along to the show. My name's Pete wolf Camp, the resident Builder, and this is the Resident Builder on Sunday, an opportunity to talk
all things building and construction. And when you start to look at building and construction, you recognize, I guess the sheer scale and scope of it in terms of how it intersects with our own lives, that there was a job that I suddenly something changed at our place yesterday. There's a gap in the fence, right, I've got to fix that. That goes on to another list of things that I've got to do. So that's one part of
it I was at. Actually I had the opportunity and very kindly invited along to the Apprentice of the Year. This is the Carpentry Apprentice of the Year, sponsored by Master Builders, sponsored by Carts and undoubtedly a few others, and I went out and had to look at the practical part of it. This is where the top nine apprentices from around the country who have won their regional events then compete in a practical challenge. I'll tell you
a bit more about that later on. And then on Friday night at Agala in the city, a formal dinner were awarded or the Apprentice of the Year was awarded, and you know, so apprenticeships, training, that's all part of the construction sector. And then actually I was just tuning in and getting things set up here and I've just looked at this headline why a builder called the cops on a couple that had just built a house for so maybe disputes and debate and discussion around how good
the work is. That's all part of construction as well. So at intersects. I think buildings intersects without our lives all of the time. So if you've got a question about a maintenance project, a question about a new build, a question about regulations, which is a big part of what we often talk about on the show, questions about trades people, questions about sort of managing trades, people selecting products and items constantly as well, then this is the
show for you. Looking forward to your calls, your conversation this morning here at Newstalk SEB. A little bit later on, and in fact, I bumped into Jay, our painting expert from Razine at the Construct event which ran alongside or the practical part of the Apprentice of the Year was happening at the same time as the trade show Constructed was happening on the North Shore on Thursday, so bumped into both Ray to j and Bryce out to regular
Razine painting experts. If you've ever wondered what they look like. There's a little photograph on my Facebook page of the three of us on Thursday, so I'm the ugly one in the corner. So Jay will be with us from around seven twenty five. If you've got a painting question that you'd like a specific answer to, then give me a specific question and I'll put it to Jay, our painting expert at around seven to twenty five this morning.
As always we jump into the garden with roud Climb, so if you've got a gardening or entomological question, d will be available from eight point thirty this morning. And to be fair, I'm not hanging around after the show, not that it matters to you a jot, but I'm going to shoot off from here. I've got some jobs to do at the Saint Leo's Catholic Primary School Fair, which is an annual event in Devenport and Auckland's north Shore. The fair kicks off, by the way, I'll mentioned this
a couple of times to be fair. To be fair about the fair at eleven o'clock this morning, so I went and picked up a generator from high Pool that'll run all the food stands. So I've got to go and run out some extension cords and check a few things. That'll be me for the rest of it. Well, for a decent chunk of the day at the Saint Leo's Catholic Primary School in Devenport on the Auckland north Shore, eleven till three. Great food, can I say as well?
And the White Elephant Boy they collect some great stuff in there as well. So there you go. That's my plug for the Saint Leo's School fair later on today. If you're looking for something to do and you can handle that road, it'd be lovely to see you there. Right, let's get into it. What's on your mind? What either troubles you, intrigues you keeps you awake at night, or you're just generally curious about all things building and construction.
If you've got a question, i'd really I'll give it a red hot crack at giving you a decent answer on that. So eight hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number to call. Hazel A very good morning to you.
Good morning. I'm ashamed to say no maintenance has been done on a dirty plus years and it's that's hardboard that's made to look like timber with grain in it. Now, my son in law is coming up to replace a rotten Hopes board and he has to lift the where the roof comes over the top of it to take it off. He's going to clean the area before he does it. Now, if he was to use water blasting, that wouldn't be good.
Good.
Let's just go back a step. So the weatherboard product that you're talking about, is it's effectively like a hardboard that was then no, no, it's.
Like fiber light.
Yeah, okay, if it is a fiber cement sheet, then yeah, you can use a water blaster. But really, what before you do any exterior paint prep. What you well, the paint prep you should be doing is essentially using proprietary wash like a house washed product, applying that and rinsing it off. And yes, you can use use the water blast to add a distance to rinse it off. But you know, water blasting houses two or three inches away from the surface is certainly not recommended.
Yes, what's that?
And the condition of the The other thing is you need to be a little bit gentle with older fiber cement sheets because they do get a little bit brittle. So that's another reason not to apply too much force when you're cleaning or prepping them, because in some cases you can get some breakages.
Yes, there's mold growing on.
Well again if you use something like well, we'll be talking to j from Razine later on. They have a house wash prep which will also deal with that mold and all of that sort of organic material that builds up. So apply that agitate lightly, let it sit there for a little while, and then rinse it off, and then
that you'll with the organic material. You probably don't even really need to give it a sand or if you did, just a very light sand, I would actually suggest, and I know we're straying into painting territory here a primer and then two top coats.
Is the houses underneath account wood tree. The tree has over overhung the house, right, and that's why that area when you get to the other end of the house where the garret comes out, the budge board is in good conditions and just needs painting. But where the tree has ever hung the house, it's called when we water thirty years ago. The previous zone is that had it for two years, and the water drinking on the constant the tree. He was actually banging on the roof when
we came. But the drive is between the tree and the house. And so.
I think too, Hazel, you know, I mean, I'm obviously a big fan of suggesting that we need to do regular maintenance, and there are huge advantages to doing it. But I think also with some types of houses, and yours sounds quite robust. It's I don't want to encourage this, but it's amazing sometimes just how robust they are and how resilient they are. And something like the fiber cment sheet, for example, you know that will be probably a lot more durable over time with little to no maintenance on
it than some other products. So you know, I don't think you should feel too bad about it in the sense that there's probably very little permanent damage done. But if you can get up and replace the barge boards, and I mean, look, I had some eyes that I know working for someone the other day replacing a barge board on a house, and that had been well maintained. It's just that one happened to rot out other barge boards around the house. So I wouldn't beat yourself up too much, Hazel, I'm too.
Old to do it. I used to do maintenance. We had a holiday home and we painted. I painted the roofs and did all that years ago that i'm too old now to I have heard to go I'm not Yeah, you don't.
Want to be up a ladder. No, look, Hazel, it's great that someone's coming to help you. It's your family that are coming to help out. I'm sure it'll be absolutely fine. Just easy on the water blasting and it'll be all good. Lovely to talk with you, Hazel, take care it is. Let me see eighteen almost eighteen and a half minutes after six. We've got a couple of spare lines. We always get busy laid in the show, so if you've got a question then call now, oh
eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. You can text as well any questions. Remember our painting expert j will be along at around seven twenty five seven thirty this morning. So if you've got any specific painting questions or you've got some general building questions, text them through nine to ninety two. If you'd like to email me, particularly with things like pictures and so on, then it's Pete atnewstok SB dot co dot n said quick text before we go to the bait break building a deck? Are we
better off using random links or finger jointed quila? You've caught me on the hot there alistair, I didn't realize that you could buy finger jointed queller. I guess I don't see why you shouldn't use it. I suppose the advantages that it would come in a regular length, like they'll all be four point eight or five point four meters long, which case, if that's an advantage, that's great. I mean, I don't think anyone really ever looks at a deck and goes, oh, gosh, there's a join there.
Isn't that unfortunate. If they're neatly detailed, then it's great. Although I tell you what, he's a little tip for you. Make sure that if you do end up with random lengths of timber and you're cutting them and then but joining them together, take the thirty seconds it takes to take a piece of sandpaper from your apron and just give that edge a sand, just a light sand to remove the last little bits of furry fiber that poke up.
I went and had to look at a job the other day, I'm not going to say where it was or whatever, and we were looking at sort of the overall quality of it, et cetera, et cetera. And as I wandered around, they just laid a brand new deck
actually just using pine decking, which is absolutely fine. And they'd used straight runs of pine and then had it trimmed with like effectively a face or a barge running around the perimeter to hide the end grain, which is lovely, but no one had taken the time just to take a bit of sandpaper and just rub that little furry bit off the edge of the cut. Looked at that and thought that deck would look a lot better with just that little little bit of attention to detail. So
there you go. Eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call. We'll take a short break, will take your calls straight after the break. So call us now eight hundred eighty ten eighty. You're with new SOKB. A couple of quick texts as well, but love you call so I eight hundred eighty ten eighty is that number to call? Sorry about that morning, Pete. We have an MDF lacquered kitchen cabinetry. The door has a small has some small swelling due to water. I'd like to repair
and relacquer the cupboard frontage. Do you have any suggestions
on the best approach to a repair for that? Look One of the challenges with MDF typically, particularly older MDF, So there's a new sort of variety of MDF which has more resistance to moisture, and it's it's built into the product at the time of manufacture, so it's not like standard, the old fashioned standard MDF, where if you got it wet, it will well and once it's swollen, apart from standing it vigorously, there's very little you can
do about that. So if it's a slightly older kitchen, or if you know what type of MDF was used in the actual doors, chances are you won't be able to do a lot about the swelling of the door without sort of stripping the door quite extensively and then having it relackered. If you know who made the door
the kitchen in the first place. I'd be tempted to invite them back and have a look at There are some companies that come and do the spraying on site, so they'll do a color match, or if you still have records of the color, they'll do a color match or have those records and respray the cabinetry in situ. It might be a case that someone comes along, takes the cabinetry or the frontages off, takes them to the factory and resprays them, and then comes and reinstalls them.
It's given that it's a lacquer. It's really hard to do yourself, let's say, unless you've got spray equipment and the right type of paint and so on and so forth. So there are some kitchen makeover type companies that are out there as well. I'd be getting in touch with them. Shower, here's a shower question for you. Showers are a bit old and I want to update it. Can I replace just the frame or do I have to change the liner and the pan? Is it di wiable? Well, ultimately
everything's di wible. If you really want to have a crack now in this case, you can. It'll just be a case of finding an off the shelf shower screen that will fit your existing one. But you know, if, for example, it's a seven fifty by nine hundred or a nine hundred by nine hundred return shower, then that
should be readily available. So unscrew the well, find the new one first, make sure that it fits, then unscrew the old one and replace it, and just pay a little bit of attention to making sure that you get the ceilant in the right place and that any penetrations additional penetrations you might have put in there are also well sealed. Go eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call. We'll do a couple more texts in just a moment, but if you've got a question you'd
like an answer to, then call us right now. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty Karen, A very good morning to you.
Yeah, Hi, how are you, Pete?
It's pretty good things.
Yeah. Look, we do regular maintenance on the house every year and have the house washed, and I'm so glad that I do it. I do it now. I know this is probably to do with insects, but you deal with damage to wood as well, don't you. So we had this moth in the garden and it's laid eggs into the wood. Have you heard of that before?
What type have.
Oh?
You know your house, your house would okay.
So into weatherboards or trims or yeah.
We've been into the weather board itself. So the guy that washed the house, he shows me and he told me to pick them off that once they get really hard into the wood, you can't pick it up, pick it off. And I just wondered if you'd heard about it, and how does it really?
Is it that sort of thing where it almost looks like you know when you go to the Rocky Seashore and you see the little limpets that are attached and they're kind of about well maybe two centimeters long and ribbed on the surface. Is it that type of appearance where they they.
Know it's a black spot?
A black spot? Wow?
Would they lay the egg into the wood?
So when you say into the wood, so they drill or burrow their way into the timber and then lay their eggs there.
I don't know. He just said that they just to get He said it's only just started on a very like he got into the plant and told me to get rid of the plant. We have done yep, but last night is out and I could see all these tiny moths.
You know how interesting?
Okay, and you said that people have to paint their whole houses because of these.
Moths, right, yeah, look, it's possible. I suppose. What I'm kind of intrigued about is that, you know, one of the reasons that we treat timber in this country is to prevent insects, right, it will prevent infestation from insects, so and certainly exterior timbers are treated in the same
way that it's it's an insecticide. So the thought of moths kind of burrowing their way in and then laying their eggs there and so on, I wonder whether I mean, look, if your house needs a paint at some stage anyway, then that'll take care of that problem. And then if you I know, rud often talks about the Pyreetherum based general insecticide. It's from safe Works, So you do like a general application of that to knock back all of
the insects. And then you deal with the whatever gaps and cracks and holes and that have come from the moths by just your regular prep.
Yeah, kind of how the house has been washed. I mean, it comes every year.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was just.
So interesting that he told me that people have to have their whole houses painted, because I just thought you might have heard about it.
No, it's quite intriguing. So if you stood back, let's say, two meters from the surface of the weatherboards, would you be able to see where these moths have have left their mark?
No, because it's like a black spot, right, it's like a tiny, tiny spot, and you can pack them off when they've just been laid. That's what he said to me, right, and go out and pack them off. But he said the ones that are in that you can't pick coffee, that you can't get rid of them.
But if you were to take a piece of sandpaper, for example, and.
I got a little bit of a knife, you can.
So you literally get I mean, to be fair, I've sanded all sorts of things and there's not a lot that resists sandpaper. Ultimately, So if you were to take a bit of sandpaper and sand over the surface where this this black spot is, would you eventually get back to either paint or timber beyond it. That would be really interesting to know, because you know, maybe trying to scrape it off with a knife or a tungsten or
something like that might be a bit challenging. But I suppose I'm intrigued as to if you were to hit it with a bit of sandpaper, would you knock it back have a bare surface that is then ready for painting, or does it somehow penetrate.
Well, that's what I want to know, surely.
I mean that, you know, I admire the industrious nature of insects, but you know, burrowing through paint in order to lay an egg seems like an awful lot of effort. I just wonder whether it's on the surface, and maybe it's the sort of thing that doesn't come off with a house wash or a water.
Blast because he couldn't get it off.
But sending it, I think maybe it is that he I think I wonder whether what it is that he's saying is, look, I can't clean them off, and the only way to deal with it is to then go and you know, send them off and repaint and then maybe treat the exterior with an insecticide that stops them. You know, they'll they'll go somewhere else rather than try and make a home at your place. And it's definitely not borer. It's not like an actual little hole.
Well, I've locked it up on my phone. All came back to boras.
Yes, but if it is boring, it'll be a hole, right, It'll actually be a hole through the surface. And again, in reasonably modern weather boards, you just won't see that because they're treated.
Right twelve years old.
Oh yeah, No, it's not going to be boring. It's not going to be boring. I wonder whether I every year and that's great, but you know, again, if this is something that's obviously you know, moths have evolved to create an environment for the eggs that's that would adhere to things, then it will resist water blasting because it feels like heavy rain, right, so I kind of get that. I just wonder whether you'll need to use maybe even an abrasive scouring pad and some household cleaner to knock
them off with that, but it'll be time consuming. You just have to work your way around the house cleaning them off individually.
Failing that, I'm really lucky.
It's just start, right.
It's about sustain of them that you can't get all.
Yeah, but it's just what I was interested in.
Is a beauty heard of it?
You haven't I haven't. I'll certainly run it past route at eight thirty and.
Well, I thought i'd bring you just in case I couldn't get through to get and you're not busy at the moment, I will.
I will make sure that we talk about it at eight thirty as well. I appreciate nice for you to call. You have a great day, take care. Then, yeah, I do wonder whether you just hit it with a bit of sandpaper when you're about to do a repaint and then paint over the top and maybe do some treatment to the exterior of the house that makes it an inhospitable place for for moths. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call David, text Peter or good morning Pete. How long do I need to leave
new concrete before coating it with a seala? And what seala is best? Please David. A couple of extra questions is when you say new concrete, is it a pathway, is it a garden tay? Is it a driveway? Is it a floor slab? Those sorts of things, because they'll all have different types of sealers applied. Typically, if you want to have a look for sealers, I get the stuff that I use from a company called Premiere Group and I order it online. I think they're based out
of Hamilton. They'll have a range of sealers and colors as well. I have to say I did some myself a couple of years ago, and I'm not happy with it. It's one of those jobs where maybe it's more tricky than you think. And I was back there looking at it the other day and it's one of those little niggles that you have where you go shivers. I can see a couple of lines in it and it's not quite as even the distribution. Maybe I didn't do the
acid wash correctly. Maybe I applied the sealer when it was too hot and it dried off too quickly or something like that. So yeah, depending on the area. But have a look at the Premier Group website. They've got some good information on sealers. You can also have a look at new Lock dot co dot nz get new Look rather get New Look website. He's got lots of information about sealers and colors and so on for concrete as well. Right, we can take sure, No, We'll talk
to Wendy in just a moment. Other quick text, Hey, Pete. I've got a hardy plank and tumbled concrete blocks on my house twelve years old. Should I brush it with just water or use a cleaning product? I think the advantage of using a cleaning product is that it's it's obviously got an active ingredient that will deal in particular with some of the organic material that builds up on our houses, so the moss and molds and lichens and
those sorts of things. It'll save you a lot of elbow grease to use a cleaner, and it will also treat the surface. So yeah, proprietary house washers are really good to use. That's what I would do. Oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call Wendy A very good morning.
Ay, Yes, good morning. I was listening to your caller talking about the tiny black spots house and we haven't countered a similar problem. And it's actually a fungus and it's got several names. It can be called shotgun fungus or artillery fungus, and I think New Zealand has a variety called birds near fungus. And it's a tiny fungus that grows like a very small mushroom and when rain drops land on it and it really it inverts itself and time to win black sticky balls and they give
as far as ten or twenty feet. It's not common in New Zealand. And it took us several house washes before the chap would come in and say, look, I've washed your house down. But unfortunately there's these little things like spiders marks or something I can't get off. And finally when we got to the bottom of it, we discovered with this shotgun fungus and it came onto our property in the black wooden type chip.
With black wood that used for malch in the garden.
Yes, and I heard that that's made out of old palettes and a lot of them are important from over seas and this fungus has probably come on in old palettes which are made from timber that's not treated. And
she's quite correct that you cannot get it off. And when we first discovered it, our daughter parked her lightly colored car near our property and she got home and rang me and said, Mum, you've got something into a house that's put black spots all down one side of my car and it's like a sticky car.
Yeah.
Well, anyway. With over several years we have finally we changed all our black mulch with a natural bark which is a bit resistant, more resistant to that hype of fungus. If this tree bark is meant to shield things and protect them, whereas the wood chip really lets that type of infestation and anyway to come along sprey short After several years, we discovered that a bleach is the way
to kill it. And you lifed up about five parts water to one part bleach, and you can spray it or ben water and can onto the bark and that does kill it. But we just had to let this little black spot settle for several years until it was quite hard, and then our painters have sanded, water blasted, sanded and got it off and repainted. But I'm still nervous.
I checked my wood.
One ter looking for the first little black spot because you can see it in the ark. It's like a little booth.
When you say small, are we talking a couple of millimeters? Are we talking five millimeters?
Are you're talking the size of it?
Yeah?
A pinhead?
Wow? Okay?
And it sticks, it's up under the eaves out. He's almost black with it. After like three seasons and we were just distraught, not even knowing what was happening. Irang the people that Rude would deal with, and they said, oh, we're not interested because New Zealand does have its own variety,
and right we go. We got absolutely no help. We contacted the landscape gardener who did the property like six or seven years earlier, and everyone was just at a loss and we really had to research it Outselda a.
Couple of quick questions in around it, because to be fair, I've used black mulch at home. Right it's you know, it looks a bit more flash or whatever. How close to your house is the gardens that have the black mulch.
The gardens go right up to the house. But this right and the and the mulch goes like the mulch is like it's a big house. It could be three meters of mult going out from the house. But this little thing shoot twenty or forty feet when it when it If you research it, you can research it under shotgun fungus or artillery fungus. And it's called that for a name. That name for a reason that.
It can shoot it twenty or thirty feet And when you see it in the bark. It has the initial spores are quite yellow, looking like a little.
Yellow yep spot, and then once it has exploded, it's it's very close to the surface of the bark. It's not a mushroom that has a stalk. It just sits very very close to the surface. One of the best ways to get rid of it, they said, you can you have to bury the bark about four.
Inches steep deep, or you can.
You can get rid of it. Well, the bleach is the best thing we have found.
And the bleach you use on the bark in the garden.
Yes, just pour it over the bark and it's meant to kill.
The spoards, but surely the plants don't really like having the bleach spread around the place as well.
It doesn't seem to affect anything else. I tested it on because there are parts where it's like a mango ground cover, and I would like to have poured the bleach all over the top, and I have. I found that it's quite good with the plants. It hasn't damaged. I've been obviously just putting it in between and around the plants if we can.
It's one of those things that you never thought you'd become an expert in but obviously you have.
I really appreciate it right for us for several years, and we've just in our house which is white repast it.
But I still go out.
After may or in winter time looking for it on the glass. You can get it off the glass, yeah, with a scrape. And you can get it off the metal frame of your window easily too, but very difficult to get.
Off the planted surface the paintwork. How intriguing.
Thank you to believe it.
Yeah, I bet well. It'll be on my radar now. I'll look out for that. Wendy, Thank you very much. That was incredibly informative. I really appreciate that. And yes, i'll ask about shotgun or artillery or bird's nest fungus when you joined us at about eight thirty this morning. We'll take a short break. It is six forty three.
Here a news stork seed B your new stalks heed B earlier on a text about concrete sealers as well, and someone has flicked through a quick recommendation for concrete sealers dot co dot m Z. That's the Armatech range NZ manufactured. I think I've seen them at trade shows and that sort of thing over the years. Someone who's also text I am busy today, Well, good for you. I'm not sure what that's actually about. Maybe it's about the fair. I'm going to the fair today. Saint Leo's
and Devenport are on the shore. Maybe they're saying that they're too busy to go. You don't know what you're missing out on, I tell you. And the guys that do the pul pork tacos ah craky, they put a lot of effort into it and their outstanding right. Oh, I'm starting to get hungry. It is seven forty six forty seven and Pat a very good morning to you.
Hello Peter, Hello, I have got a problem my conservatory roof. Yes place stick panels. Well, this is the third time that the Hales put holes in it, and their insurance of course won't come to the party, but leaks like a sieve at the edges. Amazing eight. And I got told off by the day because I was like, you're right there.
Not allowed to do that.
But anyway, my sun in law's planning is putting these solid panels up there, and is it going to make it look too dark? Is it going to be too heavy forever. But them jewdery or I think.
If they're going to use effectively. And I say this, and it's not a gerograthy term like a freezer panel, right, so it's metal on both sides, but I'm talking about Yeah, that while is a bit of extra weight, I'm sure that your aluminium structure will take the weight of that. But yes, if it's completely solid, then you will get no light through the conservatory roof anymore.
But we worry it's almost too hot to get out there in the summit.
That's what I wonder whether now, with the way that the weather is and so on, that that increasingly, you know, just a clear roof, especially if it's you know, facing north, and that you would just unless you do a lot of extra treatments to the glass that you might have in it. If you did have glass, then it's it's going to be sweltering in there. So no, look, I think that'd be fine. And then ideally just make sure that the panels overhang by a decent amount one hundred.
Hundred and fifty mil on either end and put a heavier spout.
He said, yeah, that would that would work as well. Spoutings typically cope with, you know, the load from a small roof, but just to give a bit of an eve effectively will give you protection around that junction, and then if it's well sealed, you'll be fine.
I wouldn't recommend that plastic stuff to anybody because the holes are in the top layer and then the water gets and the net doll goes black and green and oh it's awful.
Yeah.
I mean, look, I've got some clear light roofing on my in my workshop, right, So I've got sort of steel and then clear pan and look they I replaced them was beginning of last year, but the old ones had been there twenty or thirty years. So I tell you what I've did foolishly is I went and got some clear sheeting, right, and I went, gosh, this is great.
This is a tremendous amount of light. But then it was also swelteringly hot in the workshop over summer, so I ended up having to take those sheets off again and replace them with some that had more UV protection in, which made a big difference.
But that was my day out there.
Yeah exactly. Yeah, it's warm enough.
Thank you so much for it, my mind, it thank all the best to you, Thank.
You, thank you, take care all the best and good on you. Eighty eight up on the roof. That's awesome. I wait, one hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to call Dana. Good morning to you.
I was wanted if you can give me advice. I was going to go go do my house up and I should have don't know what start, And I was wondering, how long does the electric work firing about?
Well, how old is the house?
Roughly, Well, it's built in the early nineteen.
Seventies, okay, so it'll be what we'd call generally modern wiring, right, So it's TPS, it has a coating around it. And given that it's you know, most of it's concealed, right, so it's not exposed to UV because it's in the walls or it's in the roof space. Realistically, I can't imagine that you would need to be concerned about it for many, many many years. In fact, I wouldn't be concerned about wiring that's forty years old in a house
at all. Get it by all means, get it tested, and if there is a fault, an electrical inspector will be able to identify that. But I don't think you've really got too many concerns.
Me.
One thing is I had an electrician come in once and he was looking as a light fitting and he said that there was no worse. And I don't know whether that's where the shore should.
Yeah, absolutely, whether that's a question that there was no earth in the fitting, but your house should be earthed. So outside your house should be a peg rod that goes into the ground and then typically it's a green cable that you see running out to it. That's really really important that it's there. And if it's not there, or if it's a not good condition, and that's what happens to them over time they get but knocked or the connection gets loose or the wire phrase, you need
to have that looked at. So yes, having your house earthed is really important.
Okay, Well, it's just there's no green in anything that I can see. But I could go to the electrician to come in and look. But I just sort of you looked at one of the lights, which you said that it was on earth. And that's what's.
Bothering me, is I mean, again, I'm not going to.
Individual could an individual light vitally not the earth, but the rest of the place could be.
Yes, it is possible. And I'm thinking about some fittings that I've seen, you know, as the guys have taken them apart in that sort of thing. And sometimes there won't be an earth to a light fitting. But your house should absolutely be earthed.
Oh I see, it might just be the light things.
Yeah, I think you euldn't.
This circuit will be, but not necessarily the fitting.
Very much.
Okay, all right, you look after yourself, done, take care. Oh eight hundred and eighty ten eighty, will take your calls. Will take a short break as well. It is six fifty three. I've just had a Eureka moment. For those of you who didn't do classics, Eureka was the moment where Archimedes was in the bath. I wasn't in the bath. I didn't even have a bath during the news break
or anything like that. But I did have a bit of wander around, stretch my legs, and I was thinking about something that arrived at my place this week, which was a portable dust extractor. So it's a little Rhyobi eighteen vault extractor. It's about the size of a large lunch box basically with a hose attachment on it. It's wet and dry, and you can use it obviously as a vacuum, or more importantly for me, I can use it as a dust extractor. So it's something that I'm
fastidious without being obsessive about. And then I got thinking about the fact that I had this and I unboxed it during the week, and then I'm wandering around the house yesterday looking like a crazy person carrying this little Robie project vacuum, just randomly vacuuming things, you know, lifted the rug, vacuumed underneath the rug, down behind the back of the TV, vacuumed the dust from the back of the TV, this sort of thing. And then I wandered
around workshop doing exactly the same thing. And then I was thinking earlier on about the fact that now I've got this portable vacuum, which is good, but that now gets me to four dust extraction systems in my workshop. So underneath the workbench, I've got you know, the classic sort of bag attached to a big fan. I plug that into the table saw when I'm using that, which is great. Then I've got another vacuum cleaner, which is
there on a heavy duty one for general vacuuming. Then I've got a small one that's permanently attached to the drop saw at the drop saw station. And then I'm thinking, is four types of dust extraction in a small workshop just a little bit excessive? Could I reduce that? Then I got to the point where I remember I picked up an additional hose for one of those vacuums, which instead of having two vacuums side by side, I could just attach one hose permanently to the drop saw and
just do the connection at the vacuum. That will free up some more space. Anyway, that was my Eureka moment. Yeah, these things occupy my mind as I'm wandering through the building.
Here we're talking all things building construction this morning, and dust extraction if you want to talk about that as well, and a fascinating discussion in the first hour about these little black spots that can appear on painted surfaces, exterior painted surfaces, particularly weatherboards, and whether they are in one case, like a moth that lays an egg which is almost impossible to get off the husk of that. And then these other things called either shotgun fungus, bird's nest fungus
or artillery fungus. So we've got a lot to talk about with rud when he joins me at around eight thirty this morning. This morning on the program, we've got our painting expert Jay from Razine. He'll be joining us at around seven thirty. If you've got a specific painting question, we can have a crack at that with Jay at around seven thirty. But right now it's your opportunity to talk all things building in construction. Eight hundred and eighty
ten eighty is the number to call. Mark a very good morning, Good.
Morning, Peter, thank you very much for the call. I'm curious about the definition between a garage and a carboard. Yes, for legality wise, obviously councils have in different areas have different bi laws. But I'm curious if these are set size. If it isn't covered in with walls, then ideally you could class it as a carport.
And that's as I understand it, essentially what it is. So garage we would expect, you know, three walls and the big door, and car ports are allowed to have i think say two sides and closed or you know, partly enclosed or sheltered. But the basically they're open, right, and so car ports in Underschedule one of the Building Act, which talks about work that might not require a building consent.
Typically you can build up to I think it's forty square meter car port without necessarily requiring a building consent, depending on where it's located on the property.
So if it was located sort of straight off the drive as you in close proximity to the footpath and classic there's a car port, would that get around a building not having to have a building perm.
Maybe not, because often because what you're describing as you sort of come in off the roadway, over the curb, over the footpath onto your property and that's where you would put it. So some planning regulations exclude buildings in the front yard. There's often a front yard setback, so you might have to be three meters five meters six meters back from the entry of your property before you're
allowed to put a structure on. So I was talking about this the other day and a little piece of video content that we were making talking about you know, we've got this real focus on going. Okay, the Building Act determines what we can build, but in fact, all sorts of other pieces of legislation also determine what we can build, how we can build, and where we can build those items. So planning, for example, is one of them. In the same way that some councils have requirements and
regulations around the height of a fence. Front fences is limited to a certain height in some parts of the country.
So yes, yes, yes, I'm a little aware on the height of the fence. I think in some areas it's two meters, it's eighteen hundred, and then I'm not sure about the fronts.
The front some areas, particularly heritage areas, where you're limited to one point two meters height on a front fence. But that's not what I know you were asking about. So I think you would need to do a specific search for the planning regulations of your territorial authority around where you can locate certain types of buildings, typically in a front yard would trigger a requirement for a building concent I'd.
Say, so a height restriction on a cap or you know, if there is one.
Yeah, I mean, I think it's probably similar to a minor dwelling, so overall it can't exceed I think off the top of my head it's somewhere around three and a half meters, you know, which would allow you know, that's a reasonably high building. The other thing is proximity to boundary. So for a lot of buildings that don't require a building consent, the rule that allows you to do that is that you must be the height of the building away from the boundary. And there's a certain
logic to that. If it fell over right then and you've got a three meter high wall and it's three meters from the boundary and it falls over, it's not going to impact on your neighbor. So you know, if you're doing a three meter high wall that's a meter from the boundary and it fell over and it headed that way, then obviously that's going to impact on the neighbor. In that case, you might need a building consent for
a building like that. Typically, if you're building closer than a meter from the boundary, there's also a requirement for fire rating and that certainly does need a building consent.
So just hypothetically, I won't hold this up any longer, but if you poured a concrete slab, as I say, just inside the boundary to park two cars, would you be able to then claim or could it be possible that on the boundary you could put in four poles and then put a shade cloth. So yeah, I look pushing me on the lope.
No, Essentially you're looking for cover, right, for a vehicle or something like that. Yeah, I would imagine that no, one's probably going to object too much with the shade cloth. And theoretically if you're then attaching it maybe to the house for anchoring and that sort of thing, it's going to stop it heading towards the neighbors. So yeah. And also shade cloths would typically be seen as temporary rather than permanent.
Thank you very much, So no trouble.
I'll tell you what if you wanting to use like a yes no checkbox type approach to this, which is quite good. It may not off everything, But what you do is you go to canibuild it, dot gov, dot enz Oh really yeah, and then you just work your way through can I build it, and it will say what do you want to build? Where do you want to build it? And it will give you sort of a series of yes no responses and indicate whether or not you might need a consent or what other pieces
of legislation might impact on it. So it's a very good website, really helpful, all the best, Yes, Stephen, Oh he's gone, he's gone, He's off, right ya try that anyway? Can I build it? Dot gov dot NZ is very very useful. Oh eight hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number to call if you've got a question of a building nature. We can we can discuss all of these things. What's the point of a car port? Please? Well, essentially at shelter, isn't it for your vehicle? Simple as that?
And you know, typically if what you're concerned about is keeping the rain a bit a son off, and you're not worried about storing lots of other things in there, then a carport will provide that. Arguably not as good at protecting vehicles as having a garage, but garage, you know, might be too expensive, so car port often a more cost effective solution. Oh, eight hundred eighteen eighty the number to call. Hey, Stephen, good morning, Oh.
Good morning. Thank you for taking my call. Peter. It's it's a new build, yep. And it's a long run roof and we've got I've got two little points. Depending on the the direction of the wind, there's a fluttering noise, which I can only presume is the building paper. Yep, and it's it's quite loud. And have access to the loft. When I'm in the loft of the little ladders, I can see a light all all around that area. And I'm just wondering whether whether the two are actually going to acted.
What the roofing underlay that's there. Is it black or is it colored eye white or blue or something like that.
The roofing under I can't actually see it because there's so much insulation. I've just viewed. I've just viewed it from actually from the top of the from the top of the ladders into the loft. The sound is quite is quite. It sounds like a bird that stuffy yeah.
And fluttering away.
Yeah.
Yes, I have to say it's it is a little bit unusual. But if the building or the in this case, the roofing underlay has been laid and they haven't put sufficient fixings in it, or they've inadvertently torn it somewhere and then kind of ignored that and roofed over it, then yeah, and and depending on the direction where the wind is coming from, if wind is getting in underneath that sheet, then potentially it's fluttering and and that would be frustrating.
I've had it on all around, all around the actual building, depending on the wind, and then on the.
On the.
Side of the side of the house tasting east, it tends to be in that area from a yeah, and likewise the other side of the house, a different wind direction creates the same sort of effect.
And you say it's a new build, yes, okay, so there may well be guaranteed attached, or even if there isn't a guarantee, you still have protections under the both the Building Act and the Consumer Guarantees. So have you made an approach to the main contractor to go, hey, look, I want you to come back and address this.
I have.
We've only been in the house for four weeks.
Now, okay, so early days it is.
Yes, I'm just wondering what what your opinion would be that, well, you know, do they have to but they have to put some more flashing in there or.
Look, it could be any number of things. So for example, if at the top of the run of the is it a corrugate or is it a different trapezoidal shape roofing that you've got, it's.
It's the like amn decking it used to be called in the old days along run color steel.
Okay ye. So typically you know, for example, at the top of the sheet, before you fix the flashing over it, you turn up the trough right now, if for some reason they didn't do that and air is shooting up there, that'll that'll course me if at the bottom of the sheet the facial boarders set too low and you might have an excessive gap there, depending on the pitch of the roof. In some case you need a little underflashing.
It might be if it's in a high wind zone and they haven't done a great job of the underlay, then possibly they need to install a foam filler in there, So back the sheets off, install a foam filler to stop air getting in there. But I think if someone is able to get access to the roof space and have a look, if you know, you'll always see a little bit of light shining through on a roof, but
it shouldn't be extensive. And maybe if someone was to go in there during you know, on a windy day and be able to identify where the sound's coming from. If it's something like a tear in the roofing, underlay that they haven't bothered to fix. Then that's poor workmanship and someone should come pull off those sheets, redo the roofing underlay and replace it.
Okay, Yeah, that sounds quite a big it does.
The only good thing is it's not your problem. It's the contractor's problem.
Right.
So typically, you know, thousands of roofs are installed every year, and it's unusual to have that fluttering sound saying that I've I've had it on another building where we used metal cladding on a as wall cladding, and it just so happened that the way in which the winds sort of came across the property hit a lower roof and was directed up and there was a slight drumming in that. Now that's it was intermittent and there were some things
we could do to mitigate it. But yeah, I think at this early stage it's not something that you should be that that should disturb you. I should be.
Fixed, okay.
And these things are never easy, you know, the discussions are never easy, and sometimes the response is you know, you're being a bit pedantic and all the rest of it. But I think you've got a genuine concern, and so i'd recommend stick to your guns and get it sorted out the very best. Take care, Stephen. We'll take a short break back in a moment, right as promised and almost bang on time. And that's that's me being tardy. Jay Sharples from Razine A very good morning to you.
Jay, Good morning mate, how are you good?
Good and nice to catch up with you on Thursday and Bryce. That was a rarity, all three of us together.
It was great.
It was a great event. And as you know well in the background because you could hear them working away, was the young or the nine Young Apprentices of the Year. So they did that practical during construct where you guys were, and then on the Friday night had the gala dinner, let's say, and one of those young apprentices, young man by the name of Hunter Moon, was appointed as the Young Apprentice of the Year. So outstanding, it's great, No, excellent, Yeah,
it's good. And I think you know what I quite liked about it was the whole thing that you know, we do recognize excellence and that we do introduce some competition into being an apprentice. And you know, for that young person, and there there were nine there, eight males, one female. You know, they all get to say from here on, look, I made it through to the finals, and in some cases for him anyway, Hey, look I was Apprentice of the Year twenty twenty four, so it's.
Great, that's excellent.
Yeah, absolutely right, Oak. Now, we had a curious, curious question this morning around you know, like organic growth on exterior painted surfaces, particularly weatherboards, and people were calling through with it a couple of things. One was like insects, so moths in particular that tend to leave a casing seemingly that's incredibly hard to remove. And then suddenly we got talking about various funguses that are not particularly common
but can adhere to exterior surfaces. So if you're about to do and we're heading into summer some exterior painting, where do we start, And as.
Always we say treat with raze, moss and molecular It's it might take more than one sort of treatment to remove stuff. I mean, there's plenty of lichens and stuff that are very hard to remove, so it's really trying to kill it and remove it before you start painting. There really is no point sort of painting over the top of it. So the paint's only going to adhere
to that. The lichen that's kind of going to be crumbly away on the surface or die and it's your paint will just break down in those areas, So it's really important to clean outside inside with razim moss and molecular The other big one is fly marks on the ceiling. Don't just think I'm going to cover it. Give it a clean first to remove it. I don't say, will bleed through. You spend all this time painting your ceilings and in the next week and see all those marks again.
So you really need to use on those anyway, give them a good clean and then use an oil based primer.
Oil based primers in those circumstances a because increasingly, you know, waterborne primers are great, quick dry and that sort of thing, but there's still sometimes a specific role for oil based.
Yes, I mean, ideally you're cleaning it first to remove it if there's any sort of marks left. It's a mammal undercoats does a really good job of just locking that in and stopping.
It from blean.
Just on the exterior cleaning, because we were talking about that earlier on the show as well, and you know people love whipping out the water blaster right, so, which is kind of okay but requires restraint in terms of if you're using the razine cleaner the housewash, how do you actually apply it to the surface.
I say most people get the water blaster out and think that's sufficient. But I know from myself from cleaning the car, if you don't agitate the surface and use some sort of cleaner, yes, the water blaster doesn't actually remove all those masks. It's exactly the same one your painted surface. If you don't move all the surface contaminants, your new coats of pain aren't going to adhere as well.
So I know.
Water blasts have like a soft brush you can attach, which you can do low pressure and kind of scrub on the cleaner. Yep, I've got one of those. I've got an extendable pole that connects to the hose with a soft bristle brush on the end, and I've got a bucket and make the solution of the razine pain prepper and house wash and water up and scrub it on.
Right.
Okay, So there, so you've got you make up your solution, You get the dilution rate right into a bucket, then you dip the heat of the brush into there and then apply that so you're getting it. Do you know, does anyone ever spray it on, like with a backpeck spray or something like that.
Uh, yes, I suppose you can do, but it's it's really you can spread it all long, but you still need to agitate the surface, right, Okay, saying like you could spray the subd on the car's probably the easiest ones. Most people clean their car once or twice the week or month, So think about when you're doing that. It's any other surface you're cleaning is exactly the same. Like, you can't just spread it on, leave it and then wash it off because you're just going to have marks
and runs and leave lots behind. You really need to get that sponge out or brush out. Yeah, agitate the surface and make sure you clean everything off and then wash it down afterwards.
It sounds like a bit of elbow grisse.
You know.
You can actually get like cordless brushes now that editate, so you just but yeah, anyway, we'll talk about that some other time. I might have to sort one out for you, right Yoh, let's rip into a couple of text messages. Actually, first one email recently someone has recently bought a mid nineties stucco pibble plaster clad house and napier doing some small repairs to the plaster. Can't seem to get the color match right, so they've gone out. They bought a number of test spots, but not quite
getting the color right. Is there a sort of definitive way to get a color match if you can't use the swatches or test pots?
It's a bit hard on textured surfaces.
Yeah.
A lot of the time, the same paint has been used on the dam pipes and the clips that hold the damn pipes on, which are really easy to remove, So you could take one of those off into local razine and they might be able to do a better job getting closer with the color. It's usually the easiest way to do it, especially on a textured surface.
Yeah, okay, oh that's brilliant now. Another one is a nineteen eighties house that's got what they're calling vibra pact blocks, so just standard masonry blocks. The garage is painted on the inside, but it's blistering and flaking. Now they are aware that maybe there's an issue with some moisture, like the outside ground level is piled up against the block work. If they were going to paint it, what's the well should they painted.
Or the thing is is it sort of bubbling and blistering on the inside. There's already a coating on and it's kind of the effhuorescence causing issues, which is the moisture coming through the block If you're in that situation. Obviously, if it's soil, it's another big job. It's even if it's concrete pathways, you really, ideally that should be sort
of tank lined before it gets back filled. It might have been it might have been damaged, it might have been done a long time ago and the coating damaged in some way, and that's why there's moisture coming through. Ideally, if you can't, you want to locate the point of water ingress and eliminate it. So that sort of situation, you really want to dig out the outside, let it dry out, seal it all up, and then put the
earth or pathway or whatever it is back. Garden beds is another big one before sort of attacking the inside. If that really isn't possible and you just want to id up the inside, it's a case of removing all the loose flaky material ceiling with raisine shore seal, and then you can repaint, but it will be an ongo an issue. You've still got that moisture getting.
In from somewhere yep, and you can't expect the paint to hold back the moisture. Basically, okay, right, help please. I have removed wallpaper, shore sealed, plastered prime to top coats. All of the corners have come out late later, so I repainted all of the corners. Now they're worse. What's going on for Karen there?
It's kind of without seeing that one, it's a bit hard a lot of the time. The first thing that jumps to my mind isn't it's where you get a lot of the time you cut in with a brush and you end up getting more paint on than you do with the roller. Yes, it's you need to get more paint on with the role that's a uniform. If it's not sort of that situation and it's kind of lighter in the corners, whether if it's been you said, sealed, then plastered and then sealed and painted, could just be
where that ceiler is. If it's slightly lower in those corner areas and there's light coming through it might just look lighter due to the clinical light that's coming into the room, right, But depending on the area of the country, and maybe take some pictures into your local color shop or see if we can get somebody to come out and have a look. It's a bit hard to kind of a light issue to discuss on the phones. A little bits up.
That sort of issue around picture framing, you know when we.
Take that looking more than Me picture framing.
We did that little video the other day, so we're talking about it that. You know, if you as you're cutting and if you go into it, you start painting room and you go around your cutter and everywhere, and then you grab your roller and start painting. Although the area that you first started and is going to be bone dry, isn't.
It, So you really want to keep that wet edge blending together.
It's also.
If you can roll up as close as possible to the ceiling or the edge so you don't end up with like a much bigger brush line. If you use seventy five hundred mil brush and you're coming a long way off the edge and you're only rolling up to that, you're going to have the brush marks going one way and the roller lines going another and again it just comes down to the lighting highlights those kind of imperfections. Yes, but it's like I said, the picture framing, which is
the word I was trying to get out. Really, if you want to keep a wet edge, if it's a big room, maybe get a couple of people to help, so one's cutting in, one's rolling, or only cut in so far and then roll and then move on to the next wall.
Brilliant.
Also, we're coming into the time of year. Razine hot weather additive just slows down the dry time, increases the flow of the paint and just helps with those situations.
Yeah, and never paint and direct sunlight. Yeah, yeah, yeah, last one for you. This is a great one. Actually, morning pick regarding the cleaning of the exterior of the house with say the razine cleaner. Do I need to protect my new Vitex decking or is it safe for the cleaner to drop onto it?
Well, the razim what's the mole killer is sort of sodium hyperchloride or sort of bleach based cleaner. Yes, so you really want to protect anything around it for the decking. A lot of time I'd wet the area down first, just so anything that goes on kind of gets diluted a bit, and it's not going directly onto a dry deck. But anything you can do to protect the areas that you don't want to get any of the clean or
get damaged at all. Gardens, plants, Yeah, you see the big thing with the sort of cleaners.
You know, a little while ago I talked to you about trying to get some mold growth off the bathroom ceiling and a property that I look after, and so I got the proper you know, house interior wash and prep and mold keller and that sort of thing, and I applied lots of it and quite vigorously. And I did notice that the old shirt that I'd been wearing has got marks all over it, So you do have to be a bit careful. It's very effective, like.
Put it in the backpack spread and it might drip on the T shirt, just like if you're doing jobs around the house with painting, cleaners, wear old clothes or stuff you don't mind I forget damaged.
Yeah, absolutely, all right, great advice as always, mate, Thank you very much, and enjoy the day, enjoy the sunshine, and we'll we'll talk again soon.
Sounds good. Thank you, Thank you.
All of this to you, Jay, Jay our painting expert from Razine, and great advice that he mentioned earlier. You know, if you're struggling to find the color match and so on, maybe bring the sample into the store and there'll be someone with the experience who'll be able to help you out with that as well. Great advice always and great advice in store at your local Razine color shop. Your news Talks here, b we'll take a short break. We'll be back with your calls right up till eight o'clock
in the next hour. Of course, the red climb passed will join us. Looking forward to catching up with him. And I want to know more about this artillery fungus. It's got to be one of the best names out there. Back in your news Talks, he'd be in a quick painting question from you. Gary, Good morning, Hi morning.
I was hanging on that conversation with Jay because it's exactly there that I'm.
Go for it.
I'm sure I can now.
So so we South Coast, well, I can at the bottom levels, you know, usually sort of reinforced steel block, but it's got to so render over it. And we've been here about ten years. It's it's kind of cantileave it out and it's not people, so how I haven't got to.
It over time.
And so now there's quite a lot of mold and like and on the external window leads as well, that nasty sort of yellow orangey one. So so we're needing to paint, you know, tie up and paint the ex stow render. So so I guess from talking to the hearing about Jay, I mean that was the mold sounds like a part of the process. And but you know, it's it's it's it's a render, so it's it's not a coarse one.
It's a really sort of.
Fine like what they call a sponge finishing with a trailed on and sponge finished.
Yeah yeah, yeah, but you wouldn't sort of have a go at it with a water blasts or anything because no, no, no.
Not at all. And I mean if it's difficult access and sign you may have to get some scaffolding obviously to get up there because you want to take a bit of time. So and most likely it'll be multiple applications of the cleaner, so sort of an inn shall clean, agitate, rinse, leave it for a little while, do it again and be really confident that the treatment that you've used has killed any of that organic material it's on the surface
of the paint. It might be worth getting some advice as to whether or not you need to apply if typically you can overcoat within a certain period of time, but if that time has extended out too long there might be a benefit. And then applying a primer that will key into the surface so that your top coated hair is properly that would be worth.
Actually, yeah, and then from what when Jay was talking about the based prime so apply.
Because no, possibly not. I mean, I know, for example, you will often use pigmented seala on beer masonry. The fact that's already been coated and has you know, so you've got the masonry or the semititious material, then you've got a paint finish, and now you're applying over the top. Certainly you could go back to the manufacturers. You could go to Razine Construction and see because they have similar products, they might be able to give you some advice on that.
But I would highly recommend getting some advice from either the manufacturer or someone who's really experienced in it, just to make sure that you're using the right system and that you're not inadvertently having compatibility issues that is going to cause a paint failure in the future.
Yeah. Yeah, that's why.
Called talking to you.
There's a bit of work to do.
I mean, it's going to be a cheery thicker I think for some of it because it's kind of vehicle axis too at the sione that's can't leave it out. Wow, okay under the house, you know sort of, so you want to be able to move it as well. Okay, but we've got the original plans too, so there's definitely a color code, so we should a.
Well, that'll that'll help. Good luck take care of it there. All right, all the this see, we're going to take another break and then Maverick, we'll be talking to you in just a moment. Right. I mentioned Jay, our painting expert. We were both at Construct on Thursday, which was also the venue for the practical challenge for the Apprentice of the Year. This is the carpentry Apprentice of the Year.
And I mentioned I've went to the gala dinner was introduced to the young man Hunter who is the Apprentice of the Year. We'll actually get him on the show next week and talk to him about what he's doing and what he hopes to do in the future. Outstanding young man. Actually, all of the people that were there were you know, we often get that sort of vision of maybe young people and we tune into the news so much and so on, and it can get a
bit doubt disheartening. Let's say, I'll tell you what. Everyone that I saw up on that stage and competing eight men, one young woman just fantastic young people. You know the fact that they've chosen to be carpenter as that sets them above everybody else anyway, But they were just fantastic.
And then they had some past winners as well in regional finalists and that who got up to talk about where they'd gone to, you know, in their careers and again motivated, enthusiastic, engaged, active, you know, just fantastic to see young people like that getting a little bit of attention, which I thought was fantastic, Right, Maverick, talk to me, Hello.
Hello, can you hear me?
I sure can go for it.
Okay, I've got a good mate down south of Auckland. I can't tell you where as well, south of Auckland, and about ten years ago, he bought a property beer Land except for an old wolfshed and planted out with three other fruit trees. He's an ecologist, prima closure guy and also a lanscape architect and very clever guy. So he converted the woolshed and into a well for his Family's got a beautiful white and three young daughters and did a stunning job. It's only fifty square meters, but
he's worked out space savings, et cetera. And all the time he approached council to get compliance, but for whatever reason, they kept changing the rules and after years and years and years of trying, he gave up and told him never to cast a shadow on his property again, which was a mistake in hindfight. Was now the council. After years and years of fighting them and him fighting back with interest, they've got a court order from the local district court to demolish his house.
At the very beginning of that process, did he get a building consent for the conversion of effectively a farm building into a habitable space into a home.
I honestly don't know, Pete, I don't know all right.
There could be a couple of things going on. One of them is that he didn't and maybe he got some advice that he didn't need to get a building consent for that. If it's work, it's been done in the last twenty twenty five years. It has always required a building consent. So if he went ahead and did the conversion and didn't get a building consent, then yeah, the building is going to be deemed to be non
compliant unless he can prove a certificate of acceptance. But the burden of proof for that is nowadays equal to your building consent, and he would have to prove compliance with a building code for you know, just a myriad
of things. And if he's dug his toes in with counsel and doesn't want to play that game, then and he's managed to get offside with counsel, which sounds like he has, then counsel will push for an enforcement and say you can't live in that dwelling and that dwell and because it's unlikely that you'll move out of it and not go back into it, where going to push hard. Personally, I think it's a tremendous waste of time and energy for counsel to be pursuing this, and it would have
cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. So I don't like to see our ratepayers money being spent on this sort of thing. But it would seem that, you know, let's assume that counsel are being lawful and that somewhere along the line, unfortunately what he's done has been unlawful.
And he's applied to a CoA over a year ago and they refuse to accept his submission. They don't want to know that they've got a vendetta against them because he's one of these guys.
That, yeah, and look good on him for standing up to the man, and you know, I'm all for that, right, but you know, he's also got to prove compliance. Now, if counsel decide that they won't accept his submission, then perhaps he needs to get some advice from some one who will go into bat for him. So maybe a building surveyor or a building scientist who can then argue on his behalf. If he's just said to them, hey, look, the building's fine, give me a CEO A. They're not
going to do that. But if he can prove compliance, and then you know, if if counsel and look, councils can be unreasonable right, and councils have been challenged by people who have got determinations from himby and have been found to have acted incorrectly. So he could go down that path, but he needs to then get you know, a building expert, like a surveyor on his side to help with that battle.
The problem is they will not accept any submission from them whatsoever. It's offered every possibility to the Delah.
That sounds unreasonable.
Yeah, totally, and he is stressed for the MAXI is a bloody good guy.
Yeah, look, I do just quickly because we're going to run into the news. You know, maybe it's worth talking to like a council, like an elected representative, or possibly even to your MP to at least stave it off, because you know, I think it's unjustified for counsel to come in and just demand that they're going to demolish the house. That seems excessive and an abusive power. Frankly,
so could you yeah, well it may well be. Can you let us know how you get on with that or how you make it gets on and appreciate the call. We're back after the news at eight o'clock. Well, welcome back to the program. At Pete wolf Camp's my name.
This is the resident builder. On Sunday, we'll talk all things building in construction and just a moment just prior to the news, Maverick was talking about the situation that his mates got into where council have decided to enforce a sort of non compliance order by demolishing the guy's house. And I agree with this text that came through the guy about his friends dwelling. Sounds very upset. Understandably, even
if it's noncom client, to demolish it as ridiculous. Go and see the local MP to see if they can help and mediate it. If it's perfectly livable, I mean, if it is liverable, he needs to get compliance for it. That's fair enough. But to enforce a demolition order does seem vindictive, doesn't it?
Right?
Oh, we are going to be talking to rud climb Past at around eight point thirty this morning. We'll take your calls between now and then. It is seven after eight. Zi b Skyline Buildings is a trusted name in New Zealand with a legacy that began in nineteen fifty six and continues to stand strong today, specializing in garages, cottages and car Ports. Skyline operates right across and with forty
independently owned and operated distributors right across the country. Today we're joined by Chris Cook, general manager of Skyline Buildings, to discuss the advantages of using Jframe, a high quality LVL framing product that has brought both performance and sustainability to their projects. A very good morning to you, Chris.
How are you now?
I'm very well, thank you. Now, key advantages for you guys moving to jframe.
Oh, look, there's three big advantages for us. First of all, that it's straight, two that it's strong, and three that it looks good. And all of those are very important to us. Absolutely, the straight straightness, particularly with our product. Look, a lot of Skyline buildings and skyll and garages are clad in metal cladding, metalware the board, and if it's not straight, it can look terrible. You get ripples in the clouding from the exterior. You can see to milo
when the sun hits it. So the straightness is probably the key thing for us. And since we've got a jframe that's been fantastic and you know, it's definitely it's a key advantage for us, and it's a point of difference for our products. So we're very pleased to be using jframe.
Now.
Jframe has been around since two thousand and six. When did Skyline Buildings start using it?
Well, look, we were made aware of it from Buddings in about twenty thirteen and they strongly recommend They've been using it themselves in different areas and they recommend that we change over. And look, it was one of the best decisions that we've ever made, and we'd have a huge struggle not to use jframe announce. It's been incredibly popular with our distributors, with our builders, they don't want to use anything else. So no, no, we're very pleased with that.
So in terms of that transition, any challenges if any for Skyline when you moved to J frame and the outcome has sounds like it has been positive.
Oh, look we've.
No challenges. No, Look, I mean the comment that we've heard initially was that the timber is incredibly hard and unfortunately you have people they use nail guns.
What have you.
But look, I would wouldn't end be anyone wanting to put a garage together with a hammer and nail.
But that's a positive.
Hey, And what's really important for you. Jframe contributes to weather resistance. So how does that impact for your business given that many of your products are transported, don't they.
They are indeed, And look if you see a Skyland building, the Skyland garage, it looks I suppose when in transport, they look like a pack of timber covered with plastic cheating over the top of it. And look at the absorption of moisture is particularly where our garages go. They go from you know deep in to the South Island all the way up to the throughous parts of the
North Island. Yeah, whether the absorption of water and moisture is very important while it makes it back and credibly be to transport and also it's not very good for the for the structure itself. So no, no, Since we've gone to j Frame, it has been absolutely fantastic and I think doesn't absorb the moisture like other timbers.
Yeah, really important for the core part of your business. People will be i think surprised by the range of products. So I'd encourage you to check out Skyline Buildings at Skyline Buildings dot co dot Nz. For more details on Jframe go to Janel dot Co dot m said Chris, thanks very much for joining us this morning.
Oh absolute pleasure, Peter.
News dogs'd be news dogs. He'd be eleven minutes after eight eight hundred eighty ten eighty is then number to call. Raywan A very good morning to you.
Oh good morning, Pete. I've got well, it's probably not my problem because I live in a retirement village. But I noticed of probably a couple of months ago now or more, notice this brown mark on the carpet between the bathroom and the living area. And so I got the village village assistant guy to come and have a lock, and he pulled the carpet away and it was all moldy under there, all MOLDI along the well on the underlay, and a piece of what appears to be a wooden strip,
and then you can see down to the concrete. And so he drives do all up and we've been just checking, but they don't know where it's coming from. And I don't know if it's still leaking, because I've given up looking at it every time I have a shower.
So where do you see the evidence of moisture and grease? So the brown standing is it inside the bathroom or in an adjoining room.
There's no evidence of any They thought it was water running down from the shower across the fine I said, I would notice it it was running, I'd see it, and so there's not. And then they thought it was a drip from the shower door. But the shower door, the way it hangs, it drips inside inside the power. So they're just they just bewildered at what caused it. If it is caused by a leak under the tiles, then they'd have to dig all the tiles up and
I have to move out, but for a while. But I just thought you you may have any other suggestions. It's checked that my son is a builder, and he's suggested looking up in the manhole in the adjoining bedroom see there's anything coming through through the walls. But they didn't see anything up there.
Do you know if there's an isolation valve for the water just to your.
Unit, Yeah, there would be. There would be to turn the water off on the outside.
That's what I'm thinking, just sometimes. You know, obviously we can get leaks from that are active because it's coming from the pipework, and the simplest way to identify that is to be able to turn the water off and then see whether or not the meter continues to run, right.
So sorry, the meta.
I don't know whether there's a meta there that'll be.
The hard thing, or potentially be able to isolate the water and see whether the patch goes away, or if it's an issue worth waterproofing or selant around the bathroom. You know, maybe the waterproofing has been compromised and water's getting in behind. Is it tiles on the floor and tiles on the wall.
Yeah, Yeah, it's just really strange. There's no evidence of any water on the floor that could be going that way, and it's just really strange. And they blamed the dog first, but the dogs doesn't weed there, right, But come inside after I've been away for a day or something and I've come in in the house of smell or meat or denk and must and I didn't know it was there then, So it's obvious it's just leaked further and further up into the carpet and made the carpets round
them right dark. It's not hideous or anything, but it's there.
Yeah, And I think you know, often we sort of are alerted to what the interior environment of our buildings is like is when we do go away for a couple of days and then there's that feeling when you that smell really open the door and suddenly go, yeah, it feels you know, I can tell that the house has been locked up, so there's obviously issues with moisture
or humidity inside the building. Look, I mean the great thing is that, ultimately, I assume you've got a lice, it's to occupy rather than owning the building, in which case the person who administers the license is responsible for it. And it's just a question of kind of putting your hands on your hips and going I need you to sort this out, and I need you to sort out now because ultimately it isn't actually your problem, it's theirs.
That's right, I think.
Pay good luck with it all, Okay, thank you all the best, and Bruce, a very good morning to you.
Hello, Bruce, good morning to you.
Peter, good morning, and just listening to your program, you're like an alarm clock from listen to it, Peter, and reply to a question one of your listeners had about flattening under I just this little point and I've experienced it on a new build, is that it's the plastic
and I assume got metal facia around their home. It's the meta if the protection plastic hasn't been pulled off cleanly on the facia and there's a line of it's still left on the top of a facia, that that if it's not torn cleanly and not taken all off, that can be caught because of the of the flapping now so much so the client said to us on several occasions and we could never work this one out, that they've actually got a screaming noise and we had to get it in an I'm in Canterbury and it
generally happened in a northwest wind and the flapping actually developed into a high pitch streaming noise. Just an example. I don't know quite a few of my generation, but as kids, we used to get sort of a wide lead piece of grass, put it between our thumbs and blow it and it was like a whistle and that that's what the problem was. And it actually was quite a big problem for the facial contractor to do to remove that because the spouting had to be disconnected to
get at it to pull it off. So that's what we found.
Are your web, Big Peter, sometimes It is just the little things that kind of come back and trip us up. Isn't it worth building? You go, Okay, I'm just going to peel that protective wrap off and where it rolls around the top edge of the facia, no one can see it. I'll leave it on there. It's fiddly to get off, and then you know suddenly you're back a year later, spending hours and hours and hours and maybe having the big scaffolding, et cetera, et cetera. So attention
to detail is always the key. Bruce really appreciate the call. A couple of people have texted with regard to that demolition order. Obviously there's slowly more to the story, but it would be interesting to know more about that. But look, I don't think anyone would disagree and say it does seem to be an extraordinary heavy handed gesture to go and do that. Also, just on the leaking in the shower, Hey, Pete, we had a leak in our shower and it was told that we had to pay for anything internal in
a retirement village. So I would have thought that's a little bit unfair. I mean, in the end, you didn't do the building, your work, that was done by the retirement village owner. Certainly, if it was a lack of maintenance, let's say that there was a reasonable expectation that you would do certain tasks in order to prevent mold growth or something like that. I can understand that. But if it's an issue with waterproofing or workmanship of pipework and
so on, how can that be your responsibility? But I appreciate the text on that as well. Radio we will remember we've got Red Climb passed. At around eight thirty this morning. We'll talk to him, definitely going to ask about artillery fungus. It's going to be the best name for a plant or an organism ever. It's remarkable, So we talk about that. But your opportunity to talk to
route from eight thirty. Will come back with a couple more calls in just a moment, right, Oh, last couple of calls for the morning on building Dave, Good morning.
Good morning, Pete. I have a problem in my kitchen. You know, it's all tile floor were they've done and we've got an island. We have done the cutout for the dishwasher. The tile cracked, we have covered out. It's about one hundred mill wide. So we've got a guy into to repair it. And when he went to repair it, we've got the water pipe going out. He put a hole in the water pile.
Yep.
But you know, like now it's it's cracked again, and the tile in front of it is actually cracked as well, and we're going to walk around on the tile floor. There's a sort of making noise when I stand on quite a few of the tiles which they're not fixed down, so I'm a bit worried about it.
The challenge is that if for example, the substrate is not well fixed down or possibly an and that could be like if you look at the building code today, if we're going to do tiles in a bathroom, we need to set our choice out at four hundred centers and we need to nog at four hundred centers right, so it's a massive amount of timber. Then we put down a substrate which might be a treated ply, it might be a five or cement sheet, et cetera, et cetera,
and then eventually we put our tiles on it. Now, what I'm thinking is that in your situation, an existing building that's had tiles applied down over the floor joice might be at six hundred centers nogging at two meter centers. There's a certain amount of flexibility in there, which in some case, if you choose the right adhesive I a flexible one rather and a rigid one, it'll take up a little bit of that and the tiles will be okay.
So it might be a problem from when the tiles were installed that's causing the issue today, and it's been exacerbated by the fact that you've had to cut into tiles and loading it up with a dishwasher and so on. So it could be a slightly bigger problem than just one or two tiles would be my conserner.
Yeah, the thing is there is a concrete floor in the nise.
Oh it is on a concrete slab.
There's a concrete slab.
Okay, all right, well then that's hopefully that's not years old.
Yep, it's fifteen years old sort of thing. So I'm not sure what what I can do about it, you know, like with all these when you walk around, you know and hear a sort of clicking noise on quite a few of the tiles around the on the floor, is it? I know, you can get a flexible ceiling to put it down or a hard one.
You wouldn't well, I mean, look again potentially and maybe there's been a bit of moisture that's got through the tiles and so on, and what you're starting to see is the tiles reaching the end of their sort of workable life that they're starting to delaminate. The adhesive is coming off, and really the solution, thankfully you've got a
concrete slab. If you needed to, you get in there, chisel off all of the old tiles completely, maybe waterproof the slab a little bit more, use the right adhesive, so the right system all the way from bear concrete up and then replace all of the tiles. But that's a much bigger job than just you know, one or two. Yeah, it's yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Maybe instead of like you know, as trades people were often involved in working in other people's trades, right, But I wonder whether
it might be worthwhile getting an experienced tiler. So if you go somewhere like tile Space, go down to the back to the trade depot and go look, I need someone in the local area to come and just do an assessment. They might come and just see whether it's drum me or whatever and give you some advice. Maybe it's repairable, maybe it's not. But I think talking to a professional tiler is probably not a bad option at the stage.
Yeah, that's that's a good idea.
Good luck with that. All the very best to you, Take care and don it very quickly. Good morning to you.
Good morning. I have I'm an o rental property. I've only been here for nearly three months, and I've noticed that some of the floors, particularly where heavy things, are starting to sort of slop. Should I be worried about it?
Well, your landlord should because it's your landlord's.
Asset, So yeah, I know.
But should I be pushing like I've been told? If I'm not dripping over.
It, it's not a problem, okay, right, okay.
Yeah, So we're like in the spare room where there's a heavy dressing table in the bed it's and the kitchen. It was fine when I came in, but now that I've put things in the cupboard and used the dishwasher right where the fridge is.
Yeah, presume it's a timber floor and it's elevated.
I'm not.
It's got lemmet over it, But I don't know what's underneath.
Right, if you walk around the outside of the house, though, a floor level up a little bit or is it quite the ground, it's up a bit, it's up it Okay, So let's assume that it's a timber floor. You know, I'm sure within your circle of frenzy might be a carpenter or a builder who might just come and look underneath. Possibly there's some sbsidence in the building, in which case, you know, you could say to the landlord, look, I think and it's in your own interests to come and
have a lock. Maybe the landlord doesn't care. The other thing that can happen is, you know, if it's a building of it's in vintage, the particle board might be starting to sort of decay a little bit, in which case I've seen that where let's say you put a heavy weight in the middle, in the between the span of the joist right, so the particle board might span six hundred You put the edge of a dresser, for example, the feet of addresser in the middle of that, and
it can over time cause that to sag if it's old particle board, So there might be a little bit of that, or there's just like I say general subsidence, but.
Think it's the nineteen fifties or nineteen sixty.
You know, it is incredibly rare for buildings to actually collapse. I know we're worried about it all the time, but it's incredibly rare. So if you're thinking, gosh, is this slope going to accelerate to the point where it's going to collapse, I would be unbelievably surprised if that was the case. Is it annoying? Yeah, maybe it is. You know, if you feel that it's unsafe, then go back to the landlord. Otherwise I guess you've done what you need to do as a responsible tenant. Hey, I'd like to
draw this to your attention. If the landlord doesn't care about their asset, well, unfortunately that's their problem. Yeah, yeah, all the very best to take care there. You can do the old marble track, you know, to determine how much slope there is on a floor. You figure out where you think the high point is, but the marble down and see where it rolls. That'll soon tell you what the slope's like. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty.
Let us get into the that a terrible pun. Let us if we're talking about gardening, let us get into the garden with arid cline pass in just a moment your news talk ze b and hey, look it is weed season. So are weeds invading your space? Looking for a glypha sate free weed killer that's effective, Yates introduces
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right down in the roots. Use it on gardens, pathways, driveways around buildings, controls weeds and grasses including couch couch grass, pass, palm, prickles, plantain and more. Available in a concentrate with an easy measuring bottle, and are ready to use spray. Liberate your garden from weeds with Yates zero Triple Strike weed Killer. Find it at your favorite hardware store or garden retailer. Z right oh, last couple of calls for the morning on Building Dave, Good morning.
Good morning Pete. I have a problem in my kitchen. You know, it's all tile floor with they've done and we've got an island. We have done the cutout for the dishwasher. The tile cracked, we have covered out. It's about one hundred mill wide. So we've got a guy into to repair it. And when he went to repair it, we've got the water pipe going out. He put a hole in the water pole.
Yep.
But you know, like now it's it's cracked again and the tile in front of it is actually as well, and we're going to walk around on the tile floor. There's a sort of clicking noise when I stand on quite a few of the tiles which they're not fixed down, so I'm a bit worried about it.
The challenge is that if, for example, the substrate is not well fixed down or possibly and that could be like if you look at the building code today, if we're going to do tiles in a bathroom, we need to set our choice out at four hundred centers and we need to nog at four hundred centers right, So it's a massive amount of timber. Then we put down a substrate, which might be a treated ply, it might be a five or cement sheet, et cetera, et cetera,
and then eventually we put our tiles on it. Now, what I'm thinking is that in your situation, an existing building that's had tiles applied down over the floor Joyce might be at six hundred centers nogging at two meter centers. There's a certain amount of flexibility in there, which in some case if you choose the right adhesive, a flexible one rather than a rigid one, it'll take up a little bit of that and the tiles will be okay.
So it might be a problem from when the tiles were installed that's causing the issue today, and it's been exacerbated by the fact that you've had to cut into tiles and loading it up with a dishwasher and so on. So it could be a slightly bigger problem than just one or two tiles would be my concern.
Yes, the thing is a concrete floor in the nise.
Well, it is on a concrete slab.
There's a concrete slab, okay, all.
Right, Well, then hopefully that's not moving years old.
Yep, it's fifteen years old sort of thing. So I'm not sure what what I can do about it with all these When you walk around, you know, and hear a sort of clicking noise on quite a few of the tiles around the on the floor that I know you can get a flexible it put it down, or a hard one.
You wouldn't well, I mean, look again potentially and maybe there's been a bit of moisture that's got through the tiles and so on, and what you're starting to see is the tiles reaching the end of their sort of workable life that they're starting to delaminate. The adhesive is coming off, and really the solution, thankfully, you've got a
concrete slab. If you needed to, you get in there, chisel off all of the old tiles completely, maybe waterproof the slab a little bit more, use the right adhesive, so the right system all the way from bear concrete up, and then replace all of the tiles. But that's a much bigger job than just you know, one or two. Yeah, it's a yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Maybe instead of like you know, as trades people were often involved in working in other people's trades, right, But I wonder
whether it might be worthwhile getting an experienced tiler. So if you go somewhere like tile Space, go down to the back to the trade depot and go, look, I need someone in the local area to come and just do an assessment. They might come and just see whether it's drummy or whatever and give you some advice. Maybe it's repairable, maybe it's not. But I think talking to a professional tyler is probably not a bad option at the stage.
Yeah, that's that's a good idea.
Good luck with that. All the very best to you, Take care and don it very quickly. Good morning to you.
Good morning. I have I'm an o rental property. I've only been here for nearly three months, and I've noticed that some of the floors, particularly where heavy things, are putting the sort of slop. Should I be worried about it?
Well, your landlord should because it's your landlord's asset.
So yeah, I know. But should I be pushing like I've been told? If I'm not dripping over it, it's not a problem, okay, right, okay, Yeah, So it's we're like in the spare room where there's a heavy dressing table and the bed. It's in the kitchen. It was fine when I came in, but now that I've put things in the cupboard and used the dish right.
Where the fridge is.
Yeah, presume it's a timber floor and it's elevated.
I'm not it's got lemit over it, but I don't know what's underneath.
Right, if you walk around the outside of the house, though, a floor level up a little bit or is it quite the ground, it's up a bit, it's up it. Okay, So let's assume that it's a timber floor. You know, I'm sure within your circle of frenzy might be a carpenter or a builder who might just come and look underneath. Possibly there's some subsidence in the building, in which case, you know, you could say to the landlord, look, I think and it's in your own interests to come and
have a lock. Maybe the landlord doesn't care. The other thing that can happen is, you know, if it's a building of it's in vintage, the particle board might be starting to sort of decay a little bit, in which case I've seen that where let's say you put a heavy weight in the middle in the between the span of the joist right so the particle board might span
six hundred. You put the edge of a dresser, for example, the heat of addresser in the middle of that, and it can over time cause that to sag if it's older particle board. So there might be a little bit of that, or there's just like I say, general subsidence, but.
I think it's the nineteen fifties or nineteen sixties place.
You know, it is incredibly rare for buildings to actually collapse. I know we're worried about it all the time, but it's incredibly rare. So if you're thinking, gosh, is this slope going to accelerate to the point where it's going to collapse, I would be unbelievably surprised if that was the case. Is it annoying? Yeah, maybe it is. You know, if you feel that it's unsafe, then go back to the landlord. Otherwise I guess you've done what you need to do as a responsible tenant. Hey, I'd like to
draw this to your attention. If the landlord doesn't care about their asset, well, unfortunately that's their problem. Yeah, yeah, all the very best to take care by there. You can do the old marble track, you know, to determine how much slope there is on a floor. You figure out where you think the high point is. Put the marble down and see where it rolls. That'll soon tell you what's slopes like, oh, eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. Let us get into the is that a terrible pun
let us? If we're talking about gardening, let us get into the garden with a rid climb pass in just a money right red climb pass.
Good morning, sir, A very good morning to you, pierrero Are you all good?
Yeah, very well, thank you, now right, But we've got a whole boarder of calls. But artillery fungus, shotgun fungus, tell me.
It's it is actually a fungus that lives that originates from mulch in the garden, if you like. So, if you've got a lot of mulch there, there's a fungus if you like, that wants to spread its spores literally by shooting it into the quite a long way, usually to something with a light colored surface. It has deliberately, yes, because that's probably the best way for the fungal spores to actually germinate. Okay, so so it knows where your carriers back.
Wow, I love it.
I've ever got my car before too.
And and so that's.
Basically how it works. So it's it's it's in a fungus that occurs in New Zealand, and it hasn't it hasn't a wonderful name. Actually it's sphere o bolus stellatus, which means it's it's aiming at things, you know, like literally like an artillery.
What can you do?
Well? The first thing is, if you have this stuff in your in your mulch, try using pine mulch. I understand that pine mulch is not that good for that particular fungus. That's number one. Number two, try wet and forget. It's really hard to get rid of by the way, try wet and forget. You never know if that's going to work that out. Otherwise you use some nice warm look warm water or warm water. Maybe what can you put into it? Oh gosh, maybe some soap and things
like that. But it's pretty hard to get out of there actually, to be quite honest, it's really hard.
That was what you know.
The original question was around sort of the durability, right, the persistence of this growth, and that in some cases someone had had it on weatherboards and then trying to get it off with the boards. Now, the other comment just very quickly. I don't want to take too much of your time, but it was about a caller said, it's moths that were leaving like a shell casing on the exterior of the weatherboard that was also incredibly difficult to get off.
Oh, don't think so. I know they can lay their eggs on surfaces like that, and they but especially once they hatch, they will be kay. I've also heard of spiderwebe's and I call them websites now, kids love that I call them anyway, those websites. But the moths egg cases as well. Yes, it's you need to be very careful, you know. With paint, you've got to you can't craper too much because you can damage you know what I mean. Yeah,
but it's stuff like that. It'll come off, and so will that artillery fungus, but it can take quite a.
Long time, right, and a lot of elbow grease.
But I think it's so cool of nature of these things.
Yes, it's so exciting. Well, I don't want it, but the fact that it's out there is awesome. Right, Let's rip into a few calls. Errol, A very good.
Morning, Good morning to you, Rude. I've got a problem with a plum tree. It's about three years old. Last year we only got one plumb off it. I've sprayed it during winter with two lots of copper and now we've got plums on there, but some of them look like they've got a punch out. They've gone flat.
Ah, yes, I know what you mean.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh that is bladder plum and I think you should have had some if you like, some fungal material on there. Yes, actually bladder plum. If you want to google it, you can do that yourself. It's it's I think you need some fungicide before there's Those plums are starting to ripen, and I think some of that could from memory. It might have something to
do with spraying it in autumn time as well. I'll have to look that up to be quite honest, Errol, I haven't seen it for a while, and it's famous on certain plum species. The fact that you have few plums could something could be something to do with the fact that you might need a pollinator.
Does that makes sense, Yeah, yeah, So have have another.
Have another plump tree nearby that will that will so you get to cross pollination and that gives you a lot more fruit this year.
There are there are quite a few other plums there, but there there are the flat one as well.
So yeah, there later.
Okay, in that case, it might not be that problem, but bladder bloom certainly is. And it's it's a it's a it's a lovely it's a strange look.
Isn't it.
Yes?
Yeah, Will it go away or will it just continue? Or is it doing any damage to the tree?
Or let me have a look in the head break to see what I can do with leader plum for you, and I'll let you know as soon as I find out. I'll just quickly google that.
Okay, thank you very much, No worries.
Take one quick call from UK good morning to UK.
Good morning, gentlemen. I have a bee well kind of problem. I've got bumblebees coming into my nice flairy gun. But now I've noticed they come have come to the little vent in the Omoru stone at the base where there's like a little earth wire and the gap, and they're just coming in busifusly, you know, I do all the bees, but should I be doing something about it or can we just enjoy them.
Last week I've been working at the school in Tecpo where we are going to put bee bumblebee nest boxes up and also the right plants to get bumblebees back into Tachapo. And there's four species in New Zealand and they want to do something about a really rare species that, by the way, is no.
Extinct in the UK.
But bumblebees. The nests themselves in your wall usually are of no concern to your house or to the bees or anything else, and it might be just a wonderful place for them to live and pollinate your all your plants in the garden. I don't think they are of any concern for you whatsoever.
Oh, thank you very much, we'll enjoy them.
Thank you, Bye bye all UK. Take care.
Just a quick note before you take an head break. Clark Cultivator have still got this little thing on that says if you want a Clark Cultivator whenin seven days of saying of getting hold of them on their website Clark Cultivator dot co do and zaid you're tell them you've heard this and you can get a reduced price on the Clark Cultivator and that actually might come in really handy as a Christmas present, just saying.
That's right, suddenly we're all thinking about that. You can find them online. Just look for Clark Cultivator. It'll come up. No trouble at all. Right, we'll take a break. We'll talk to Diane in just a moment moment for more.
From the Resident Builder with Peter Wolfcamp. Listen live to News Talk Said Be on Sunday mornings from six, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.