MINUTES
NELSON/MARLBOROUGH
BRANCH TRAINING AND NETWORKING EVENT
Held on
21 March 2018, at 3.00pm
at
David Wraight Cottages,
Mahers Road, Marlborough
Welcome:
Attendees were welcomed onto the site by owner David Wraight, of David Wraight Cottages
Attendance:
Nick Brabant, Chris Wood, Colin Butt, Dhyanom Gala, Paul Guile
Apologies:
Tim Bijl, Winston Griggs, Phil Becks, Paul Farrar,
Correspondence In/Out:
Nil
Guest Presentation:
David Wraight showed us through his factory and then through a couple of transportable houses, one under construction and the other completed.
After many years of building authentic villa and cottage replicas in Marlborough, including some quite large ones, David had a vision of scaling down his homes to meet what he perceives to be a niche for small but premium houses. At around 100m2, the size of the new design lends itself to construction under cover and transportation to site. The factory was opened in the last quarter of 2017 and to date, 3 cottages have been produced.
Current designs are based on a 16mx6m platform which makes them able to be trucked almost anywhere in the South Island. They can also be shipped to the North Island. Construction under cover and on a concrete floor has led to considerable time savings, with the ability to store materials on site, ease of erecting scaffoldings on the concrete floor and of course shelter from the elements. Also, the team can be working on two projects at the same time, which allows flexibility in terms of subtrades.
David says it is a learning process, and one of the changes he has made as a result of loading the first house on a truck is to increase the size of the timber bearers from 100x100 to 150x100. He also beefs up the bottom plate connections with bugle screws and the truss and top plate connections with additional brackets. The houses are built to a very high wind zone and use grooved 9mm MDF internal linings and wall bracing, grooved ply is used in the bathrooms. Ceilings are panelled with 9mm smooth MD and trimmed with cover battens over the joints and large cornices.
The exterior is clad in rusticated timber weatherboards on a cavity system, trimmed with timber corner boxed, facings and sills and feature fretwork or scrolls around the soffit.
David and his team are meticulous about sealing every seam or joint inside and out with silicon sealant to achieve a high-grade paint finish. This also prevents cracking during transport by allowing a little flexibility. David is currently working on prefabricating the optional veranda in modules to minimize time spent on site.
Challenges to this project include the houses being locked out of many subdivisions by covenants that govern minimum floor areas, or restrictions on relocated homes. Additionally, financial institutions have shown a reluctance to provide finance to home buyers until the house is located on site, which means the builder’s exposure is for the whole cost of the project until the work is completed. The cost of the houses is around $220,000 at the factory door. Building one of these cottages takes the team around 6 weeks. The painting adds another 4 weeks or so.
David’s team enjoys working on these projects, and the factory even has a small bar at the rear where the builders can retire to at the end of the week for a cold one or two. (We were offered refreshments, but as responsible Council officers on duty, we had to decline, tempting though it was).
Monitoring of the construction is carried out by MDC inspectors. A building consent is issued for the house excluding the foundations and drains, and inspections are carried out at the normal stages. On completion, a CCC is issued. The individual houses are identified by means of an engraved tag fixed to the truss closest to the ceiling manhole. The tag number is shown on the CCC. Re-siting the house then only required a building consent for the pile foundations, connection to the bearers and drainage.
Visit their website here - http://www.davidwraightcottages.co.nz/
Completed cottage in the yard Cottage nearing completion in the factory
Interior being painted Completed kitchen
Exterior details- sills, facings Facings and bottom of cladding
One of the bathrooms Looking towards the living room
End of Meeting: 4.50pm
Paul Guile
(Nelson/Marlborough) Branch Secretary
paul.guile@marlborough.govt.nz
