Hi All,

It’s been eleven weeks since the restoration of my place started, I’m on the home stretch! I’ve just returned from the US for work and a heap has happened including a heavy snow in Christchurch.

Gib stopping is completed - new internal doors/frames, skirtings and doors are done and the second coat of paint inside is completed.

The driveway has been pulled up, compacted and ready for the new driveway to be laid. Trenches dug, conduit and cables have been pulled between the house and the garage for networking and power.

The roof has been fixed (tiles moved and cracked plaster etc.) and it is now ready for painting.

The ring foundation has been plastered and the main stairs have been boxed and concrete poured.

Both front and rear decks are completed and work has begun on the painting of the exterior of the house.

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So the next few weeks should see the house fully painted inside and out, new door handles and locks installed, new kitchen, bathroom, laundry and toilets areas installed, flooring installed, power/Cat6/Satellite/UHF cabling terminated, garage office gib stopped and painted, drainage ‘stuff’ and reconnection of power to the house done, and the driveway/paths re-poured. (I’m sure my simplistic view is … simplistic.. )

None the less, great progress and the end is in sight!

Previous Posts

The New Adventure – Update 03 #EQC #CHCH

The New Adventure – Update 02 #EQC #CHCH

The New Adventure – Update 01

Fight or flight – Christchurch #eqnz

More photos are available here.

Hi All,

It’s been nine weeks now since the restoration of my place started. I’m at the stage where all the preparation work has been completed and now visual progress is being made.

As part of the process of picking up the house, lowering and bracing there were some rooms that weren’t being touched from a builders perspective, I elected to attack these also as there was no better time to do this. On top of the bedrooms, lounge and entrance way, the bathroom, laundry, toilet and kitchen have been fully gutted so that all external walls can be insulated and re-lined.

My house was built in 1951 and as such is full of solid rimu. The downside of this is the building methods of the day were that timber wasn’t bone dry when installed and over time the timber dries out and the walls are no longer straight. A few days were spend skimming the walls and packing where appropriate to correct this.

When it comes to repairing houses and renovations, the question I have asked myself on a number of occasions is where do you stop in terms of the things you do. I’ve probably spent more than I intended, however I’m certain that the final result will be worth it. My house colours were ‘colourful’ and dated, I’m very happy to have chosen a nice new neutral colour scheme that I will ‘colour’ through artwork and furniture.

The weatherboards on the north side of the house where the lounge extension was suffered some damage, so these needed to replaced. I also used this as an opportunity to move the power metre outside as the house needed to be fully re-wired as well as plumbed.

The ceiling stud height was 2.7 metres so I elected for the installation of a new Rondo ceiling. This is basically a form of suspended ceiling where the gib is attached to rails and lowered about 25mm.  There were some external weatherboards that needed replacing around the rest of the house as they were damaged when the house was picked up (and stairs removed), and some holes around the kitchen and laundry where the old external vents were.

Yesterday they completed the re-lining the house – new walls and ceilings were installed.

Whilst work is going on inside, the builders started attacking the outside . I had an existing deck at the front of the house which was removed prior to picking up the house, the replacement one is a slightly larger and at the back a new 54m2 deck is being added.

The remainder of this week should see the decks completed and the gib stopping happening inside.

Nick.

Previous Posts

The New Adventure – Update 02 #EQC #CHCH

The New Adventure – Update 01

Fight or flight – Christchurch #eqnz

More photos are available here.

Hi All,

It’s been just over 6 weeks since work commenced on my house, it’s been off the ground for almost four weeks so I thought I’d continue to report on the progress and learnings. First job after lifting the house was to remove the old ring foundation and clear the way for the new foundation. I opted for the speed block ring foundation as it’s stronger and once it’s plastered will look original and in keeping with the age of the house.

On Monday the 13th of June, Christchurch experienced two more large earthquakes which again devastated the eastern suburbs of Christchurch. It took me 1.5 hours to drive the normal 10 minute journey to go and check on the house. As you can see the house/ground clearly moved, the supports were now looking suspect (to my untrained eyes), so I called the construction company who quickly had this addressed. I’m not sure how much confidence it gave me seeing how it was braced, but with the subsequent aftershocks the house continued to stay up

Whilst the house was up on blocks, there was no better time to address under floor insulation (previously there was foil there) and sort out my CAT6/Satellite/UHF and speaker cabling for the surround sound in the lounge and for the front and rear decks. Falcon Construction installed 50mm polystyrene blocks under the floor.

The speed block ring foundation was completed and concrete poured – The first thing you worry about is whether they put the thing in exactly in the right spot, and wonder if its moved much during the subsequent aftershocks. I was talking to the foundation guys and they said “if the house has moved, we put the house on rollers and move it, it’s a pain, but we’ve done it before, just takes time.”

Murray and I spent a few days pulling cables under the floor, in the ceiling and mounting flush boxes around the house. It seemed like the time to do it while it was off the ground, however spending hours under the house was a little un-nerving at times.

Below – This is the patch panel where all Cat6/Satellite/UHF/DSL/Phone cabling will be terminated and the lounge where the TV and appliances will go.

Below – Cabling into the lounge as well as the tidy cabling under the house.

With the ring foundation finished, the next phase was to re-install the jacks in order to lower the house - this is done by hydraulic jacks as per below.

Below – Termination of the hydraulic cabling to the jacks and laser levelling/checking the height of the piles. Most of the concrete piles have been subsequently removed and replaced with large wooden ones.

Below – Concrete piles removed and replaced with wooden.

The house was slowly lowered today onto the new ring foundation and piles, there were many creaks and groans as it lowered but we got there safely. So now the inside work begins - It seems surreal and now exciting to have the house back on the ground. I’m sure like many in Christchurch who are going through this, or will, it’s a great opportunity to replace a lot of things internally/externally and update parts of the house that need work – I have a whole list, (and if you’re like to donate a bunch of cash, happy to accept your donations) so game on!

House is now level.. look at that

More photos available here.

Hi All,

I suspect that many of us in the Canterbury region have been navel gazing and contemplating life since the aftershocks/quakes on Monday. It left me with a sense of anger and frustration more so than the previous events in September and February. Although things have been far from normal since February, an element of normality was there with those that could returning to work, roads being patched, water becoming safe to drink, many having working sewerage etc.

Our children are our future, and when these types of things occur, it encourages you to checkpoint and consider if I’m doing the right thing by them in terms of the present and future.

Here’s a few thoughts I have:

Children are resilient and their needs are simple – a roof over their head, food, drink, people around them that love, support and care for them. So long as these basic needs can be met, the kids will continue to be happy and deal with things as they come along. The opportunity for us as parents is to be as honest as we can about the changes, and install confidence in them that things will get better.

These kids I believe as they grow up will be something very special. They have had to deal with change, fear, uncertainty, disruption and adapt (some better than others of course).  I believe what this creates is a individual who becomes less fearful of the unknown who is better armed to deal with the present and through the journey we have ahead of us, sees possibility and opportunity - I look forward to them entering the workforce. The only barriers we have are the ones we put up, equally I think they will challenge decisions of old, validate or encourage and drive change.

I was listening to More FM this morning, the crew were driving around the eastern suburbs offering small gifts of cash to those so badly affected. The last gentleman visited was badly damaged in the September quake (and still hasn’t heard or seen anyone from EQC) as they drove up the driveway, all you could hear was pouring water. The water up the drive was over the wheels on the 4WD vehicle. Since Monday 60000 litres of water had been drained from this street with the aftershocks subsequently bringing it all back. It’s soul destroying hearing these types of stories, and I’m positive there are many more like this that have not yet been reported.

I know a few people that have left town since Monday. There is NO shame in this, if it’s the right thing to do for you and your family, take the break, collect your thoughts and do what’s best for your family. A home is something you go home to after work and want to enjoy on the weekends. The psychological damage of going home to a house that reminds you of the damage across the city has a huge impact on the headspace people are in, as well as your ability to relax. I also understand the sense of feeling trapped – People with damaged houses still have commitments in terms of mortgages which can make it harder to make decisions about staying or leaving Christchurch.

The road a head won’t be a short nor easy one, I’m optimistic and excited about the future for Christchurch and see a wealth of possibilities in terms of a new city with  world class infrastructure that offers opportunities for the young and old. It’s about making smart decisions now with the future in mind for not only Christchurch, but look at how we can leverage this for the greater good of New Zealand.

Nick.

So it’s been a few weeks now since work commenced on repairing my home. I’ve been extremely impressed with the speed at which progress is being made – In two weeks my possessions have been packed up, carpet, fireplace and gib removed in the lounge, hallway and three bedrooms, insulation installed in the walls (can’t wait), front deck removed, and the house lifted ~1.5 metres off the ground.

Currently the team are removing the ring foundation, piles and concrete steps, replacing and then lowering the house down again. It’s quite surreal seeing your place lifted off the ground and realising the ‘home’ that once was will be quite different once it’s a home again. I’m using this opportunity to make some alterations to the house which I’m quite excited about, as well as re-cabling for cat6, fibre, satellite, UHF, home entertainment as well as for the front and soon to be new back deck.

While I find myself ‘homeless’ for a while, my mind tends to wander and consider a few things. Every time I travel out of the city and connect with peers and customers, people are always keen to check in to see how things are going. I really appreciate the questions and thoughts of the kind folk asking.

I would imagine that it’s quite difficult to get a sense of perspective as to how things are really going on the ground versus the snippets in the press. We all deal with things differently and are at different points in understanding the impact of these disasters on our friends, family, employers/employees and our own personal home situation.

The thing I’m cognisant of is focusing on moving forward – we can’t change the past, it is what it is, so let’s learn from these disasters as well as the good, bad and ugly in order to make well informed decisions for our future as well as the generations to come. I see this is an awesome opportunity to build a world class city with infrastructure that will enable us create new opportunities for not only Canterbury but New Zealand.

I was fortunate enough to attend TedxCHCH a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the presentation by Art Agnos, the former Mayor of San Francisco during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake – If you have a few moments, have a look.

People who know me, know that once I have a destination in mind, it takes a bit to deter or slow me down. My thoughts go out to those who are less persistent, don’t have the know-how, the elderly who may be simply waiting for *something* or don’t want to ask for help. If are looking for help, please checkout the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority website -  http://www.cera.govt.nz/support-and-assistance.

I’m really fortunate to be in the position that I’m in with repairs underway - there are many that have less clarity around what’s happening, or have seen little or no progress.  If I can be of help to anyone, feel free to reach out.

Nick.

So… it’s the first chapter of a new book! Liam, Lachlan and I spent our last weekend together at my place before repairs began from the September the 4th Christchurch earthquake. It’s somewhat of a surreal experience moving out of your own house, having your things packed up, possessions taken away and stored, then having your ‘home’ pulled to pieces. It’s been a challenging road working through the minefield of talking to and dealing with the Earthquake Commission (EQC), Insurance Companies, Loss Adjustor, Construction companies etc., however the persistence has paid off.

On Tuesday this week I completed relocating to alternative living accommodation (thanks mum), moved the work/home office and Falcon Construction began work. The February quake rendered my work office inaccessible as it’s located in the CBD / No Access zone.

The construction work at home will take approximately 16 weeks and involves lifting the house up 1.5 metres in height, removing the old foundations and piles, replacing, before lowering the house back down and then the restoration starts. The house needs to be bought up to current building compliance/standards, which means removing all internal gib, relining, adding insulation where there isn’t etc. – Effectively gutting the place, and starting again.

The house was built in 1955, located rurally in the south west of Christchurch. I’m in the very fortunate position where I am one of the first cabs off the rank in terms of these types of repairs. I’m looking forward to adding things new front and back decking, new kitchen, new doors etc. as well as fully cabling the house for everything geeky .

Firstly I wanted to pass on my sincere thanks to all of you for your kind words, emails, texts and phone calls.  It’s been a tough week and hearing some friendly voices has made things more ‘normal’, so thanks!  All family and friends are safe and accounted for so I feel very fortunate. Our Christchurch office survived surprisingly well, however most buildings around us are decimated – we were very lucky to come out relatively unscathed ->a third of the CBD is unlikely to survive.

I thought I’d share some of my experiences from the Christchurch quake that hit on the 22^nd of February 2011. I was in our building catching up with friends who work at Exeed (HP Distributors) before heading to lunch when the quake occurred. Our building shook extensively, we headed for something to shelter under as we saw plumes of dust and fly debris out the office window. After making sure everyone was OK, and the aftershocks subsided, we headed for the ground floor and out into High Street. We were greeted with something I can only describe as a war zone.

		CHCH EQC 22/02/11 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Here are some photos of the devastation I saw as I walked out the door. There was carnage everywhere, people running, screaming, yelling, standing still, trapped, cars abandoned etc. I encouraged those standing under things to move along and follow the crowd, and checked on a number of people who were clearly not in a good space. Like many, my car wasn’t accessible (and won’t be for along time) so I started my journey home. Given the amount of debris and the aftershocks still happening, walking out of the city was a long process. It took me a good few hours to walk out of the city and arrive at home. Sights of people walking and stepping into liquefaction and sinking knee height weren’t uncommon. Traffic was banked up for hours with people trying to rescue those who were without transport.  80% of Christchurch was without power at this stage, cell sites overloaded/on battery, no water, sewage, queues of people filling up at gas stations etc. – It gives you appreciation of how reliant we’ve become on technology. I was unable to make phone calls, texts and tweets were flying in, however I was couldn’t respond as there clearly wasn’t the bandwidth available. I eventually made contact with mum and my kids so it was a huge relief to know they were safe – I put them on a flight to Auckland as soon as I could.

I have taken refuge at a friends place, they have been spectacular in looking after me, having an open home to the many friends that have dropped in who have needed food and power to charge gadgets.

Workwise we have kicked off our response team to assist customers, partners, small businesses and the government where we can add the most value. Microsoft New Zealand is making the following support offerings available to affected customers and business partners. We hope this will help our customers as they respond to the disaster and rebuild their IT capability in the coming weeks and months. This offer is available for customers in the Canterbury Region for an initial 90 day period – Microsoft will review the offer and the period as we learn more about the precise assistance most commonly needed. Go here for more information.

The sense of helplessness is felt by many across the country/globe, equally for those of us on the ground the sentiments are similar. It’s a time to pull together as a community/country and help each other out. I believe that out of these types of events, there’s more of an opportunity to learn, grow and achieve some great outcomes if we work together. Hope, determination, smart decisions and some kiwi-know-how will get us through this. We are down, but not out – Thanks all for your continuing thoughts, calls, texts, prayers and assistance – it means alot and is appreciated.

Here’s a view of the city after the earthquake.

Please visit the Canterbury Response website for the latest information on the Earthquake.

Nick.

Hi All,

Mark Petrie from Snap Internet kindly contacted me to see if I’d like to participate in the Snap VDSL trial a few weeks ago, so I thought I’d do a write up of my experiences so far. I was supplied with one of the CellPipe 7130 VDSL/WIfi routers. The routers are very configurable, it’s performing well

Configuration was easy, a factory reset, removal of all of the ATM configuration and the adding of the following WAN PTM Configuration.

Here’s the sync information with my Telecom Exchange.

I kicked off a few speed tests on www.speedtest.net with the following results.

According to Mark’s letter to the Commerce Commission Telecom Wholesale appear to be limiting the Upload speeds in the their cabinets to 10MB.

Updated

Here’s some international speed tests.

Sydney - http://www.speedtest.net/result/1138369716.png
LA - http://www.speedtest.net/result/1138371308.png
San Fran - http://www.speedtest.net/result/1138372496.png
London - http://www.speedtest.net/result/1138374575.png

Hi All,

So I’ve decided enough is enough… let’s see where this journey takes us. Here’s the email I’ve just sent to the Christchurch City Council complaints department and our local MP about the drainage challenges we’ve been having at home..

Update – 9th August 2010

For those that know me well will know that I’m a stickler for principles (sometimes a good thing, sometimes not so much) and since peoples personal safety is at risk, I followed up again this morning to try and achieve an acknowledgement of the issue from the Council.

So…I fired off an email to some other potentially interested parties, as I hadn’t heard anything by lunchtime, and I was quickly greeted with a response from the Mayors Office, as well as a confirmation from the Christchurch City Council complaints resolution department stating that they had received my emails, and they will be in contact within 10 working days. 

So we’ll see what the next 10 working days brings J

Update - 26 August 2010

Update - 27th of August 2010

I just had a call from the Christchurch City Council in the wake of last nights email (above). Thanks Owen Southen (Senior Contract Manager, Land Drainage) for the phone call, and speaking and listening to common sense – I should receive a letter from the Majors office over the next few days - CCC are aware of the issue, and are working with the park rangers across the road into how they can address this flooding issue – most probably replacing the drainage pipe that isn’t coping well with the large volume of water.

Owen apologised  for the lack of response until now, and was more than happy to supply his direct contact details. So once I receive the letter and see the contents, I’ll then be back in contact to see where to from here.

Hi All,

Malls in Christchurch over the past few months have started to impose time limits of parking at the mall e.g.: 120 minutes by means to deter people from using it as free parking spot for other activities. I’m not a big fan of going to the mall to look about, I typically research things to death online, then shoot in and out as quickly as possible. We’ve been caught a few times with $40 fines for exceeding the 2 hour limit (for legitimate shopping), and I was venting at a mate who told me this wonderful story.

A lady from NZ Bank shot into a Christchurch mall, and was greeted with a $40 fine upon returning to the vehicle for being there for 2.5 hours. Given the industry she worked in, she understood the costs incurred by businesses of depositing cheques, so rather than sending in a cheque for $40, decided to send in 40 x $1 cheques.

So here’s the maths:

Cost of parking fine for browsing and purchasing goods at the mall -$40

Cost to Mall Management of depositing a cheque – 0.65c (40 x 0.65)

$40 - $26 =$14

(fine) - (bank fees) = (satisfaction)

The individual received a letter with the 40 cheques in it stating that the fine was wiped – priceless.

Nick