March 1997
How To Avoid The Heartbreak After A Lusty Love
At First Sight With A Piece Of Rotten 4x2
Good Afternoon,
The pros and cons of buying and renovating
old homes, that's either a transportable or renovate as is where
is.
Hi everyone, I hope you're looking forward to a great Easter
break too, only a couple of days to go and it's a long weekend.
This month I'll discuss some subjects that have generated a lot
of interest. Firstly, the continuous appeal of the early 1900s
villa whose style is unaffected by trends throughout this century.
How to construct a new villa to make it look old. And the pro's
and con's of grooved decking.
Two months ago a couple told me about their extraordinary experience.
A complete stranger came off the street and offered to pay cash
for the house they were living in. They had to be out in three
weeks, and because of this, building a new home had now become
an option to them. So what's so unusual about that, I hear you
ask. Well the person wanting to purchase the house and property
didn't do so because of the land and its location, which is usually
a major factor for this happening. No, it was because the person
loved the style of the early 1900s villa on the property.
The purchaser was going to pick the house up and transport it
in sections to a property in Plimmerton, a district near Porirua,
or about a half hour's drive from Wellington. You hear of people
buying old houses in prime locations just to knock them down to
build something new. But this way round was quite a surprise.
Course, the flip side to that is people buying old homes from
house transporting companies with the same intention, and that
is, to try and restore the old building to its former glory.
There are probably two main reasons for people wanting to take
on the restoration of an old building. The first is that it looks
an inexpensive way to own a home after maybe extending the budget
to secure the preferred piece of real estate. And second, you
particularly like the style of the early villas which is understandable
because some of the early styles of home design and construction
simply don't date and continue to have a romantic charm about
them.
Let's take a closer look at both of these scenarios.
Buying an old home from a transporting company or buying existing
with the intention of carrying out the restoration at its existing
location. With relocating old homes 90-95% of the time there is
only one reason for these buildings being so cheap and that's
because they are worthless and almost beyond economic repair.
One thing's for sure, the house moving companies love these old
houses because they make a killing when they sell them, and I
say good luck to them. They're exploiting a market that requires
a lot of skill and hard work if they are to be successful. But
unfortunately the reality of their purchase sets home once the
old house is resting on its new foundation at its new location.
And buyers of old homes with the intention to renovate where the
house stands, can pay a premium for a very old tired and rotting
product.
It's when you start rebuilding that you discover just how bad
things really are. Most often all of the electrical wiring and
fittings need to be replaced. Not to mention the plumbing pipes,
they are usually so badly corroded that the whole house needs
new plumbing. The carpentry, too. I know that when I was an apprentice
or working as a jobbing maintenance carpenter (many years ago),
wood rot was like cancer. You open up a hole in the side of a
house to repair weather boards ( as example )and discover that
half the framing is also rotten. Problems like this grow and grow.
The strength to backup this argument is the fact that ( only with
transportable) so many people have been caught out and run out
of money with a half finished project. You can never budget on
a set figure because so much of the work is obscure. This is the
reason that most local authorities and councils now make building
consents for old transportable homes conditional upon the council
obtaining a substantial bond as a guarantee of completion. They've
been caught out too. Not to mention angry neighbours living next
door to an eyesore as it steadily devalues their investment.
The other reason for people taking on these restorations is purely
of a love for the style and character that these homes have to
offer. And because there appears to be no obvious other alternative
to obtaining this dream.
Let me take the opportunity to dispel the myth that you don't
have to buy an old house to get that desired look. Not only do
we design and build homes that look old but you get all the advantages
of modern construction techniques, products and the guarantees
associated with new home construction in the 1990s.
Other things that I would like to clarify are that firstly,
each and every home we produce in our workshop is unique and special
and different to suit a particular client's taste, budget and
needs. We don't have a production assembly that churns out clones.
Every client, almost without exception, will modify floor plan
layouts, and change things like weather boards to brick or split
stone or change from 8ft to a 9ft stud for example. Another thing
that may surprise you is that any house can be supplied in kit
set form. Not just the plans from a standard brochure display
but plans of any building. With the factory workshop set-up that
we have, we simply manufacture the necessary components or arrange
to have them made, then the materials are drip fed on to site
to keep pace with a local carpenter who would have been employed
by yourself, but still under the supervision and guidance of Moss
Brothers Housing, unless we're employed to build under full contract.
The myth about non slip decking
Another topic I'd like to briefly touch on are the pro's and
con's of the grooves in timber decking. Almost all decking supplied
through the timber merchants comes in the profile called "deck
tread". IE; when it's gone through the plainer, the knives
cut out grooves on one face which has quite an attractive finish
and gives the appearance that it would have some real benefits
in giving you more grip while walking on the deck when it's wet.
One of the things you probably don't realise is that the reverse
side to the grooves is smooth. So with the one board you have
the option of either smooth or grooved. As most Moss homes have
extensive deckings & verandas, some of the pit falls of choosing
or preferring one side over the other have become quite obvious.
I believe the benefits of smooth over grooved are huge. Although
the grooved looks great when it's just been laid, very shortly
afterwards the grooves begin to fill up with dirt from shoes and
air borne dust. When the dusty grooves are rained on the dirt
filters into the grooves until they can take no more. After maybe
6 months from the decking being laid, and with the combination
of rain, the decking will have like a thin layer or film of mud
across it. Now when you walk in the same direction as the grooves
when the decking is wet, you find it's become so slippery and
dangerous, it's almost like a aqua plain, it's even difficult
for a sure footed person. Also when it stops raining the grooves
tend to hold water longer, so the danger may take some time to
pass. Another absolute pain is trying to clean the grooved decking
with broom. It's OK along the groove but it's almost impossible
across them.
While, on the other hand, the smooth side never holds dirt, always
dries very quickly after it's been raining, never gets as slippery
as the grooved side, is always easy to clean and always looks
better for longer ( provided it's been fitted properly). After
discussing the pit falls with those clients who wanted the grooved
side up but then changed their mind after I pointed these things
out, I've never had anyone tell me that they where disappointed
with their change in decision.
How to avoid selecting a doggie builder
Finally, a lot of people get burnt or end up giving nightmare
stories about having a new home built. How can people having a
new home built be sure that the builder they employ can be relied
on to make building a new home an enjoyable experience. I can
assure you, there are ways that will just about guarantee it.
Let me tell you what we do.
I believe it would be less than convincing for you to take it
from me that I'm the best person for your job, although I believe
I would be. Because 80% of our work comes from word of mouth,
recommendation & referral, I have put together a list of some
of our past clients I chosen at random with their permission.
I will invite you to phone any or all of them & ask them:
1. Can we be trusted?
2. How did the job go?
3. Did we keep our promises & guarantee?
4. What was our after sales back-up service like?
5. Would they employ us again?
6. Were we the cheapest? They'll tell you "NO" because
we've all heard of people who have brought on the cheap and it
ended up costing them heaps & heaps just to get things put
right.
You see, having a new home built is so different from choosing
say, a car off the lot. Once you find a style of car you like
you can touch it & compare the quality & features to other
models before you purchase. But with a builder, you can't do that
from a set of plans or brochures. The only way is to ask someone
they've done business with in the past. I know my past clients
are mostly very happy with me because I guarantee the workmanship
of all of my tradesmen for as long as you own the house we've
built for you. i.e. if there is a failure or problem caused as
a direct result of the workmanship of my employees or sub-contractors,
I'll repair it free, no ifs buts or maybe's. No questions asked.
Best Regards
Julian Moss
PS: Not many of you would know this but my wife is Chinese so we
thought it would be a nice touch to send you an Easter egg in a
traditional Chinese red good luck ( or ang pow ) envelope. So thanks
for your interest and you'll hear from me in about six weeks.
PPS: Just reminding you that by using our Free Help Line - 0800
MOSS BROS (6677 2767) we can instantly answer questions to your
problems & offer solutions.
PPPS: Please, please, please, if you are making a special trip
to Masterton to view our showhome & to speak to me , please
phone first to make a time. Just a few weeks ago a couple came over
from Otaki were not impressed with me because I couldn't leave a
meeting that I have booked with another couple.
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 on:
0800 MOSS BROS (6677-2767)
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