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Platinum Pacific Group

Most homeowners believe major building problems announce themselves clearly. In reality, they tend to arrive quietly, accumulate slowly, and reveal themselves only when disruption becomes unavoidable. Builders who work repeatedly on repair and remediation projects see the same patterns emerge, regardless of suburb, age of home, or budget. Here are ten lessons that experienced homeowners […]

For many homeowners, there is reassurance in knowing a house has been built to specification and signed off as compliant with the Building Code. Compliance feels like certainty. It suggests the house should perform as expected, even when conditions turn rough. Increasingly, however, that assumption is proving unreliable. Platinum Pacific Group recently encountered this first-hand […]

When Platinum Pacific Group was established in 2001, a one-in-ten-year flood in Auckland was expected once a decade. Today, modelling shows those same rainfall intensities are being reached every three to six years in parts of the region. Warmer air holds around seven percent more moisture for every one degree of warming. Warmer seas feed […]

Auckland Council tightens restrictions, and what this means for you. A hairline crack had started above the window, thin enough to ignore if you didn’t look directly at it. By winter, it had stretched just enough to make the frame sit awkwardly and the door nearby began to stick on damp mornings. It wasn’t anything […]

Renovating tends to begin with a clear idea of how a home should look and feel, yet many projects drift off course because practical details are overlooked. The result is not always visible on completion, although it shows up in how the home performs day to day.  Martin Bamford, CEO of Platinum Pacific Group, says […]

Many Baby Boomer homeowners preparing to sell, downsize or move into retirement living could face unexpected losses because renovation work completed decades ago was never properly signed off.  Marty Bamford, CEO of Platinum Pacific Group, says more homeowners are discovering during the sales process that work carried out in the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s does not have […]

Why starting now sets you up for seamless summer living We all know the story of the person who built their house on the sand, and the other who built a house on the rock. When the rains came, the house on the sand washed away. Curiously, many Aucklanders overlook this simple metaphor when designing […]

Platinum Pacific Group has specialised in residential and commercial building, including maintenance, for more than 20 years, but we are still surprised by how often we come across subfloor moisture and poor drainage in Auckland – especially when winter rears its head. For Managing director Marty Bamford, prevention is still better (and cheaper) than the […]

DIYer? You need to read this Asbestos remains one of the least understood risks in residential renovation – particularly among DIYers. Despite being banned over two decades ago, asbestos remains in thousands of New Zealand homes. Used extensively between the 1940s and late 1980s and still present in some materials up to 2000, it was […]

If you think this February has been hotter and drier than usual, you’d be right—Auckland’s average temperatures are 0.9°C above normal, and rainfall is just 11% of the typical amount. This begs the question: How do you stay cool without running the heat pump 24/7? (Air conditioning only cools a home; a heat pump both […]

The problem with many older homes in Auckland is that they often have wasted or poorly utilised spaces—life could be better with some alterations. Good flow is like the lifeblood of a house, and poor circulation—how space flows around your furniture, cabinetry, and other fixed installations—is a physical experience. Navigating tight spaces, squeezing past furniture, […]

The hidden home DIY disasters of previous owners We think we know our homes, but lurking behind walls and beneath floors can be hidden problems from shoddy DIY work done by previous owners, which not only disrupt your renovation plans but can compromise the health and safety of your family.  "Consulting a builder before you […]