Thread: A Little help / advise required...

Hi to all, this is my first post so I hope I make it clear as to the advise I which to obtain...

My husband & I have taken down the bricks on the front of our house due to very large crackes in the motar due to drought. The house was weather board orginally some 60-70yrs ago and was bricked over possibly 40yo. The brick wall was loose to a point where you could move with your hand - not safe I would think.


We are in the process of putting in wall insul batts, new liner foil and battens to put blue board up. Reading previous post it seems that bb should be hung vertically?? We have put up a small section horizontal. What is the importance of hanging vertical against horizontal?


New windows are also going in to replace the old double hung with aluminum sliders with external arch. This leads me to another question, do you put your window in before you blueboard so you can silicone the al arch to bb or put your window in the slid the bb behind?


I would be truly greatful if someone could help me. I'm sure there will be pleanty more questions I have to ask in the near furture. Renovations, you got to love it!!


Thanx in advance Jak

Jak,

Welcome to the Forum and good luck with your reno. My understanding is that as long as the Blueboard is fixed at the appropriate centres there is no structural reason not to fix it horizontally. The main advantage of fixing it vertically is to simplify patching the joins - in single level applications it will also mean no butt joins where the ends of sheets meet with no recess.

In brick veneer houses they put up the frame, put in the window frames and then brick it in - same story for blueboard. As you said, put in the windows then fix and seal the blueboard around them.

Welcome to the forum. For doing renos I suggest you get Allan Stain'es book Owner Builder & Renovator from here http://www.peachinstitute.com/books.html or Bunnings. It'll save you time and money and help you to ask the right questions here and to tradies etc.

Blueboard should be installed vertically as per instructions - see: http://www.jameshardie.com.au/produc...cification.pdf. Ronaldo is right that it is not for structural reasons, but it is important even so. The issue is to get solid and matching joints using the recessed edges according to the system design. Trying to join without the recess and tape etc will result in cracks appearing. The usual practice if you must use horizontally is to grind a new matching recess and that can take a lot of work - but for one or two small sheet not such a problem. The guide explains about that.

The windows should go in before and levelled, squared up, flashed and sealed as needed. The window manufacturer will have instructions for the installation of the particular window. Or if you are using s/h windows see if you can get some instructions from the same maker. they vary a bit and flashing and installation is very important to get right - and very hard to fix later.

Thanks for your prompt reply, it good to know that there is honest adivse out there to help us diy's. Even if we had hung bb vertically there still will be butt joins given that it is only a small area so that is why I was uncertain about the vertical v's horizontal. Would you suggest for a plater to come in get do the joins to ensure you have a smooth finish?? We are unable to hang any more bb until our windows go in now..

Look forward to more helpful advise for further projects which I'm sure will be required.

My hushand did purchase the House Building Manual by Allan Staines but read it after the BB was put up.. Should have read the book first - nothing like doing things backward!!. I have not been able to get onto the James Hardie web site to look at the specs for BB. Not too sure if anyone else has had the same problem.

I'm pleasded to know that the window is required to go in first as we have stopped puuting up the BB. Just hope now that we have got all the right measurements for the windows but that was done by the manufacturer stud openings etc.

Thanks for your time & reply

I just tried the link in my post above to the BB pdf on the James Hardy site and it worked fine. Sometimes you need to copy the URL and paste it into the browser bar not just click on it.

Main thing with any joints is to ensure that you have a recess to allow the jointing system to do its job. So use a plain small and cheap (Ozito etc) 100mm grinder with a masonry blade to carefully taper the edges - try to match the factory edges already on the board. Usual method is a run down a marked line with the edge of the grinder to the depth needed (around 2-3mm) the grind out to the edge at that depth and at a slight angle. Can be done by hand with a bit of care. Masks and goggles a must. Best to do that edge work before fixing of course. Might be able to be done in situ but harder.