The new Kiwi DIY: homeowners building walls around their property to keep rising water out

Wednesday, 27 August 2025

Simon Rooke’s Granity property has faced two floods in 20 years. Frustrated by insurers, he spent $25,000 building a 900-tonne rock wall as a defence against the encroaching sea.

This video is part of this week's episode of Paddy Gower Has Issues, made with the support of New Zealand On Air.

Troy Scanlon has spent $100,000 building a waterproof wall around his Westport home.

He’s been flooded once - and fears it could happen again. Inspiring some of that famous Kiwi DIY ingenuity.

“So we built a flood wall,” said Scanlon, showing off his homemade protection.

The West Coast town is prone to flooding and the latest incident, in 2021, saw the home swamped with half a metre of water.

Belongings, including his baby’s cot and precious photo albums, were destroyed and the house wrecked.

“We don't like rain much anymore.”

So Scanlon built the wall around his normal brick-and-tile home in a quiet cul-de-sac.

It might look like an ordinary fence, but appearances can be deceptive. Troy Scanlon puts Paddy in the picture.

At first look it appears like a normal fence, about 1 metre high, along the back and down the sides of the section.

But inside the timber is a plastic lining.

“We've got a black plastic film that runs all the way down the back of the wall,” he said..

The fence only covers three sides of the property. If there is a heavy rain warning, Scanlon activates phase two of his protection plan.

“We've bought a big steel wall that can be put up, so effectively we create an enclosed square.”

The steel wall - and more black plastic - go across the front. And once in place, Scanlon’s home becomes a waterproof fort.

The cost? “Ballpark, $100,000,” said Scanlon.

He admits it has not been tested by a flood yet, and he doesn't really want it to be.

“We obviously don't know if it's going to work. We're fairly confident it will.”

I remarked to Scanlon that I had never seen anything else like this in New Zealand.

But with insurance companies bumping up premiums in flood zones, or maybe even pulling out of offering coverage altogether, it could become commonplace.

Simon Rooke spent about $25,000 on 900 tonnes of boulders to protect his remote West Coast home.

Scanlon gives a simple reason for his DIY flood protection wall.

“It gives us some peace of mind.”

“MY INSURANCE POLICY”: A 900-TONNE ROCK WALL TO STOP THE SURGING SEA

Some 28km up the coast, in the tiny town of Granity, Simon Rooke has built an absolutely massive rock wall.

He’s put in 900 tonnes of boulders to stop the incoming sea.

“I was thinking large,” Rooke told me.

Granity is home to Rooke’s Ghost Lodge, which has occasionally been hit by water during sea surges.

Simon Rooke tells Paddy why he believes in climate change - but not insurance.

“Twice in 20 years there's been kind of a large event where there's been a bit of a fuss around the place and water has come right in,” he said.

And Rooke said climate change was to blame.

“You've got rocks in your head if you don't think it's happening.”

But there’s something Rooke doesn’t believe in - insurance. His message to insurance companies is direct: “Get f…ed.”

Rooke doesn’t have insurance. He got annoyed when his insurer wouldn’t pay out the full amount when his laptop broke.

“I'd given them tens of thousands of dollars over the years so I just thought bugger you and I insured myself.”

His “insurance policy” is of course the rock wall - each rock weighs 10-14 tonnes and he reckons it cost him about $25,000 all up.

Rooke is more than happy with his DIY sea protection.

“I've got a million-dollar view and I'm able to sleep well.”

Watch full episodes of Paddy Gower Has Issues on Three, Tuesdays at 7.30pm, or stream anytime on ThreeNow.