When it rains, it pours – Habitat Home Repair remedies leaky roof worries

Priced out of the Auckland market, Triyoga and her husband Kaderi, a bus driver, made the decision to leave the bright city lights behind and move to Te Kuiti with their daughter (now 8) to purchase their first home.

Their 1950s house sits on a hill with views overlooking the town. After living in an Auckland flat, their new home feels quiet and peaceful. A ramp makes the single-level home accessible for Triyoga, who has MS. They have a little bit of land and aren’t too close to their neighbours, which means they no longer worry about their car getting blocked in, or being disrupted by rowdy parties.

The couple had a building inspection completed before purchasing the newly renovated home and they didn’t have any concerns until shortly after moving in in 2022.

A wet laundry room floor after heavy rain was the first sign that something wasn’t quite right. After more bad weather, water began to drop from their living room ceiling. Another building inspection revealed the roof was the original – now over 65 years old, and in urgent need of replacement.

The family was quoted $25,000 for a new roof. Still new to the community and not knowing the people or facilities in the town, Triyoga wasn’t sure who to turn to. Past experience with contractors had left her wary, and she was worried about finding someone who could do the job. She became afraid every time it rained, worrying about her house.

Triyoga posted about her situation on Facebook, and someone replied with information about Habitat for Humanity’s Home Repair Programme. Triyoga had heard of Habitat – she’d had friends who worked for the organisation when she lived in Indonesia – but she hadn’t considered that Habitat could help her with her roof.

Habitat offers no-interest loans of up to $20,000 to homeowners in need of support with critical repairs or maintenance, with affordable repayments over five years.

For Triyoga, Habitat’s support has been a huge relief and she’s thankful for the help. It meant she didn’t have to make lots of calls or think about how the work would get done – once her application was accepted, Habitat took care of all the logistics. The family now have a brand-new roof and the spots of water damage on their lounge ceiling have been repaired, thanks to the help of Habitat.

Habitat’s Home Repair programme is supported by BNZ.