In between A and
B is a lot of risky business though that doesn't stop us
from carting houses across country but while many moves go
right the ones on Fair Go end up somewhere else.
Like in
Pauanui.
So this is the dream.
This is the dream.
Yes.
We've
got like an open plan kitchen, dining, lounge, couple of extra
bedrooms.
Only Cindy's dreams of a Kiwi batch don't touch the
ground.
Propped up on jacks on her Pauanui property.
So close.
Very very close but just so far away.
She thought she'd have
spent the summer here but instead she's still waiting to
move in because of a stalemate with this house mover Pateriki
or Rick Taikato.
I mean the more they don't do their part of it too, the more nothing
happens.
Sure enough it's been this way for nearly a year.
We just
envision it from the door.
The Arthur and Moore families both
live in Pukekohe and go way back.
Well we've holidayed
together for many years so we decided yeah that we should
just yeah come together and purchase a property together.
They've been camping out here with the kids in cabins ever
since.
Then came the chance to upgrade.
Early last year the
neighbours wanted to build a new house which meant getting
rid of the current one.
We thought yeah was a perfect
situation.
Well for this perilous journey the house
needed to make it safely across the road.
After getting quotes
from a couple of different house moving companies the
families went with Rick Taikato of Quarry Road
Contractors.
The building company that was building the
new house had been in contact with him and got quotes.
All up
the cost to move the house and do the foundations was just
over $25,000 dollars.
The families agreed to pay Rick
nearly 18 grand to get things started.
Initially he was great
you know he he you know said everything that we wanted to
hear.
Including that the job could be done in a matter of weeks,
just after Queen's birthday weekend but for months the
house didn't budge.
We got every excuse under the sun a lot of
deaths in the family that's quite recurring, issues with his
truck, issues with his drivers yeah it's just yeah you name it
we've heard it.
Then in September while the Auckland
based families were stuck in lockdown the house was finally
moved off the old site and onto their one.
Well... just.
At one
point the house was parked on a truck and the truck was
basically on the roadside so it was a hazard.
Eventually the
house was moved off the truck but not into its final
position.
It's no better off to us where it is.
It may as well
be across the road still.
Cindy says it's hard to get a
straight answer from Rick on why he won't finish the job and
he won't take her calls.
Nothing worked.
Nothing
absolutely nothing worked.
So what else can we do?
So it was
Fair Go's turn to try to find out.
After all Rick knows the
show, he's been on it twice before.
I've done everything
they wanted me to do except for pay back the money.
He said to
me what he wanted and I said well I'm going to do what I can
do.
I didn't tell God to have a go rain on the place did I?
As
to this job Rick told us he can't place the house until the
site has been pegged out.
And that's on them.
Until they go and get it surveyed,
show us where the pegs are, so we can put the house down.
I mean the more they don't do their part of it too, the more nothing happens.
It does say in their contract with Rick that the new site must be marked
clearly with pegs indicating the position where the building
is to be placed.
If not marked no responsibility will be
accepted by the contractor as to the final position of the
building.
While the families did hire a surveyor to peg out
the boundary that didn't include the actual site of
where the house should go.
Cindy says she understood from
speaking with Rick that that would be enough.
And if it
wasn't why wasn't that made clear to her over the past 11
months?
They say you haven't told them that that's what you
need.
Well I don't want to say what she says, he says
because it was said when we were there on site.
How is she supposed to know that needs to happen if you
don't communicate that?
Cuz all along the text messaging has
been about reasons why the job hasn't gone ahead and it hasn't
been about the pegs.
It's been about the truck, the hydraulic
pump being blown, the trailer.
It's been about the
weather.
Because you've gotta do all that stuff first before you get to
the
boundary.
The truck and all those other little bits and pieces,
the house isn't even on site yet.
It isn't even on the pegs.
You gotta get to the pegs before you talk about the pegs.
When we did talk pegs, eventually an agreement was
made to get the surveyor back on site.
Promising.
In the
meantime, we checked in with the group that represents
oversized freight operators.
The New Zealand Heavy Haulage
Association reckons around 3,000 houses a year
are relocated
around the motu and it's only getting more popular especially
with the explosion in building costs.
In some instances, a
second-hand home can be purchased and delivered for
around $600 a square meter compared to the 3,000 for a
basic new build.
But here's what you should know before
making a move.
Keep in mind it can be difficult to get a loan
for a second hand house.
Banks are cautious and often won't
lend until a house has been moved.
When choosing a company,
get a range of quotes and don't just go for the cheapest.
Check
they have the equipment and experience for the job.
Are
they members of the association?
Is their gear
signwritten and in good nick?
Ask if they have a yard that you
can meet them at.
In most cases, it's the house purchasers
responsibility to get the plans and building consents approved
and yes boundary and building positioning pegs are one of the
most important parts of a house relocation.
Which the family
say is now all sorted back here at the bach so they watch and
wait to see if their house moves.
We wanted this done by
now.
We thought we had all our ducks in a row to get
everything completed.
It's been hard on us and we just would
hate to see other people be in the same situation that we have
been put in.