Peter Wolfkamp is well known as the “Resident Builder” on Newstalk ZB, he built a profile as the site foreman on the now-departed The Block NZ on TV3, and is a highly regarded speaker on pretty much anything to do with the building trade. He lives in Devonport and has not only worked on other people’s houses but also renovated one or two of his own. Who better to interview then, when Channel was looking for advice on approaching a DIY renovation, alteration, restoration or new build? Christine Young hears what she should have done when she renovated her home.
Peter is no longer “on the tools” as much as he was, and says he’s now focused on reading and developing his knowledge of “building literacy”. He’s keen to introduce ideas around better building science to the general public. Building science? That may sound daunting, but it’s something all of us should think about as we plunge into whatever DIY project we think will improve our homes.
Is your first consideration the aesthetics of the finished result, or core issues of energy efficiency? “If you’re going to work on your home,” says Peter, “you should focus on it being energy efficient, and making it more warm, dry and comfortable rather than just on the aesthetics.”
He’s concerned that too much focus goes on how a house looks, ahead of its performance. There are challenges in renovating any house, he notes, and even if you decide to insulate where there’s previously been no insulation, you can inadvertently make matters worse: done wrong, walls can become saturated, and the inside of the house ooze mould. Well, maybe not quite. But the point he’s making is that you need to be aware of the latest technology and get good advice.
“There’s lots of good literature around on building science,” he says, strongly advocating that anyone considering a renovation should head to their computer before they pick up a hammer. BRANZ (Building Research Association of New Zealand) publishes a series of articles and fact sheets available to any DIYer on www.branz.co.nz/pubs. The Superhome movement, of which Peter is a supporter, is a charitable trust made up of architects, designers, engineers, builders, trades, and suppliers, who share the aim of helping people live in “better, healthier, more energy-efficient, and environmentally-friendly homes”. Superhome focuses on “reducing the effect of poor housing on the environment and improving the health of our communities”; to this end it publishes material available to the general public, including webinar guides relevant to both new builds and renovations, for building better and more sustainably (www.superhome.co.nz/superhome-webinars). And Peter’s own website and You Tube channel have blog posts on anything from insulation to painting and general building, as well as on products that advance his ethos of building better and more sustainably.
“If you have your own home,” Peter also advises, don’t wait until major work is required. “Set aside time for maintenance, which often doesn’t get done.” Maintenance delayed simply leads to more significant projects to tackle.
Maintenance or major project, Peter suggests research to ensure you know what work you can do without needing a Building Consent. Make sure you know what you can and can’t do. This is all controlled by the Building Act. A “reasonable amount of work” can be done by DIYers, Peter says, primarily maintenance and minor repairs, but you should check the ins and outs in Schedule 1 of the Act. And while Peter encourages anyone to be active in their renos or new builds, he warns that amateurs need to be aware of their limitations. “Understand how much skill you have,” he advises, and whether you have the equipment or knowledge to make the job a success. He cites a small job he did (repairing a fence), that required an impressive list of gear, including skillsaws, batteries, extension cords, drills, ladders, and more – all of which he has, but which many home owners do not. And while you learn from mistakes, mistakes in a building project can be costly.
“If you’ve built up a garage full of tools and equipment, that great” – and even better, if you’re prepared to share with, or can borrow from, family, friends or neighbours. But if you don’t have the skills or access to gear, he advocates for sweat equity, working alongside your builder: “Talk to your builder about helping prep the site, dealing with the waste, etcetera. That helps reduce costs.”
Oh, and another barrier for the uninitiated is that even work you can do without a building consent needs to be done to the Building Code. Peter quotes a daunting number of calculations required for the specs and spacing of piles, joists and bearers even for a small deck, and references the New Zealand Standard for timber framed buildings (www.standards.govt.nz/shop/nzs-36042011) but notes that while homeowners can look all this up, it’s not always straightforward.
“I find myself in tension between wanting to encourage people to do what I love, but I add a note of caution: there is skill involved… and it takes a long time to build that knowledge and experience.” He’s spent decades developing the expertise he is now able to apply and pass on. But even small jobs are not always as simple as they look. He suggests that having a good relationship with your builder can be a valuable way to balance your enthusiasm with the builder’s experience.
An anecdote illustrates the point: At one stage, he worked on a deck addition in which he did the piles, bearers and joists. The homeowner was taking over from there, ordering the decking timber and rounding up a group of mates to help to nail it down. The budding deck builder rang Peter when the timber arrived; it was poor quality. Peter says the home owner had gone for the cheapest option, one he (Peter) would never have ordered in the first place. Peter, fortunately, was able to access appropriate timber at short notice, in time for the planned working bee.
“I’m a big fan of engaging with your builder early on if you’re planning renovations or additions,” he says. “Someone with experience can add practicality to a project.” He’s also a great fan of collaboration between your designer or architect and your builder from the start, rather than taking your plans to the builder after they are complete, when suggestions from the builder about some of the practical aspects (including cost) may require a change of design or materials. “The most successful projects are those where the designer, builder and customer collaborate.”
But back to where our conversation started, with building science and sustainability. In any new build or renovation, Peter says that getting the insulation, ventilation and extraction right is “really, really important…. There is a science to how buildings perform. The danger is in only looking at the aesthetics and not at how a building works.
“If you are about to do a renovation or alteration, focus on [ensuring your home is] warm, dry and comfortable. Use BRANZ and Superhome and the Homestar tool.” (In addition to being a Licensed Building Practitioner, Peter is a New Zealand Green Building Council Homestar practitioner.) The Homestar tool, he says, allows anyone to enter information about their house (old or new) to assess its Homestar rating, a measure of additional performance and sustainability requirements above and beyond the New Zealand Building Code, which he and many others believe is woefully inadequate.
Peter’s advocacy of the need for warm, dry, sustainable housing is based on both environmental and very real health benefits. “Getting buildings right is often about the small things,” he says – well-fitted insulation, good vapour control, well-fitted windows properly sealed, high-performance joinery, the placement and orientation of windows, as well as shading to manage temperatures inside the house. In addition, solar panels, especially if combined with a storage battery, offer cost savings and sustainability benefits. Ditto rainwater retention or detention tanks, now commonly required to cope with excess stormwater runoff, but also advantageous in making savings on the ever-increasing cost of water.
“Houses are there to serve us, yet New Zealand has a history of poor quality housing resulting in poor health outcomes. The challenge for homeowners is that [unlike in rented homes] there is no law about meeting Healthy Homes standards.”
When planning your renovation, take Peter’s advice, take a long-term view of your home, and aim for “better buildings that use less energy and generate less waste”.
“Kiwis have a DIY attitude, and want their buildings to be simple and straightforward. But buildings are complex interconnected structures. When you get it right, you have a fantastic place; get it wrong and it’s cold drafty and damp. I’ve seen how improving cold, damp, mouldy houses improves family health. All these things can be fixed.”
