When you pay $350,000 for a full renovation, it's painful to be left with walls in every house that are pockmarked with holes. Yet that's the situation for Karyn Soper and her husband.
For Karyn, this was the last straw. Their home was damaged in the February 2011 earthquake and needed substantial rebuilding. Initially they had to fight with the Earthquake Commission to get the total value of the work.
They then faced a fight with their insurance company, who eventually paid the Sopers a lump sum.
Karyn selected a company called Monarch Construction to do the renovations. At first, all went well. The job was finished in September 2020 and the Sopers were thrilled.
"We couldn't wait to get in, we didn't even have curtains and I thought I don't even care" Karyn recalls. But that joy was short-lived. Within just a few months they noticed screws popping out of the walls, in almost every room.
Monarch Construction had installed the gib themselves so Karyn gave them a call and asked them to fix the problem. The company agreed and did the repairs. There was just the plastering and painting to do in order for the house to be looking like new.
Monarch got a quote which was for roughly $10,000. "It was at that point that they backed off" Karyn says.
The reason the company gave her was that it believed the problem was a result of the Sopers choice to use timber framing instead of the light steel framing called rondo that Monarch had suggested.
Karyn didn't accept this and continued to email and call Monarch but to no avail. They cut off all communication and Karyn was left with a house full of holes.
Karyn knew that Monarch had recently registered with Master Builders so she gave them a call. She says Master Builders weren't interested in helping either, so she felt at a loss what to do. It's at that point that she contacted Fair Go.
Fair Go felt it was important to understand why the so-called "popping" had occurred. We asked an independent building inspection company called Habit to take a look.
The company's Licensed Building Practitioner Nathan Attwood removed the gib in three locations to investigate and concluded that the problem was down to poor workmanship.
He explained that there are certain specifications that need to be followed for the positioning of the screws and glue, saying that "you don't have to get it bang on but if it's not done to those specs then that is the installation error".
Other possible reasons for popping include excessive moisture content in the walls or problems with the foundation moving. Nathan Attwood ruled these out based on what they saw in the wall.
He also discounted Monarch's suggestion that it was because timber framing had been used, saying if that was the case, homes with timber framing everywhere would be experiencing the same problem.
The Habit team also explained their discovery meant a serious amount of work was required. It was no longer a case of just plastering and painting, because the repairs themselves would need to be redone.
This would involve removing the gib and replacing it according to the recommended specifications.
This was a huge blow for the Sopers. It means they'll have to move out again, putting their belongings back in storage and finding somewhere for their cats to stay.
Fair Go didn't want to leave them with this problem, so armed with information about why the problem occurred, we contacted Monarch Construction. The owner Kristian Skjellerup still refused to accept any responsibility saying they had gone "above and beyond" and had done "a really good job".
Fair Go also contacted Master Builders. The organisation explained it hadn't been able to assist Karyn because Monarch Construction had not been registered with them at the time the contract was signed with the Sopers.
However, having been made aware of the situation and the fact Monarch Construction had recently registered with the organisation. it said it was appropriate to offer a free dispute resolution process.
Thankfully, Monarch Construction also had a change of heart. Fair Go had continued to approach the company for more answers.
Eventually owner Kristian Skjellerup explained it had been a stressful time and that it was wrong to have walked away from the job. He added that he now wanted to put things right for the Sopers and that he was happy to engage with the dispute resolution process offered by Master Builders.
This was great news for Karyn and her husband who finally felt someone was listening. The resolution process will begin soon.
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