June 2001

Good Afternoon

Bloody hell it's cold

Tiled showers and wet floors that leak

How does the saying go: The impossible we can do immediately, miracles take a little longer. However, be careful when asking for miracles or the impossible.

Imagine the owner of a building project asks a tradesman or company to perform a specific task and the tradesman or company replies by saying, "what you're requesting won't work" or "it will fail in a very short time frame". But then the owner says, "I had my heart set on having it look or perform like that, I really want you to do it anyway". And wouldn't you know it, a short time later the task or end result does fail, the responsibilities to make good may surprise you.

This type of problem in the building industry is not uncommon. The owner is relying on the experience and expertise of the company or tradesman to advise and guide them as most of the would-be new house owners have little knowledge of the industry or specific trades, and what they can and can't do.

So when an owner asks for a specific task and the tradesman or company says it won't work, but is persuaded to give it a go as the owner says they will take full responsibility for any failure, and even agree to put this in writing, the tradesman or company will carry the can if it does fail.

Why? Because the tradesman or company is considered to be the expert and even though they have advised the owner and put the liability of failure in writing, the tradesman or company cannot contract out of law. It's a tough life being a tradesman. Here's a classic example. As you are aware, our company specialises in 1900 replica homes. One of the main characteristics of a 1900 New Zealand villa are the fancy trims and fixtures to the exterior. Many of these trims and finishings look fantastic with strong contrasting colours, and its these that make this style of house stand out. So if the owner was to say to the painter they wanted (for example) to paint the handrail a dark colour and after advising the owner that the sun will heat the dark paint and have an adverse effect on the wood making it buckle or shrink, the owner still insists that that is the colour they want, the painter has two choices. 1) use the dark colour as requested by the owner, there by setting a time bomb for the timber to buckle or shrink, or 2) say to the owner that even though it's in my contract to paint the handrail I won't do it, instead I will credit you the sum I have allowed to do that part of the contract and you can employ someone else to paint the handrail. That is the only realistic option available to the painter. Interestingly you'd be surprised how often the painter takes the risk.

The main reason I decided to write about this type of building problem is because I was reading a national trade magazine and saw an article on what I see as a time bomb problem. Tiles in the bathroom are a popular choice in wall lining finishings. That is, tiles on the walls as well as the floor and, in particular, in and around the shower cubicle.

Tiles work well if the floor and the walls are concrete, like a hotel bathroom. They also work well if the floor is concrete and the walls are timber framed, like in a lot of dwelling houses. But when you have a timber floor and timber walls you have a recipe for a moisture or leaking problem between the floor and the walls, ie where the two meet in the corner.

Timber was once a living organism and although it has been processed into either wall framing or floorboards it still takes up moisture in the winter and lets it out in the summer. And when walking around on a timber floor, even if it's particle board, it remains flexible. It's because of this movement I have always believed that it is poor trade practice to tile around shower areas or in wet floor bathrooms where the floors are wooden.

Tiles retailers and tile layers maintain that they have special waterproof compounds they can apply to the wooden surfaces before fixing down tiles, therefore there is no way leaks will cause water damage. However, I'm not convinced and my concerns have been vindicated by this article. So if you're considering a tiled bathroom or shower area and your floor is wooden take a closer look at the Atlantis Easy Tile Shower System.

Visualise the dream.

One of the best assets we have is our computer. What the computer can do these days is quite fantastic and amazing, and they continue to improve at lightening speed. Because a lot of people find it difficult reading plans what this means is you can see exactly what your proposed new home will look like before it even gets printed onto paper. The benefits are that we can show you and print out for you a 3D model view from any angle of your new home, inside or outside. So take advantage of this new technology and to make it easier we have a special offer price if you bring the attached flier with you when you come to visit and want to start the planning process. And don't forget our web site for additional information, this month's password is finial

Regards

Julian Moss

Oh PS: More and more inquires and sales are from beyond the toll free area of our office. Because of this, for your convenience I have installed an 0800 Free-Help phone line to our office. So if you have any questions or queries you can contact me (that's Julian Moss) on:

0800 MOSS BROS (6677-2767)

And a PPS; If you have some burning issues that you'd like answers to, write or phone me, I'll research your subject and give my reply in the following newsletter so that thousands of others may benefit from the information.