FEATURE LEAKY HOMES
Homeowners and investors are still discovering years after their monolithic-clad houses were built that they leak. By the time leaks become visible extensive damage has already been caused, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair, leaving many people in debt and with psychological trauma.
Auckland-based property specialist lawyer Adina Thorn says the crisis is probably one of the largest uninsured economic events per capita in the world. “Now we have to get the lessons learned.”
The problems, which first appeared in the 1950s with stucco houses, have been in existence for 70 years.
They surged when many timberframed homes built between 1988 and 2004 were left leaky and rotting from multiple factors - the use of untreated timber, monolithic cladding and lax building practices.
Leaky buildings should have stopped being built about 2004 when the government made it compulsory again to use treated timber in residential construction and builders had to install cavities to drain water for monolithic cladding systems.
“By 2015, most people thought the crisis would be over, but it has persisted,” says Philip
