Hints, Tips and Articles

Having a better understanding of how to get a new home built could be the best investment you’ll ever make. Subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter and your next building project should be memorable for all the right reasons.

About once every 8 weeks or so Julian Moss of Moss Brothers writes articles that are then put into newsletter format and posted (sometimes emailed) to over 2500 people just like you that believe that building a new home may be an option to them some day.

So subscribe to our free newsletters and we'll keep you informed about great new building innovations and how to survive having a new home built. The newsletters are chocka-block full of hints and tips and ideas that will inform you about what's new and exciting in the housing industry, what new materials are available, and to improve your awareness of what your options are when it comes time to build. Also, what's old but new and how to save you time, stress, and money and how not to get burnt by your builder. The newsletters are designed to make you aware of new products long before you start to build, which avoids the disappointment of finding out during the construction of your new home project.

We have been writing or sourcing all kinds of articles for our newsletters since 1996 so there is some interesting reading for everyone in some of the back copies, which are available here at this site.

Getting on the mailing list is very simple, you can:

1. Fill in our on-line subscription form
2. E-mail us at – newsletter@moss-brothers.co.nz
3. Phone us free on 0800-266-772, we pay the toll charges to the lower half of the north island
4. Fax us on 04-293-8038
5. Write us a letter and post it to - PO Box 38 - Masterton
6. Or call Julian Moss on his cell phone – 0274-575-373.

Subscribe today and we'll add you to our database, which now exceeds 2500. Having up-to-date information makes for very powerful planning. Remember, proper planning prevents poor performance.

Back copies of past newsletters.

1. Simple steps to protect yourself against domestic electrical radiation - June'96
2. How much sun is blocked by wide verandas . - June'96
3. Smoke detectors can save lives, but? - June'96
4. Concrete floors versus particle board and tongue and groove floors - Sept' 96
5. New domestic solar power technology - Oct'96
6. The pros and cons of buying and renovating old homes, that's if either a transportable or renovate as is where is - Mar'97
7. The myth about non slip decking; what's dangerous and what's not - Mar'97
8. How to avoid selecting a dodgy builder - Mar'97
9. Space heating and air conditioning - Sept'97
10. Building your own home, ie the owner builder - the pitfalls - Dec'97
11. Taking the risk out of purchasing bare land - Dec'97
12. The five biggest mistakes that most people make when building a new home - Feb'98
13. How to buy paint - May'98
14. A follow up to the five biggest mistakes that most people make when building a new home - May'98
15. How to beat condensation - May' 98
16. The myth that brick, split stone, PVC or colour steel equals a low maintenance home - May'98
17. Body Bio Clocks and dangerous building materials - July'98
18. Built once but never again - July'98
19. The builder that actually completed (I mean it's actually finished) his own home - July'98
20. The average cost of building a new home - Oct'98.
21. Dual wet-back. Half for HWC and half for passage radiator - Oct'98.
22. Appliance purchasing tips - Oct'98.
23. Free site visits - Oct'98.
24. How to avoid building disputes - Jan'99
25. What is mole mapping - Jan'99
26. What you must do before buying an existing house - June'99
27. Domestic LPG in bottles - June'99
28. Benefits of roof finials. - Sept'99
29. How quickly can your wood-fire flue block & become a fire hazard - Sept'99
30. Double-glazing - Sept'99
31. Protect your new family home and put it in trust - Mar'00
32. 'How much is it?' and how the answer to that question could see you getting ripped off - Mar'00
33. Melting moments with a wall oven - Mar'00
34. What does it cost to heat your house - Jun'00
35. Difference between rustic & rusticated - Jun'00
36. Employing a colour consultant - Sep'00
37. LIMs vs PIMs What are they and what is diffence between them? - Dec'00
38. The strength of the Consumer Guarantee Act. - Mar'01
39. How to avoid false alarms with your domestic security system. - Mar'01
40. The three secrets of building a successful and attractive replica home. - Mar'01
41. Tiled showers & wet-floors that leak. - Jun'01
42. Age-old problem of condensation. - Sep'01
43. Drinking water from water tank or off the roof - Dec'01
44. Before you start renovating - Feb'02
45. Renovation insurance - beware of gaps - Feb'02
46. Pre-Purchase Inspection - May'02
47. Selecting the best tenderer, how do we do it - May'02
48. Maintenance free aluminium window joinery - Jul'02
49. Getting mortgage money & how or when payments for a building project are made Jul'02
50. How to get rich quick and Get a building permit or go to jail - Feb 2003
51. Did you happen to see what you have to pay for a woman these days? Tips for the workaholic. A follow up to last month – Get a building permit. Register the building trade.
    How to employ your friends or family The start of a new era (April 2003)
52. How To Get A Great Job, How To Get The Best Out Of Your Builder And How To Enjoy Your Building Experience (July 2003)
53. Building Survey; How to cook salmon in just a few minutes like you’ve never tasted before; How to select a builder, or any tradesman for that matter; Some salesmen will say anything to close a sale; The optimist’s creed – staying focussed on what’s important (October 2003)
54. Noah & departmental red tape; The most misunderstood aspect of having a house built (December 2003)
55. Striped verandas, you must be mad (March 2004)
56. End of another year; Opening of our 1910 reproduction, and the winners are….; A prediction of how we would live and the homes we would build today from exactly 50 years ago (November 2004)
57. Buy on special or sale and save – yeah right; It’s not often I get thanked for helping people not save money. (May 2005)
58. They Still Haven’t Resolved The Leaking House Problem, Why Not? (July/August 2005)
59. New woodfire regulations; Last newsletter got a bit political – I received huge feedback from readers; Our website and back copies of the newsletter; Price increases in building
60. What insurance companies don't tell you.
61. Cold And Damp Houses Are Being Talked About All The Time In The Media But Doing Something About It Can Be Easier Than You Think
62. How To Be More Energy Efficient - Part 1
63. How To Be More Energy Efficient - Part 2

Oh PS: More and more enquiries and sales are from beyond the toll free area of our showhomes. Because of this, for your convenience I have installed an 0800 Free-Help phone line to our office accessible to the lower half of the North Island. But if you have any questions or queries you can contact me (that's Julian Moss) on:

0800 2-MOSS-BROS (266-772) or 0274-575-373

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