I also note that it says "solid plaster on building paper on 4.5 Hardibacker". All of this screams out "leaky home" to me, or at least the potential for it, including the fact that there is no vented cavity.
Was it customary to actually put plaster on building paper as recently as the 90s? Would this be older style roofing type paper rather than Tyvek or similar? What does "P&G" mean?
I'm asking on behalf of friends that are thinking of buying this. I've been in the trades in NZ since 2005, but I know things have changed considerably since the 90s.
jkp58,
Jun 24, 8:49pm
p&g planer gauge timber mass produced to a size.Yes this was common plaster over hardies no cavity. Have it moisture tested .In the ninties the framing could also be untreated apart from the bottom plate
tweake,
Jun 24, 8:50pm
that sounds like what i saw on sites in the 90's.
however the big thing will be is it original ? also the flashings and windows was a big source of the problems.
zak410,
Jun 24, 8:56pm
Good time of year to inspect it. See it after few days of heavy rain and check for any sign of cracks where the hardybacker sheets join and around windows and ranchsliders.
stevo2,
Jun 24, 9:13pm
As a builder, I wouldnt even consider it. Hardibacker is bad and a 300mm soffit makes it worse. It either leaks now or its going to. Tick tick tick.
boar,
Jun 24, 10:37pm
Walk away
echoriath,
Jun 24, 11:00pm
Thanks for the info so far.
The windows mostly have head flashings, but a couple did not. The plaster has pulled away from the aluminum window frames at points, which is also a worry. There is also very minor cracking running horizontally out from near the tops or bottoms of a couple of the windows.
The gib all seems intact inside, and I could not smell anything funny like mold inside.
I've advised my friends to look into thermal imaging possibilities or similar.
But did the detail really go plaster, paper, hardibacker, timber? Wouldn't the paper be over the timber, then the hardibacker?
stevo2,
Jun 25, 5:45am
You are correct Plaster Hardies Paper and framing. A few years before that it was plaster onto netting applied over paper onto framing.
blueviking,
Jun 25, 7:08am
If it's got aluminum windows it will leak. As all houses do, no matter what the cladding is.The early silver aluminum had no drain holes, so all the water just runs inside the framing. Some had small holes that clogged easily. Check that the windows have drain holes. The cladding won't leak, it's just all the penetrations that will leak. Nothing a bit of ms sealant round the edges of the windows can't fix. Just don't seal the bottom of the window, allow the water out.
martin11,
Jun 25, 8:15am
Sealants around the edges will just hide the problems for a while . there is probably no flashings around the windows and the timber may already be affected . The use of sealants without flashings behind in that period was a bad mistake ,it has not worked as it intended .
tegretol,
Jun 25, 9:45am
Why do you say this?
martin11,
Jun 25, 9:57am
Normally had a solid backing such as ply or hardies behind sometimes it was over weather boards that had gone to far for repair to hide everything
golfdiver,
Jun 25, 10:24am
Stop walking, start running
trade4us2,
Jun 25, 12:04pm
I imagine that now there are plastic double or triple glazed windows that would do a good job. I have very old wooden window frames, and I don't have any leaks or condensation.
tweake,
Jun 25, 1:00pm
you miss the point.
they all leak. thats why you have a drainage system behind them. old homes used the empty walls as the drainage system. the single biggest cause of leaky home syndrome is the thinking that homes do not leak. reality is they do and always will. those 90's plaster home where all designed with the idea that they are waterproof, which they are not and thats why they rot out.
tegretol,
Jun 25, 4:19pm
My 70's stucco on diagonal planking with a 900mm eve is as dry as they come. Any hairline cracks in the plaster have been painted and sealed over and it's probably the lowest maintenance house I've owned. I've had most of the internal cladding off over the years and have never found even the slightest suggestion of moisture either past or present. In my view these fang-dangled new systems are a retrograde step intended to feed the coffers of Hardies and Fletchers.
stevo2,
Jun 25, 5:48pm
If you had repaired as many leakers as I have, you wouldnt be asking. Hardibacker is the worst substrate ever for plastering over. Much worse than polystyrene which is bad enough.
stevo2,
Jun 25, 5:51pm
Your house will be fine if you keep the maintenance up. Tried and tested construction methods.
tegretol,
Jun 25, 6:19pm
In what way? There is usually a layer of paper then wire mesh stapled to it first. I am very interested to hear what the problem is.
No cavity by the looks what did you expect . Top of sheet sealed to sloping parts by the chimney with silicon ? Crap design house
tweake,
Jun 26, 8:42am
trusses and all. how much of the house was left ?
stevo2,
Jun 26, 5:55pm
What did I expect? I expect no-one in their right mind to buy a Hardibacker/Plaster house without a cavity but the OP is asking about a house built using the same materials and it wont have a cavity either. What do YOU expect?
stevo2,
Jun 26, 5:57pm
Replaced about 70% of framing and 30% of the trusses on that one. Probably a 450m2 house built in the late 90's.
ksam,
Jun 26, 6:46pm
The problem is, they leak, fact. Who cares 'in what way', you've got a professional builder telling you how many he's repaired due to this crap product, and you're concerned with 'in what way', like you have some magic solution.
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