Hello, I am thinking of buying an investment property (a house) and found out that the entire house (exterior and interior) walls are made of blueboard rendered material. I have not seen or heard of blue board material before and want to know if this type of material can be used to build a complete 2 story home? How reliable will this material be against normal weather conditions and wear and tear?
Where can I find out more information on blue board rendered walls?
Thanks
Futzy
Blue board is a very common material particuarly for upper storey and infill applications as it is light weight (compared to brick work). Blue board is a 7.5mm thick cement sheet product with a blue water resistant coating (hence the name) and is generally used as a base to render over. If done correctly it can be quite reliable and durable. Unfortuantley more often then not Blue board is not installed/rendered correctly and consequently cracks (along joins etc) leading to weatherproofing issues etc. I my self would be very cautious looking at a two storey property clad entirly in blue board. As I said if it has been done correctly you shouldnt have much to worry about. Things to look at would be expansion/construction joints, these need to be every 6m and look like a joint in the sheet that has been 'caulked' with a fleixible sealant. The sheets should be installed vertically, not horizontally. What type of render has been used on the walls? A acrylic/polymer flexible type render should be used rather than a cement based render (cement based renders dont move with the blue board and tend to crack). Hope this is helpful.
Cheers,
Paul
I dunno, I just don't really like the idea of my house being 7.5 mm fiber cement sheeting on the exterior walls… You could break into the house with a little sledge hammer, And those houses that have the white styrofoam sheeting as exterior walls is absolutely pathetic, You could make your way into the house with a bic lighter
It seems as time progresses houses are getting more and more crappy, I mean whats next, Plastic roof trusses ?
Id rather buy a brick veneer house
Oh, and by the way, You said the internal linings of the house where also blue board, Are you sure of that ?
Hello Paul, thank you very much for your input and very good explanation. Unfortunately the render is cement based as I am told by the agent. Why would someone chose to build an entire house using blueboard type material? Is it predominantly for cost reasons, meaning the blue board is cheaper than brick?
The property I am thinking of buying is:
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=105033207&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&cc=&c=39062653&s=tas&tm=1225842032From viewing this property, I am told that this is a steel frame house and all the walls are constructed using blueboard material
I am now concerned about an entire house of this size being built using blue board.
Thanks
Futzypjreno wrote:Blue board is a very common material particuarly for upper storey and infill applications as it is light weight (compared to brick work). Blue board is a 7.5mm thick cement sheet product with a blue water resistant coating (hence the name) and is generally used as a base to render over. If done correctly it can be quite reliable and durable. Unfortuantley more often then not Blue board is not installed/rendered correctly and consequently cracks (along joins etc) leading to weatherproofing issues etc. I my self would be very cautious looking at a two storey property clad entirly in blue board. As I said if it has been done correctly you shouldnt have much to worry about. Things to look at would be expansion/construction joints, these need to be every 6m and look like a joint in the sheet that has been 'caulked' with a fleixible sealant. The sheets should be installed vertically, not horizontally. What type of render has been used on the walls? A acrylic/polymer flexible type render should be used rather than a cement based render (cement based renders dont move with the blue board and tend to crack). Hope this is helpful.
Cheers,
Paul
Hello Paul, would you be able to give me a very rough idea on how much it would cost to build a house like this (please see link below) today as the agent mentioned that it will roughly cost about $1800 per sq. metre. Is this true? I know this can be the case for a normal single brick veneer type dwelling, but not too sure about the blue board type housing.
Please help.
Thanks again.
Futzyfutzy wrote:Hello Paul, thank you very much for your input and very good explanation. Unfortunately the render is cement based as I am told by the agent. Why would someone chose to build an entire house using blueboard type material? Is it predominantly for cost reasons, meaning the blue board is cheaper than brick?
The property I am thinking of buying is:
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=105033207&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&cc=&c=39062653&s=tas&tm=1225842032From viewing this property, I am told that this is a steel frame house and all the walls are constructed using blueboard material
I am now concerned about an entire house of this size being built using blue board.
Thanks
Futzypjreno wrote:Blue board is a very common material particuarly for upper storey and infill applications as it is light weight (compared to brick work). Blue board is a 7.5mm thick cement sheet product with a blue water resistant coating (hence the name) and is generally used as a base to render over. If done correctly it can be quite reliable and durable. Unfortuantley more often then not Blue board is not installed/rendered correctly and consequently cracks (along joins etc) leading to weatherproofing issues etc. I my self would be very cautious looking at a two storey property clad entirly in blue board. As I said if it has been done correctly you shouldnt have much to worry about. Things to look at would be expansion/construction joints, these need to be every 6m and look like a joint in the sheet that has been 'caulked' with a fleixible sealant. The sheets should be installed vertically, not horizontally. What type of render has been used on the walls? A acrylic/polymer flexible type render should be used rather than a cement based render (cement based renders dont move with the blue board and tend to crack). Hope this is helpful.
Cheers,
Paul
Hello hbbehrendorff, I think the internal walls could be gyprock. The external is definitely blue board.
hbbehrendorff wrote:I dunno, I just don't really like the idea of my house being 7.5 mm fiber cement sheeting on the exterior walls… You could break into the house with a little sledge hammer, And those houses that have the white styrofoam sheeting as exterior walls is absolutely pathetic, You could make your way into the house with a bic lighterIt seems as time progresses houses are getting more and more crappy, I mean whats next, Plastic roof trusses ?
Id rather buy a brick veneer house
Oh, and by the way, You said the internal linings of the house where also blue board, Are you sure of that ?
Well is it rendered on the inside ?
If its not rendered then its gyprock
PS: oh and about your other comment, your not going to save millions of dollars just buy changing the external linings to fiber cement.
Actually I don't really see how its cheaper at all considering the work is doubled up, You have to put on the blue board and then render it, As opposed to just laying bricks
http://www.bmtqs.com.au/construction_cost_table.htm
So you could build an average sort of house with 300sq on the floor which would equal about a 800sqm house for about 300k
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