They don't build them like they used to

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Mad Scientist
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#2281552 22-Jul-2019 15:37

Disrespective:

Batman:

Question is - how long does treated weatherboard last ... they are all made of different wood material - gives me a headache.

All our modern radiata pine is a low density, fast growing timber with very little sap. This leads to a soft timber that is more prone to rot, regardless of boron/copper/arsenic etc treatment. Compared to the slower growing species with higher sap content found in older houses (<1960's) it's a substandard product but is also cheaper and faster to produce. Sure treating the timber helps it last, but it's not exactly a cure-all.

Are there other woods that are better eg Cedar etc (Cedar is the only thing that comes to mind that is not "weatherboard"). Some of these "other" wood cladding don't even have paint on them! Looks like some stain application only.

Stu1

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#2281559 22-Jul-2019 15:42

Bung: A lot of materials rely on the paint finish for protection. 15 years is probably the limit before repainting is required.

How many people regularly hose their roof down or repaint rather than reroof?

I just had my roof resprayed not that long ago way cheaper than a reroof but your right warranty is 15 years on it.

neb

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#2281560 22-Jul-2019 15:43

FineWine:
He are two articles about construction and living spaces in Germany. VERY interesting.

Find Out the Differences between American vs German Homes: it’s where the heart is.

The German Way & More - House and Home

Oh gawd, this is all so familiar. Wash times aren't just two hours, you can get three-hour cycles. Mind you the clothes coming out of that are so clean they're pretty much spotless, and the wash is gentle enough that you don't have to worry about getting your clothes beaten up by the machine. Also, European detergents are much more strongly scented than ones sold here, so your clothes "smell cleaner" as well. For Europeans moving here it can be disconcerting to have their clothes no longer seem as clean/fresh as when they washed them in Europe.

The slippers ("haus-schuhe") are also in institution, unlike NZ you never, ever wear outdoors shoes inside the house, even in the summer when there's not snow and slush everywhere.

Another thing about the houses, which the articles only sort of mention in passing, is that they're all insulated to crazy levels. I've never been in a cold European house, even ones hundreds of years old where the used techniques like packing alluvial gravel between floors to act as insulation (think medieval batts).

Batman

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#2281571 22-Jul-2019 15:49

neb:
FineWine:

He are two articles about construction and living spaces in Germany. VERY interesting.

Find Out the Differences between American vs German Homes: it’s where the heart is.

The German Way & More - House and Home

Oh gawd, this is all so familiar. Wash times aren't just two hours, you can get three-hour cycles. Mind you the clothes coming out of that are so clean they're pretty much spotless, and the wash is gentle enough that you don't have to worry about getting your clothes beaten up by the machine. Also, European detergents are much more strongly scented than ones sold here, so your clothes "smell cleaner" as well. For Europeans moving here it can be disconcerting to have their clothes no longer seem as clean/fresh as when they washed them in Europe. The slippers ("haus-schuhe") are also in institution, unlike NZ you never, ever wear outdoors shoes inside the house, even in the summer when there's not snow and slush everywhere. Another thing about the houses, which the articles only sort of mention in passing, is that they're all insulated to crazy levels. I've never been in a cold European house, even ones hundreds of years old where the used techniques like packing alluvial gravel between floors to act as insulation (think medieval batts).

Thing is Germany isn't built on active tectonic plates and riverbeds like NZ. I think our ground moves too much to have too much masonary.

neb

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#2281579 22-Jul-2019 15:55

Batman:
Thing is Germany isn't built on active tectonic plates and riverbeds like NZ. I think our ground moves too much to have too much masonary.

Depends on the region. I've experienced far more earthquakes in Germany than in NZ (but I'm in Auckland, not the more shaky parts of the country). Over there you'd notice them quite regularly, the lights in the ceiling would swing a bit and then settle down again.

1101

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#2281585 22-Jul-2019 16:04

I remember when cladding salesmen were a synonym for scam artists :-)

timmmay

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#2281586 22-Jul-2019 16:12

My house is probably around 60 years old, so old there are no council records. Cedar weatherboards, very thick framing that's untreated but is very dense and solid. The core is great, the weatherboards are good (but don't drill holes in them to insulate from the outside), we just replaced windows and doors. The place should last a long time... though the floors really could use leveling they're just sitting inside the walls, not connected so much as adjacent, so will do one of these years.

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Groucho

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#2281589 22-Jul-2019 16:30

duckDecoy:

Fred99:

Some of the things I see surprise me, the present fashion trend to use black or near black on ply (ie "Shadowclad) and other cladding systems - despite warnings from the manufacturers themselves about durability and dark colours. Plywood frypans won't last.

Well the manufacturers don't always help themselves. We built our house 16 years ago and clad it with Shadowclad, and I still have the brochure advertising it where the house has been painted entirely BLACK. How can you expect run of the mill consumers to understand the impact colour choices have when you're putting things like that in front of them in your glossy advertising.

I'll never understand why people paint their timber clad houses in a dark colour. I often walked through a new subdivision and there was a glorified plywood house either stained or painted black. Less than two years later in the Hawke's Bay sun it looked incredibly patchy and needed to be redone before it went back on the market.

Don't worry, the same black went back on for the new owner to prematurely deal with after another couple of years...

mattwnz

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#2281590 22-Jul-2019 16:34

Groucho:

I'll never understand why people paint their timber clad houses in a dark colour. I often walked through a new subdivision and there was a glorified plywood house either stained or painted black. Less than two years later in the Hawke's Bay sun it looked incredibly patchy and needed to be redone before it went back on the market.

Don't worry, the same black went back on for the new owner to prematurely deal with after another couple of years...

Isn't it in the covenants of many of these developments, that you are restricted to certain colours, including the roof colour? But black seems to be a fashion ting, along with the black bathroom taps and window frames.

mattwnz

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#2281591 22-Jul-2019 16:37

Disrespective:

Batman:

Question is - how long does treated weatherboard last ... they are all made of different wood material - gives me a headache.

All our modern radiata pine is a low density, fast growing timber with very little sap. This leads to a soft timber that is more prone to rot, regardless of boron/copper/arsenic etc treatment. Compared to the slower growing species with higher sap content found in older houses (<1960's) it's a substandard product but is also cheaper and faster to produce. Sure treating the timber helps it last, but it's not exactly a cure-all.

@Disrespective How about these heat treated pines that are used for cladding which seem to be quite a new type of product.?

timmmay

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#2281596 22-Jul-2019 16:40

Disrespective:

All our modern radiata pine is a low density, fast growing timber with very little sap. This leads to a soft timber that is more prone to rot, regardless of boron/copper/arsenic etc treatment. Compared to the slower growing species with higher sap content found in older houses (<1960's) it's a substandard product but is also cheaper and faster to produce. Sure treating the timber helps it last, but it's not exactly a cure-all.

The cedar our weatherboards are made out of is at least 15 years old and is super oily. When we drilled holes in it, then filled them, they leaked sap and oil for months.

Fred99

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#2281598 22-Jul-2019 16:47

Part of the problem is size. Most of our dwellings are fully detached, average size of houses in NZ is large by world standard. You're not going to get best quality durable materials, large, and affordable. This data from 2002. I understand that average new dwelling size has actually started falling in NZ over the past couple of years.

Bung

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#2281600 22-Jul-2019 16:57

Batman:
I have seen 10 year old houses built with cement board cladding, and others with galvanized roof pieces as cladding. As in timber frame, building paper, cement board! OMG

I don't know what your problem with Hardieflex is. Part of our place at Foxton Beach is clad in direct fixed cement board. It is easy to paint and has been there since 1985. 2 sides of a bedroom are clad in corrugated iron also there since 1985. The walls have lasted better than the roof.

kotuku4

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#2281610 22-Jul-2019 16:59

Yes, I had a Zincalume roof repainted under warranty at less than 10 years. About due again.

Hardwood deck was rubbish after 10 years, perhaps could have been maintained better. Been other maintenance, replacement hot water cylinder, painting flashing, guttering, cables, sofits etc.

Just used premium pine decking, modern treatment expected to last 25 years or more with some maintenance.

Lots of changes with new products and materials over time.

Some current building code requirements are much better than construction of older houses.

And there are significant issues with lead paint, asbestos in many materials, roofing, cladding, textured ceiling plaster, linoleum, some insulation, lagging.

mattwnz

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#2281613 22-Jul-2019 17:13

Fred99:

Part of the problem is size. Most of our dwellings are fully detached, average size of houses in NZ is large by world standard. You're not going to get best quality durable materials, large, and affordable. This data from 2002. I understand that average new dwelling size has actually started falling in NZ over the past couple of years.

We do appear to pay a lot more for building materials in NZ than other countries, including the US and Australia, which both have larger houses. NZ has until recently enjoyed a lot of land, so have been able to build larger houses. Those countries with smaller houses, the people living in them will often want to move into a house that is larger with more space. But the size is dictated by the density of the population, and often as a result the house price per sqm rate is very high. So many are terraced and all look the same, which is trend we are now seeing in NZ Especially if you have a family with kids, people tend to want a house with a lot of space, and often they convert garages into living spaces, which often isn't a good idea.

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