Skani Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Yes, I'd agree that house looks like fibro - made from fibro asbestos sheets and the "ridges" you see are strips covering the joins in the sheeting. (I notice in that ad a reference to Wittenoom Street. Wittenoom was "the" asbestos mining centre in Australia). In a weatherboard house you will be able to see the individual boards...as in this picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Our first house in Australia was a weatherboard and we lived in it 17 years with 4 kids growing up. Happy days. It was a great house. Tons of character . Every year we would paint one side wall to keep up with it- not that hard really. If anything went wrong my husband would jack it up and fix it ( it was on stumps). A lot easier to fix than a brick house. The only negative was that the sound insulation was poor so you could hear the neighbours next door when they sat out on their verandah at night. I'd have another anytime , I love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Yes I think we're a bit confused between the two. Husband thought weatherboard was asbestos but it's timber right? There's also homes made from other materials..cellu something? There's this product which I came across at a building expo http://www.permatimber.com.au/ The rep I spoke to claimed a 50 year maintenance-free life. :wideeyed: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina2 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Not all fibro is asbestos. Fibro are much cheaper as to be honest they are not that attractive, BUT you could cover the outside walls with one of many types of weatherboards some never need painting. http://regencyreno.com.au Coming from Queensland originally we always lived in Weatherboard houses. Loved them because they are so much easier to extend than brick. Just make sure you get a really good building inspection and pest inspection done before you sign anything or make your contract subject to building and pest inspection, and dont always go for the cheapest inspectors or even one recommended by the real estate agent (just made that mistake) If you can pick something up cheap that is not quite what you want you can renovate both inside and out, adding insulation bats to walls and ceilings. There is another new product now but cant remember the name (others might be able to help) sort of a white foam you put under the floor to stop cold getting in and heat escaping. You can ad verandahs quite easly and they do ad to the look of a plain house. Last weathboard house we had in Qld we bought VERY cheap, 2 bed, 1 bath, 1/2 a kitchen, and a hole in the roof. Ended up with 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, formal dining, formal lounge, rumpus, huge modern kitchen, laundry and huge decks. We were younger then but pulling down walls and ceiling was was great fun. We did what we could do and hired trades people to do what we couldnt do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyHeart Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 The prices are very attractive I have to say. Re fibro, I think our extension ceiling is fibro, house was built mid 70s. There's a lot of asbestos in Perth, fencing etc. I wouldn't willingly buy an (asbestos) fibro home but I suppose at the right price I would consider if not wanting to do reno's. No it's the weatherboard homes that appeal the most. The prospect of an area move and jobs, schools etc is daunting though..silly considering we moved halfway across the world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina2 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 must say I know very little about WA. WA and NT are the only states we have not been to. I agree with you my perfect home would be weatherboard on the outside and modern on the inside. Are you moving far ? You often find the older homes are on bigger blocks as well . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyHeart Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 must say I know very little about WA. WA and NT are the only states we have not been to. I agree with you my perfect home would be weatherboard on the outside and modern on the inside. Are you moving far ? You often find the older homes are on bigger blocks as well . Probably moving about 2 to 3 hours south of Perth. Our house now is on a bigger block so I would like some space though the home itself needn't be large. About an acre would be perfect but could settle for less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 There are numerous fake weatherboard products on the market, usually some form of plastic that never need painting, don't fade, have good insulation properties and look like the real thing. Had a place clad in them when the wooden boards rotted through, absolutely fantastic. Asbestos was phased out of fibro products in the '80s, and there are normally indicators in the sheets as to whether they are asbestos or not (google it, too many to mention). A very salient point is that fibro was not just limited to external cladding, but was used extensively as roof tiling, under eaves, to clad bathrooms, laundries and other wet areas, as pipes and numerous other applications. If your house dates before 1985, even if it's brick and tile, you will in all likelihood have asbestos fibro somewhere in it. The other thing is that unless its friable or you're doing something to powder it, it's innocuous; it doesn't jump out and stalk you at night. There's guidelines about how much asbestos sheeting you can remove yourself without having to get professionals in, it used to be 20 square metres but I think that was changed recently, and the precautions were to get a P2 mask, damp down the board and smash it, rather than saw it. On a side note, there's a lot of debate as to whether white and brown asbestos are massively harmful; blue asbestos is the one you don't want to mess with as the crystals are acicular (needle-like, stick in the lungs). Neither white or brown are that shape and are usually coughed up. This isn't to say they are not long-term dangerous, but any foreign matter sticking in the lungs is; silicosis being particularly nasty, and that's effectively powdered sand in the air. If you see a place you like but its got asbestos in it, use it as a negotiating point but don't be overly worried about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Yes I realise the one I pictured is Fibro. My mistake. Not distinguishing between the two. Our brick home now gets very hot and very cold so Im not too fussed about insulation as we plan to buy a smaller property and with some decent heating and cooling should be ok. Then you need decent insulation unless you are very rich? Upgraded the MIL house roof insulation, windows with tint, heavy backing curtains etc. Should add pelmets later, but it's made a huge difference, then we added ducted reverse cycle. -8C to 40+C and it's perfect all year round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 There are numerous fake weatherboard products on the market, usually some form of plastic that never need painting, don't fade, have good insulation properties and look like the real thing. Had a place clad in them when the wooden boards rotted through, absolutely fantastic. Asbestos was phased out of fibro products in the '80s, and there are normally indicators in the sheets as to whether they are asbestos or not (google it, too many to mention). A very salient point is that fibro was not just limited to external cladding, but was used extensively as roof tiling, under eaves, to clad bathrooms, laundries and other wet areas, as pipes and numerous other applications. If your house dates before 1985, even if it's brick and tile, you will in all likelihood have asbestos fibro somewhere in it. The other thing is that unless its friable or you're doing something to powder it, it's innocuous; it doesn't jump out and stalk you at night. There's guidelines about how much asbestos sheeting you can remove yourself without having to get professionals in, it used to be 20 square metres but I think that was changed recently, and the precautions were to get a P2 mask, damp down the board and smash it, rather than saw it. On a side note, there's a lot of debate as to whether white and brown asbestos are massively harmful; blue asbestos is the one you don't want to mess with as the crystals are acicular (needle-like, stick in the lungs). Neither white or brown are that shape and are usually coughed up. This isn't to say they are not long-term dangerous, but any foreign matter sticking in the lungs is; silicosis being particularly nasty, and that's effectively powdered sand in the air. If you see a place you like but its got asbestos in it, use it as a negotiating point but don't be overly worried about it. One of the most intelligent posts on this forum for a long time..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loopylou13 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Don't smash it my hubby is a licensed asbestos removalist in vic They try to remove the asbestos in full sheets to avoid the fibres being released The regs say u can remove 10sqm over an hour in 7 days (in vic) if you do it yourself, but it needs to be disposed of properly double wrapped in polythene and taken to a EPA approved waste transfer station that accepts asbestos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillianhofs Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Yes I realise the one I pictured is Fibro. My mistake. Not distinguishing between the two. Our brick home now gets very hot and very cold so Im not too fussed about insulation as we plan to buy a smaller property and with some decent heating and cooling should be ok. I think then you should look for some decent insulation for the doors/windows and roofing. You could also use curtains, whenever you wish to increase the temperature of the house. I had used insulation windows from alpha you can check them http://www.alphaimpactwindows.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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