Leaky roof and Warm NZ Heat Smart Program

[HungusMaximist]

This is something that affects us all - heating, insulation and leaky roofs!

3 Major Issues I need to tackle:

1 - Roof and Ceiling

-Parent's rental property is a 30 year old brick and tile house - Decramastic Tiles
-Completely fucked by previous tenants as they had roof parties - managed to escape
- puddles, flashings gone, water leaking into the ceiling, and water did get through into the house and was patched but the ceiling is kinda fucked.
- Got quotes - 20 k to replace from a company- cheapest option is a coloursteel roof or maybe cheaper through a dude from builderscrack
- Got suggested a cheaper alternative - line the inside of the roof with a special roofing plastic so the water drips down

2 - Ceiling

-Currently - I've got vapour marks and the ceiling bows down/sags in certain areas of the house. Plaster is soft and if any body goes up there, there's a chance they could rupture a certain section.


3 - Insulation and Heating

-Got a quote from Ecoinsulation - they do wool insulation and they will do the roof and under the floor. Pinkbatts is another option - cheaper but they don't do it cuz they're eco.
-Also had DVS and HRV come by and give me their spill on ventilation systems. I don't have a clue how much difference it's going to make as I haven't been in house with the both systems. They both had a good go at each other - not at the same time
-Also got offered heating options - heat pump, panel heaters... woodburner? - but they're not a priority at the moment. Gotta first sort the roof and ceiling and then insulate.

In a nutshell, I need tips on EVERYTHING as I'm trying to make this place warmer, more energy efficient and yes, eco-friendly/cheaper to run . Low on dosh so the most money efficient methods out there please.

Forgot to mention, I'm in East Auckland.

?

[pzkpfw]

My Father in law got HRV. Wasn't impressed so got DVS. (Even ended up with two sets of outlets in some ceilings!)

From what I've heard, he still gets condensation issues.

So I'd leave the HRV/DVS stuff 'till last. Not so hard to add later if you decide to.

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I got a local company to put a new colour steel roof on my old place before I sold it (old roof was way gone). I was very impressed with the results - it seemed an "easy" way to make a big difference. The experts do that stuff really well. There are people who specialise in fixing tile roofs, but it seems very fiddly, and without replacing the whole thing I'd always be worried that there was some hidden problem to crop up.

[HungusMaximist]

My Father in law got HRV. Wasn't impressed so got DVS. (Even ended up with two sets of outlets in some ceilings!)

From what I've heard, he still gets condensation issues.

So I'd leave the HRV/DVS stuff 'till last. Not so hard to add later if you decide to.

---

I got a local company to put a new colour steel roof on my old place before I sold it (old roof was way gone). I was very impressed with the results - it seemed an "easy" way to make a big difference. The experts do that stuff really well. There are people who specialise in fixing tile roofs, but it seems very fiddly, and without replacing the whole thing I'd always be worried that there was some hidden problem to crop up.

I guessing with HRV/DVS it's also dependent on a variety of factors. How old the house is, are there insulation inside the ceiling, walls, floors, design, where ya lived, etc etc. But as I mentioned I wasn't really sold as they weren't really sellling me a solution as I needed to tackle the bigger stuff first and worry about ventilation later - it's still biggie to consider when looking a the whole picture

As the roof, I too am I on the whole 'replace and rather than fix' because it's beyond fixing.

Thanks for your reply.

Any other tips on roofs, insulation, eco-friendly, cheap and efficient....

[hayd3n]

hrv has been great here
20 k for a roof?

[Laava]

Sounds to me like you have to re-roof. The plastic liner under the existing roof is the most ridiculous suggestion I ever heard as a solution.
Pink batts is eco friendly as it is made from re-cycled glass AFAIK.
You need to re gib the ceilings where damaged.
Simple, without even looking at it I can tell you this much. Now is a good tiime to get builders as the market is depressed, so find a good builder and roofer and get it done. A new house of about 180-200m2 will be around 15k to re roof with coloursteel tiles and new battens so use that as a guide. Hope that helps

[pzkpfw]

I'm guessing with HRV/DVS it's also dependent on a variety of factors.

Yes - but the people installing it ought to be able to judge those factors... and install the right thing; or even suggest it's not worth it. Some people have had good experiences (see above) but it seems a bit hit-or-miss to me.

[I don't like (both of) their pushy sales methods. HRV cold-called a few days ago and totally pissed off my Wife, and she's so nice with people that's really saying something.]

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Is the house on piles or concrete slab? I just remembered I put that expol polystyrene stuff under my old house too - and I did notice the difference. (But there, in some places all I had was bare boards a metre above the dirt - pretty crappy and hard not to make a difference.)

Measure the distances between your joists (if you have them), in several places. In my old house they were not parallel and it made installation a bitch (as the polystyrene is built to be installed in rectangles), and in retrospect I'd have used a different system. Either way, it's something you can do yourself.

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What's the cladding? Are the walls insulated?

[davereid]

IMHO the order of priority should be :

1. Get the roof fixed, and get it done properly. It is a waste of time doing anything less than a perfect job here.

2. Re-Gib the ceiling next. Not much point chucking insulation on top of cracked-wet and soon to be discarded plaster board.

3. Insulate

Don't do the DVS thing until all the other stuff is done. You may find that once the entire house is dry, and it has been allowed to warm up properly that the DVS will be un-necessary.

I talked my wife into a heat-pump at about the same price as a DVS. She is now always warm, the house has dried out, and the condensation issue is going away, particularly if curtains are opened a little at night.

So I spent the DVS money on motorbikes.

[Swoop]

IMHO the order of priority should be :

1. Get the roof fixed, and get it done properly. It is a waste of time doing anything less than a perfect job here.

2. Re-Gib the ceiling next. Not much point chucking insulation on top of cracked-wet and soon to be discarded plaster board.

3. Insulate

I would just rip the old roof off first. While it is open, chuck down the new roof insulation and put the new roof on.
Much easier to install the insulation!
Repair areas of ceiling. Simple enough to push back the insulation and do that work.


Yes, there are a few builders who are light on work, but the "fucked-up building/designing/inspection crisis" Oops... "leaky building crisis" has ensured a lot of extra work that is keeping the building industry quite busy!


BEWARE of the eeca accredited insulation installers. Their prices appear to have inflated so much that it may be cheaper to go to a non-accredited installer and get a better price.

[Genie]

From my own experience in my own home which was built in 1970.

Reinsulated house in ceiling and underfloor, noticed difference instantly, it was winter. Also, purchased high quality thermal to the floor curtains for all windows.

Installed HRV system - DVS wasn't as good a quality. Instant removeable of condensation...like within 15 hours! Beds are no longer damp so no need for an electric blanket. House is warmer and drier. Children's eczema and allergies gone!

Had to remove inbuilt Kent and replaced with two Mitsi Heatpumps, one downstairs and another upstairs servicing three bedrooms. House is so cosy and warm ...though it did take some adjusting as the heat is so different.

Have just installed solar hot water system to replace wetback...that too is awesome!

The repairs should not be skimped...the highest quality is the only way to go, this is a home. Coloursteel is awesome....

Good luck with it all

[SMOKEU]

We got a DVS installed about a month ago. The house is definately drier, but we still get a bit of condensation in the mornings on the windows. Still no where near as bad as it used to be.

[HungusMaximist]

Yes - but the people installing it ought to be able to judge those factors... and install the right thing; or even suggest it's not worth it. Some people have had good experiences (see above) but it seems a bit hit-or-miss to me.

[I don't like (both of) their pushy sales methods. HRV cold-called a few days ago and totally pissed off my Wife, and she's so nice with people that's really saying something.]

---

Is the house on piles or concrete slab? I just remembered I put that expol polystyrene stuff under my old house too - and I did notice the difference. (But there, in some places all I had was bare boards a metre above the dirt - pretty crappy and hard not to make a difference.)

Measure the distances between your joists (if you have them), in several places. In my old house they were not parallel and it made installation a bitch (as the polystyrene is built to be installed in rectangles), and in retrospect I'd have used a different system. Either way, it's something you can do yourself.

---

What's the cladding? Are the walls insulated?

it's a brick house, I doubt the walls are insulated at all. it's fucken cold 24/7 and I'm getting sick of it. I think it's on concrete slabs, but I'll have to double check as it's my parent's rental property. As for the roof, it's kinda low so installing insulation is gunna be bitchy. Definitely will be looking to doing the roof and insulation at the same time - makes sense.

Don't really care about HRV or DVS. Fix the damm roof and ceiling first, and then insulate. Other shit can wait but it's good to know though.

[HungusMaximist]

I would just rip the old roof off first. While it is open, chuck down the new roof insulation and put the new roof on.
Much easier to install the insulation!
Repair areas of ceiling. Simple enough to push back the insulation and do that work.


Yes, there are a few builders who are light on work, but the "fucked-up building/designing/inspection crisis" Oops... "leaky building crisis" has ensured a lot of extra work that is keeping the building industry quite busy!


BEWARE of the eeca accredited insulation installers. Their prices appear to have inflated so much that it may be cheaper to go to a non-accredited installer and get a better price.

Atm, I working within a budget, roof definitely needs to be replaced. If I can salvage the ceiling then let it be, but maybe it does need re-gib?

As for the quote, it was somewhere around 1 thousand bucks, as we got 60% subsidy as one of our tenants has community services card. Can't remember the exact measurement he took but will get back to you one that. The EECA goes are eco-insulators - so they don't do pinkbatts but I know pinkbatts will be a bit cheaper.

Care to share?

I'll keep you guys updated. I appreciate the advice.