Where East Tāmaki's homes came from
Farmland, then industry
Before the 1960s this was largely dairy country. Today it's a largely industrial area, and hundreds of business building consents went in along the southern corridor between 1991 and 2001.
Two waves of housing
New housing developments appeared in East Tāmaki in the 1970s, once the motorway network was finished. Clusters of residential building consents followed around East Tāmaki and Flat Bush between 1991 and 2001.
Where people live
Most homes are in the Huntington Park (819 dwellings), Armoy (798) and Redcastle (786) statistical areas. The suburb is split between the Howick and Ōtara-Papatoetoe local boards.
The roof problems most likely here
Leaky-era design. New Zealand's leaky homes problem centres on timber-framed homes built from 1988 to 2004, and common features included flat roofs, minimal eaves and complex roofs. On those houses, water often gets in where a roof meets a wall or a parapet, or through the cladding, and it can look like a roof leak from inside. A roof inspection that covers the junctions and flashings as well as the roof sheet is the right first step.
Flat and membrane roofs. Butynol and other membranes fail at seams, outlets and upstands. See flat roof repair and butynol repairs.
1970s roofs. Houses from the first wave are now around half a century old, and WorkSafe says any home built before 1 January 2000 may contain asbestos. Have suspect sheeting tested before anyone cuts, drills or water-blasts it.
Our advice for an East Tāmaki house
If your house was built in the 1990s and you've got a leak, we'd pay for a proper inspection before a repair, so you know whether it's the roof, a flashing or the walls. The Building Act sets a 10-year limit on civil claims about building work, so for a house that age, the fix is almost certainly yours to arrange rather than the original builder's.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.