All Topics / General Property / Building construction – timber, hardiflex and render – good or not?

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  • Profile photo of Hybrid2007Hybrid2007
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    @hybrid2007
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    Post Count: 67

    Hi,

    Does anyone have opinions on the quality of a timber frame house constructed with hardiflex and rendered? I have not heard of this before but it is a more affordable option to the traditional double brick. Any builders out there that can comment on the durability of structure?

    Profile photo of hbbehrendorffhbbehrendorff
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    @hbbehrendorff
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    Well I'm not a builder,  But am a Plasterer,  I actually have never seen this before,  I have though seen timber frame houses sheeted with styrofoam on the exterior and rendered over top of that… Also there are the blue board houses which I don't think are much better…

    Obviously you get what you pay for,  Personally I would not build a house made of blue board,  styrofoam or hardiflex.

    Apart from having a habit of cracking leaving big dirty lines in the render :D  Its also not cool when a simple knock with a hammer puts a big hole in your wall.

    But I guess its all up to personal preference too.. some people don't mind cheap and nasty,  Others are more fastidious.

    So I say go with the double brick

    Good luck.

    Profile photo of Hybrid2007Hybrid2007
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    @hybrid2007
    Join Date: 2007
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    Hi hb, thanks for your comment.

    The link here shows pics of the construction of the display home. I was told it is hardiflex but it is visually a 'blue board' is this the same thing then? http://www.housemasters.com.au/solace/index.php


     

    Profile photo of hbbehrendorffhbbehrendorff
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    @hbbehrendorff
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    Ohh, Thats just blue board fiber cement sheeting,  See where all the joins are in the sheets ?  That is why in years to come it will be prone to cracking in those joins…

    Get a hammer and see how hard it is to put a coin sized hole in one of those sheets,  Its not really that hard,  That's why I prefer brick houses,  You will find that the more… Quality builders will build there rendered homes with double brick instead of fiber cement sheeting.

    Profile photo of hbbehrendorffhbbehrendorff
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    @hbbehrendorff
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    Also in the future the internal linings in the ceiling will be prone to cracking because it appears they do not use battens and fix directly to the truss, 50mm cornice looks yukky too, lol

    See, Its all these little obscured short cuts that the average person does not know about that makes a builder rough….

    They look at two similar houses and see a 20k+ discount on one and think the cheaper builder is just as good…  There is a lot to know about buying a house..

    Profile photo of Hybrid2007Hybrid2007
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    @hybrid2007
    Join Date: 2007
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    Ok thanks a heap for your insight. I was a bit iffy on the whole thing. I dont think these builders are dodgey or anything as they build other quality brick homes. They just have this as an option to help home buyers with affordability but i am not a first homebuyer so i can spend the extra $20k!

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