Despite the house's obvious shortcomings, he would not be dissuaded from the purchase. Even when we discovered that the entire house is clad in fibrolite - a fancy name for asbestos cement - he was keen to proceed.
This James Hardie product is no longer in production due to the toxic nature of the dust produced when the cement is damaged. However, it was once hailed as a miracle building material, the answer to every house-builder's wishes. Countless baches were made of the stuff alongside great numbers of mid C20th homes across Australia and New Zealand. Now we're going to be contributing to the clean-up job, replacing the cladding with a modern-day safe equivalent.
If it hadn't been for the fantails fluttering in the ferns and the other beautiful native fauna and flora on the land surrounding the house, I would never have been persuaded to make the purchase. After nearly ten years in London followed by five months living in a flat with not even a plant to perk the place up, I'm now eagerly looking forward to moving to the countryside and meeting our new feathered neighbours.
Silo Park
10 years ago
Hi. I'm myself considering a New Zealand house clad in Fibrolite. Would you still have made the purchase today, knowing what you know now?
ReplyDeleteSorry Ichiro! I didn't see your comment on my old post. It might be too late now but we're still happy with the house purchase and changing the fibrolite for weatherboard seems to be a straightforward process. You'll need to negotiate a discount though or else have some money in the bank to spend on the refurbishment. And pick a builder with experience of leaky homes work and re-cladding. Good luck!
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