Houses with "corrugated iron" style cladding

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Houses with "corrugated iron" style cladding - yay or nay?

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#1884032 15-Oct-2017 21:30

Batman:
Technofreak:
I'd say there's every chance you'd get 80 to 100 years out of corrugated iron presuming it was installed correctly.

That bit worries me a little bit.

Same deal with a roof if it makes you feel any better : ).

gzt

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#1884033 15-Oct-2017 21:32

Bung: You have to keep a track of how the material has changed over time. Apparently the old corrugated iron had twice as much Zinc on the weather side as the modern equivalent.

The old stuff I've seen is a lot thicker also. Having said that, different gauges are available today. Might be possible to obtain the same somewhere if that was wanted.

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#1884037 15-Oct-2017 21:49

gzt:
Batman:

Technofreak:

I'd say there's every chance you'd get 80 to 100 years out of corrugated iron presuming it was installed correctly.

That bit worries me a little bit.

Same deal with a roof if it makes you feel any better : ).

I know. I once rented a brand new house and the roof leaked, the dishwasher pipe burst, the wall backing the shower was rotting due to a leak. (no sealant around mixer dial thingy).

Now you know why it worries me a little bit.

Technofreak

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#1884047 15-Oct-2017 22:07

Batman:

Technofreak:

Sixty years ago my Dad built the family home and clad it with Metalcraft weather board, which was basically the same galvanised iron sheeting material as used for corrugated iron roofing but pressed to a shape that looked like traditional weather boards.

About 2 years ago he decided to replace the cladding and at the same time installed insulation in the walls. The cladding was still in good condition when it was removed.

I'd say there's every chance you'd get 80 to 100 years out of corrugated iron presuming it was installed correctly.

That bit worries me a little bit.

That goes for any product.

Most of today's leaky homes are caused by poor construction/workmanship.

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#1884049 15-Oct-2017 22:17

gzt:
Batman:

Spoke to an architect (from another country) who said lifespan of such cladding is about 15 years.

In NZ this material has been in use for a long time. I'm aware of unpainted galvanised roofing just coming up to end of life after 50 years, and there are older examples here and there.

And after 50 years you pull it off and put up a new set. Probably do an average house in a couple of days as simpler than a roof with all its angles.

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#1884050 15-Oct-2017 22:19

Technofreak:

Batman:

Technofreak:

Sixty years ago my Dad built the family home and clad it with Metalcraft weather board, which was basically the same galvanised iron sheeting material as used for corrugated iron roofing but pressed to a shape that looked like traditional weather boards.

About 2 years ago he decided to replace the cladding and at the same time installed insulation in the walls. The cladding was still in good condition when it was removed.

I'd say there's every chance you'd get 80 to 100 years out of corrugated iron presuming it was installed correctly.

That bit worries me a little bit.

That goes for any product.

Most of today's leaky homes are caused by poor construction/workmanship.

Poor design. Lack of breathable cavity behind cladding. Lack of flashings. Lack of eaves. Use of untreated framing.

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#1884059 15-Oct-2017 22:52

As someone who has designed a house with vertical steel cladding, it is rubbish that it will only last 15 years, but I guess there is that risk if it is built close to the sea with salt corrosion. However I believe there is a version that is more designed for those conditions. Also possibily cheap imported steel may fail faster?

Vertical steel cladding, if it is coated with coloursteel, should last as long as a normal roof. If it is coloursteel, then it supposedly has the baked on paint coating. But if that wears off over time,it can always been repainted. Also we now have the choice of either galvanised or zincalume coatings..

Also it has to be cleaned down to remove dirt and lichen growth etc regularly. Many people do no maintenance on their house, so things fail faster.

Bung

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#1884063 15-Oct-2017 23:06

lapimate:
Bung: ... Apparently the old corrugated iron had twice as much Zinc on the weather side as the modern equivalent.

Indeed. Used to be "hot-dipped", now electroplated so fewer atoms thick :-)

Zinc protects even cut edges to a degree (by sacrificial corrosion). One would want some assurance about this (cut edges) aspect re eg the modern zincalume[RTM].

NZSteel's galvanised iron is still hot dipped but the modern process using a high pressure air wipe has tighter control over how much zinc is left. The newer sheet is thinner because it is higher tensile but that means when it does rust it would perforate quicker.

I've got a Zincalume roller door that got scratched shortly after it was put up 22 years ago. It hasn't rusted yet.

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#1884064 15-Oct-2017 23:14

Bung:
lapimate:

Bung: ... Apparently the old corrugated iron had twice as much Zinc on the weather side as the modern equivalent.

Indeed. Used to be "hot-dipped", now electroplated so fewer atoms thick :-)

Zinc protects even cut edges to a degree (by sacrificial corrosion). One would want some assurance about this (cut edges) aspect re eg the modern zincalume[RTM].

NZSteel's galvanised iron is still hot dipped but the modern process using a high pressure air wipe has tighter control over how much zinc is left. The newer sheet is thinner because it is higher tensile but that means when it does rust it would perforate quicker.

I've got a Zincalume roller door that got scratched shortly after it was put up 22 years ago. It hasn't rusted yet.

I believe 'galvanised' is just normal zinc. While 'Zincalume is a mixture of zinc and aluminium. I believe zinalume has better durability. But the problem I believe with using zincalume, is you can't use it on older roofs which have lead flashings due to it chemically reacting. This is why we had to repair our roof with normal galvanised, rather than zincalume. People should contact the steel companies though to check all this.

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#1884066 15-Oct-2017 23:38

Batman:

Spoke to an architect (from another country) who said lifespan of such cladding is about 15 years.

Would anyone buy these sort of houses?

Not if you paint it and look after it.

Think.....Eiffel Tower.......

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#1884069 15-Oct-2017 23:47

Linuxluver:

Think.....Eiffel Tower.......

I believe that is made from wrought iron and not steel. At a guess it probably has quite thick structural members as I don't believe wrought iron isn't as strong as steel. Wheres sheet steel is very very thin in comparison.

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#1884072 15-Oct-2017 23:58

mattwnz:

I believe that is made from wrought iron and not steel. At a guess it probably has quite thick structural members as I don't believe wrought iron isn't as strong as steel. Wheres sheet steel is very very thin in comparison.

Maybe a bad example, then.

Key idea: Preventing the rust is a big step toward longevity.

Check out ecotechhomes.co.nz

They offer homes made of container-sized modules with external walls of 1.4mm steel....and the advice I got on it was just "keep it painted". I've looked at the show home north of Auckland. I was impressed.

I've painted corrugated iron and it holds up well if protected from the elements.

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#1884073 16-Oct-2017 00:05

Linuxluver:

mattwnz:

I believe that is made from wrought iron and not steel. At a guess it probably has quite thick structural members as I don't believe wrought iron isn't as strong as steel. Wheres sheet steel is very very thin in comparison.

Maybe a bad example, then.

Key idea: Preventing the rust is a big step toward longevity.

Check out ecotechhomes.co.nz

They offer homes made of container-sized modules with external walls of 1.4mm steel....and the advice I got on it was just "keep it painted". I've looked at the show home north of Auckland. I was impressed.

I've painted corrugated iron and it holds up well if protected from the elements.

I believe a decent galvanised coating though underneath the paint layer, is more integral than the paint coating. If you buy cheap chinese BBQ, (or even some decent branded ones) you will often see that even painted steel , the paint will bubble off as it rusts underneath, as they don't appear to put a galvanised costing underneath. I have good brand BBQ that is doing this, where the trolley was made in china, and over time it rusted and flaked off all the paint.

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#1884236 16-Oct-2017 11:37

Just an observation. Our ex builder neighbour built an extension and clad it with corrugated iron. It looks great but I remember going over to find his son holding the iron up while he was laying on the drive repainting the framing underneath. I just remember thinking how easy it would be for anyone to peel back a single sheet of iron, remove the batts, kick a hole though the Gib and just crawl in.

Sure this could happen with lots of cladding types but there's not as many nails/screws that potentially exposes a large interior wall area with minimal work. I've heard some burglars gain access through the roof just like this but they obviously need to be able to get on the roof.

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#1884239 16-Oct-2017 11:40

Groucho:

Just an observation. Our ex builder neighbour built an extension and clad it with corrugated iron. It looks great but I remember going over to find his son holding the iron up while he was laying on the drive repainting the framing underneath. I just remember thinking how easy it would be for anyone to peel back a single sheet of iron, remove the batts, kick a hole though the Gib and just crawl in.

Sure this could happen with lots of cladding types but there's not as many nails/screws that potentially exposes a large interior wall area with minimal work. I've heard some burglars gain access through the roof just like this but they obviously need to be able to get on the roof.

You'd have to remove a lot of screws. Easier to just kick in a door or break a window.

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