How much maintenance do latest standard plaster houses need?

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nofam

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#2311430 5-Sep-2019 19:15

Batman: Thanks. In terms of building cost, how does plaster compare with brick and timber?

Certainly more expensive as there are more steps involved - typically brick and timber is a wrapped timber frame, with a footing on the slab edge for the bricks, which are tied back to the framing. Our construction was 140mm timber framing, covered with RAB Board for bracing and watertightness, which was then clad in 50mm AAC panels (2200x600), which is plastered with several layers of render and fibreglass mesh and then painted with proprietary paints.

So I can't give you a percentage figure in terms of comparison, but I can tell you that the cladding of our house was the single biggest expense after the builders labour and materials.

Batman

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#2311520 5-Sep-2019 21:53

Thanks.

May I ask why you chose stotherm plaster/AAC cladding over the other 2?

Is it longevity/looks/warmth/etc?

Thanks

nickb800

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#2311568 6-Sep-2019 08:31

Plaster systems might be more labour intensive but cheaper materials outweigh that

As an example for cost relativities, these are full installed material + labour rates (based on commercial quantities so dollar values alone may not be relevant to a house):

Rockcote full system on 40mm EPS $130/m2 (Hebel will be more expensive than EPS, not sure how much)

Entry level clay bricks $190/m2

Linea $150/m2 (+$40/m2 for paint)

Timber weatherboard $130/m2 (+$40/m2 for paint)

nofam

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#2311593 6-Sep-2019 09:02

Batman:

Thanks.

May I ask why you chose stotherm plaster/AAC cladding over the other 2?

Is it longevity/looks/warmth/etc?

Thanks

When you say Sto over the other 2, are you meaning the Rockcote and Loxo? These 3 are the major players in plaster cladding systems in NZ. It was essentially down to Rockcote and Sto for us, based on contractors in our area who did each system, and we ended up going with Sto because the applicator was preferred by our builder. Rockcote and Sto are pretty much interchangeable in terms of specs, and it just comes down to preference - Rockcote is owned by Resene, whereas Sto is very popular in Europe.

Out house is a mix of plaster and vertical cedar as that's the look we were after. Within these system you have either AAC panels or polystyrene sheets as your plaster substrate - we went with AAC for the toughness and acoustic insulation. AAC is dearer, as it's also more labour intensive to install.

Batman

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#2311598 6-Sep-2019 09:13

nofam:

Batman:

Thanks.

May I ask why you chose stotherm plaster/AAC cladding over the other 2?

Is it longevity/looks/warmth/etc?

Thanks

When you say Sto over the other 2, are you meaning the Rockcote and Loxo? These 3 are the major players in plaster cladding systems in NZ. It was essentially down to Rockcote and Sto for us, based on contractors in our area who did each system, and we ended up going with Sto because the applicator was preferred by our builder. Rockcote and Sto are pretty much interchangeable in terms of specs, and it just comes down to preference - Rockcote is owned by Resene, whereas Sto is very popular in Europe.

Out house is a mix of plaster and vertical cedar as that's the look we were after. Within these system you have either AAC panels or polystyrene sheets as your plaster substrate - we went with AAC for the toughness and acoustic insulation. AAC is dearer, as it's also more labour intensive to install.

Sorry I meant why you chose plaster over timber or brick?

- longevity vs looks vs warmth vs other

nofam

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#2311639 6-Sep-2019 10:42

Batman:

nofam:

Batman:

Thanks.

May I ask why you chose stotherm plaster/AAC cladding over the other 2?

Is it longevity/looks/warmth/etc?

Thanks

When you say Sto over the other 2, are you meaning the Rockcote and Loxo? These 3 are the major players in plaster cladding systems in NZ. It was essentially down to Rockcote and Sto for us, based on contractors in our area who did each system, and we ended up going with Sto because the applicator was preferred by our builder. Rockcote and Sto are pretty much interchangeable in terms of specs, and it just comes down to preference - Rockcote is owned by Resene, whereas Sto is very popular in Europe.

Out house is a mix of plaster and vertical cedar as that's the look we were after. Within these system you have either AAC panels or polystyrene sheets as your plaster substrate - we went with AAC for the toughness and acoustic insulation. AAC is dearer, as it's also more labour intensive to install.

Sorry I meant why you chose plaster over timber or brick?

- longevity vs looks vs warmth vs other

Ahh, all good - yes the look we wanted (the house has a kind of Scandinavian, minimalist feel), but also the function; the house is heated with Hydronic underfloor heating, so thermal performance was of the utmost importance. We went with 140mm exterior framing to give us R4.0 in the walls (instead of R2.8), and R6.0 in the ceiling (instead of R4.0), plus slab-edge insulation, low-e, argon filled joinery and IC-F downlights, so the ceiling insulation could go right over the top. We're in Dunedin, so winters are cold - August's power bill was $252, which is pretty good - everything is electric in our house, and we have a 4 year-old so go through a lot of hot water!!

So the house really ticks all the boxes for us - super warm, quiet and cheap to run.

Fred99

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#2311644 6-Sep-2019 10:57

nickb800:

Entry level clay bricks $190/m2

That's way out. 70mm bricks are as low as $40 / m2, and a brickie should be able to do about 10m2 a day.

Maybe you meant $90 / m2 and it's a typo - as the other prices you listed seem about right. That's a little higher than the last price I got. Brick is the cheapest standard cladding system.

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nickb800

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#2311675 6-Sep-2019 11:36

Fred99:

nickb800:

Entry level clay bricks $190/m2

That's way out. 70mm bricks are as low as $40 / m2, and a brickie should be able to do about 10m2 a day.

Maybe you meant $90 / m2 and it's a typo - as the other prices you listed seem about right. That's a little higher than the last price I got. Brick is the cheapest standard cladding system.

That's from QV - pretty much all of their brick options are in that sort of range. They suggest $70/m2 for the brick (incl freight and wastage) and 1.5 hrs/m2 to mix mortar and lay. Ties and mortar are in there as well, but that's not significant. Not sure why there'd be a gap between them and your estimate.

Fred99

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#2311719 6-Sep-2019 12:57

nickb800:

Fred99:

nickb800:

Entry level clay bricks $190/m2

That's way out. 70mm bricks are as low as $40 / m2, and a brickie should be able to do about 10m2 a day.

Maybe you meant $90 / m2 and it's a typo - as the other prices you listed seem about right. That's a little higher than the last price I got. Brick is the cheapest standard cladding system.

That's from QV - pretty much all of their brick options are in that sort of range. They suggest $70/m2 for the brick (incl freight and wastage) and 1.5 hrs/m2 to mix mortar and lay. Ties and mortar are in there as well, but that's not significant. Not sure why there'd be a gap between them and your estimate.

If that's an official QV figure for "entry level" clay brick, then something is seriously wrong with QV figures.

With a quick google, you'll find 70mm clay bricks for sale for $40/m2 in NZ, but even at $70/M2 (definitely NOT "entry level"), labour cost, delivery, sundries etc of $120/m2 is nuts.

I'd have suggested that maybe QV have an agenda to make prices high, but as stated the other prices seem about right. Even sellers of alternate systems don't get anywhere near $190/m2 when comparing their product to brick, and they'd have every reason to err on the high side.

Builderscrack have an automated price estimator, not that I'd trust that either, but suggests price for brick cladding 200M2 at $15,700 - $20,400. That's consistent with the last quotes I got - a few years ago - for a reclad (was actually a little higher, but 1/2 the work would have been done from scaffolding).

Paul1977

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#2311726 6-Sep-2019 13:14

I don't have numbers, but every building company we've spoken to has said that brick is the cheapest. This assumes "entry level" brick though, as we quickly discovered the brick and mortar we like is NOT entry level.

nofam

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#2311729 6-Sep-2019 13:25

Paul1977:

I don't have numbers, but every building company we've spoken to has said that brick is the cheapest. This assumes "entry level" brick though, as we quickly discovered the brick and mortar we like is NOT entry level.

Exactly - we have Firth 10-series veneer blocks in stackbond on one corner of the house, and those suckers about $4 a block!

Paul1977

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#2311849 6-Sep-2019 16:15

nofam:

Paul1977:

I don't have numbers, but every building company we've spoken to has said that brick is the cheapest. This assumes "entry level" brick though, as we quickly discovered the brick and mortar we like is NOT entry level.

Exactly - we have Firth 10-series veneer blocks in stackbond on one corner of the house, and those suckers about $4 a block!

On the plus side, they're big so you don't need as many!

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