Northern houses shrink and crack in dry weather

Sheep in drought-ridden Northland. Photo / Christine Cornege

Worried homeowners are calling builders about cracks in their walls and sticking doors and windows as the drought stretches into another month.

Builders working north and west of Auckland say they are getting more phone calls related to dry weather than usual, but tell people to wait until winter before deciding if repairs are needed.

Nick Gaites of building company Beau-West said his firm was definitely getting more calls than usual, particularly from people living in Riverhead, northwest Auckland.

"It's the old houses on piles that are showing problems. The ground is so dry it is shrinking away. There are big cracks across the lawns ... People get a bit alarmed, I think. They think their houses are falling down."

But he said it would be premature to begin repiling houses until the soils were back to normal moisture levels.

Kumeu builder Allan Wallace said he had had a lot of calls from people whose homes were moving and cracking. He, too, was advising people to wait until winter to do repairs.

Auckland Registered Master Builders' manager Sally Mehrtens said her four-year-old house in Waimauku had two big cracks in the wall and "massive big cracks" in the lawn.

Drought damage is not covered by the Earthquake Commission.

Registered Master Builders' Auckland president Andy Gray said it was normal for houses - especially timber ones - to move in dry weather.

The MetService forecast is for rain and thunder today to clear tomorrow.

Long-term forecasts predict normal rainfall over winter.

Bulk water supplier Watercare Services says Aucklanders used more water last week than they did two weeks earlier. Water use rose 2.2 per cent in the week ending April 16 before falling 1.5 per cent last week.