Leaky buildings

leaky building reports auckland

If you have a leaky building, you need to know the extent of any potential damage it could cause now and in the future, as well as your options for rectifying it before it becomes a property you can’t easily sell, or live in.

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What is a leaky building?

If the plaster or monolithic property you own or want to own was built in the period between the mid-90s and the mid-2000s, chances are, it could be a leaky building.

The streamlined monolithic style cladding that gained popular traction during the 80s has gained a bad reputation after the influx of leaky homes that were not designed, built or installed properly in this style, and the use of untreated timber from the mid-90s -to mid-2000s. The monolithic cladding used in New Zealand falls into three main categories: exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS), Solid (Stucco) plaster and sheets of texture coated fibre cement.

The tell tale signs of a traditional Leaky Home of this period include flat roofs, insufficiently ventilated cavities between the inner lining and outer wall, poor flashings and the use of untreated timber.

While monolithic buildings are more likely to be leaky, if they were designed and installed correctly, they may be absolutely fine. In the same breath, any other kind of cladding style is not totally immune to the Leaky Home problem – so regardless of your style of building, you should always check its condition with a Leaky Home Report from a professional inspector.

What Our Leaky House Report Inspectors in Auckland look for:

Rusted fittings

Cracks, flaking walls or damage in the cladding

uneven floor boards

sagging ceilings

Signs of dampness including excessive mould and staining

Insufficient, poorly installed and no flashing installed around windows, external doors and penetrations.

Is your future home sealed up properly to avoid becoming a leaky building?

To determine whether the property in question is a Leaky Building, the inspection will thoroughly investigate all of the tell-tale signs of improper construction or installation of the materials. We will investigate the structural stability and take extra care to look into flat roofs, flashings, untreated timber, and any signs of there not being sufficient ventilated cavities between the outer wall and inner linings. We include non–invasive moisture testing in our services, and as needed we can use thermal imaging and drone photography. If a non-invasive check does not produce reliable results, we can conduct more invasive testing to identify areas of concern.

My building is leaky. Now, what do I do?

If you discover that the property you own falls into the category of a leaky building, it may come as a big shock. This can be rectified, but it can be expensive. Get quotes for recladding your home as trying to sell it in the condition it is in will drastically reduce your sale price.

If a building you are considering purchasing is a Leaky Home, you can do one of two things, you can walk away and not deal with that – or take it into careful consideration and use it as a bargaining tool to secure a low sale price. Either way, you should enlist the services of a professional inspector to conduct a weather tightness report so that you can make a fully informed choice.