Looking back, a few key events helped to shape my opinion around the usefulness of wearing safety footwear. Many years ago, on a Saturday afternoon, while working casually in my shed wearing completely unsuitable footwear, I almost took a decent chunk out of my toe with a circular saw I was using. Thereafter I [...]
Every effort we make, no matter how small, to move to a more sustainable future is worthwhile, in my opinion. While we often think about water tanks as being great big 25 or 30,000L tanks sitting in a paddock, the reality is that more and more tanks are being used in urban environments, and I [...]
I first encountered uPVC joinery in New Zealand over 25 years ago. We were doing an alteration to a rural property where the North American owners had committed themselves to using the best joinery they could find, which meant importing the joinery. Fast forward a quarter of a century and I'm delighted to see [...]
Some years ago, I was working with a client who wanted to add some sustainability focused features to their new build, something that was not common at the time. We added rainwater storage tanks to the new build for rainwater harvesting and re-use, however the compliance pathway was complex and there were many regulatory barriers [...]
I was looking through some plans the other day of a house that I built around 1991. It is a straight forward single storey, 3-bedroom house on a concrete slab with weatherboard cladding, long run roofing, standard aluminium joinery and single glazing. While the house is simple and robust and still stands today, when [...]
I had the opportunity the other day to be involved with the installation of a Bailey Bazooka culvert. It's actually the first time I've ever installed a culvert and it was great to work alongside experienced contractors, familiar with civil drainage work, who were able to offer up some advice to ensure that it installed [...]
I've just completed the installation of a new Bailey Slim Jim 2000 ltr water tank and thought I would share some reflections on this process.The new Bailey Slim Jim water tank has some revised features including a sleek flat finish, modern appearance and is available in a range of colours and sizes.Like most projects, it [...]
What is Double Glazing? The Quick Facts By Resident Builder Peter Wolfkamp Thankfully, double glazing is increasingly common and with the recent improvements to H1 of the Building Code, double glazing will be in new homes from now on. However, double glazing was a rarity when I started building in 1987 and every now [...]
Key Themes Why do retaining walls fail? Key components in successful design Importance of drainage coil Where to put it, where it goes. In my experience, whenever I've had to look at a retaining wall that's a little bit wobbly or seems to be constantly leaking water, the one common feature of the failure [...]
How Does the H1 Changes Affect Me. Most of us probably have the experience of growing up in a home where we shivered through the winter and then our houses were incredibly hot during the summer! Most of this can be attributed to the poor standard of our insulation in New Zealand homes before 1978. [...]
