It’s always a challenge to work on earthquake-damaged properties.
This new build was essential as an earthquake had hit Christchurch New Zealand. This caused damage to the property whilst also taking down three gables and disturbing a couple of walls.
Christchurch was built directly on a vault line but unbeknown to the first European settlers, building with British Standards in a foreign land is never a good idea. Every construction project must accommodate different climates, geographies, and hazards.
Most of these buildings have never been reinforced or were built using outdated building standards, as was the case with this property. Whenever my team works on a restoration or repair project, we build with modern-day mortar technology. We make sure that there are more than enough stainless steel wall ties screwed into the timber frame structure to make the repairs stronger.
When we got to the site, we started by taking down the damaged brickwork and removed all the debris caused by the earthquake. We then loaded out the new bricks ready to lay them. The next step was building the gables and cutting the gable ends in line with the top of the roof trusses. We then built the rest of the walls, keeping to the updated New Zealand standards of bricklaying.
