Rot

[Swoop]

...put batts in then building paper and replace weatherboards.l

Building paper is no longer acceptable. It provides too much ventilation and water protection, so we must now use plastic crap that seals the moisture in. [/sarcasm]

Rimu? Or totara?

One splits if a fly farts within half a mile, the other requires fission plasma tools to make even a tiny dent, ordinary nails just bend.

The fission-plasma tools will be required for the aged rimu! Pre-drilling is your friend here!

[Laava]

we must now use plastic crap that seals the moisture in. !

What do you mean? What is wrong with Frameguard II or Difflex? They are breatheable membranes both of them.

[Swoop]

Uh-huh...
I wait for the next rounds of the building crisis. Linea weatherboards, polystyrene insulation in wall and ceiling cavities, "breathable" membranes which then require cavity battens as well...

[Jonno.]

Err, what do you think the flaw is in the cavity system?

[Swoop]

Cavities are fine. The crucial element is letting air circulate and getting everything "breathing". NZ has historically had houses without insulation and now there is the great rush to get up to spec with houses from other parts of the world. The typical kiwi approach is to do any job via the cheapest method possible and so we are left with giant cock-ups like "leaky building syndrome"... which is shorthand for "crap designing and building".

The old black building paper worked fine. A nice gap where the upper and lower roll overlapped certainly permitted a bit of ventilation into the cavity yet kept water out. I live in a 40yr old house that doesn't have any membrane, yet is totally rot free. I guess most council's would have kittens if that method was used today...

Simply put we are adding extra, unnecessary layers of complexity and cost onto items that function best when kept simple.
Then James Hardie comes along with their crap products and fu*ks everything up...

[The Stranger:Me]

Uh-huh...
I wait for the next rounds of the building crisis. Linea weatherboards, polystyrene insulation in wall and ceiling cavities, "breathable" membranes which then require cavity battens as well...

Cavities are fine. The crucial element is letting air circulate and getting everything "breathing". NZ has historically had houses without insulation and now there is the great rush to get up to spec with houses from other parts of the world. The typical kiwi approach is to do any job via the cheapest method possible and so we are left with giant cock-ups like "leaky building syndrome"... which is shorthand for "crap designing and building".

The old black building paper worked fine. A nice gap where the upper and lower roll overlapped certainly permitted a bit of ventilation into the cavity yet kept water out. I live in a 40yr old house that doesn't have any membrane, yet is totally rot free. I guess most council's would have kittens if that method was used today...

Simply put we are adding extra, unnecessary layers of complexity and cost onto items that function best when kept simple.
Then James Hardie comes along with their crap products and fu*ks everything up...

Just wondering, are you per chance a builder?

[Jonno.]

Cavities are fine. The crucial element is letting air circulate and getting everything "breathing". NZ has historically had houses without insulation and now there is the great rush to get up to spec with houses from other parts of the world. The typical kiwi approach is to do any job via the cheapest method possible and so we are left with giant cock-ups like "leaky building syndrome"... which is shorthand for "crap designing and building".

The old black building paper worked fine. A nice gap where the upper and lower roll overlapped certainly permitted a bit of ventilation into the cavity yet kept water out. I live in a 40yr old house that doesn't have any membrane, yet is totally rot free. I guess most council's would have kittens if that method was used today...

Simply put we are adding extra, unnecessary layers of complexity and cost onto items that function best when kept simple.
Then James Hardie comes along with their crap products and fu*ks everything up...

If it always worked fine I wouldn't have had a job for the last 2 years