Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 22, 2009 11:31 pm Hi Guys, I have never seen a house built that didnt have either a wood or steel frame. How come in WA you guys only use brick and no frame??? Is there a benefit to only brick?? wouldnt it be harder to run cables etc?? Living in Caloundra Thread****** Lovin my house all finished!!! Now tackling the HUGE task of the Garden- viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14782 Re: Building in WA?? Why no frame 6Apr 23, 2009 8:15 pm Not sure why double brick is standard here, it does have benefits when it comes to thermal insulation properties and termites, maybe also fire? I'm a bit in the old school of though and like the solidness of brick. Maybe it was just the Europeans that started off in the Swan Valley etc, they would have been used to brick houses back home and would have built their original ones themselves, I'm guessing it would have stemmed from there (I'm gathering that Perth has a rich European history, I don't particularly know for a fact). Yes it does get built on a slab, outer wall on the outside, inner wall on the slab. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ For plumbing they just have to cut through the bricks! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Building in WA?? Why no frame 8Apr 27, 2009 12:10 am It may just be my pessimistic Victorian outlook here, but I think they build with double brick here in WA because they are too 'stuck in their ways' to explore other options! After all look how far we are behind the rest of Australia, we aren't called 'Wait Awhile' for no good reason. In all seriousness I did ask when we first signed up why WA dont do waffle slabs with the styrene and the reply was "You can do slabs a different way? I didnt know that" Now if they dont know that slabs can be done different ways it doesn't surprise me that they have no idea on other ways to build a house. Personally I dont think there are any benefits to a double brick over a brick veneer. Our house gets blooming hot in summer, stays hot most of the night, and in winter gets just as cold. Add to that the crappy plaster job, all the dents, scratches and holes you get by touching the walls not to mention how hard it is to patch the stuff up when you get dents (or heaven forbid add a point that you forgot) etc, makes double brick the less appealing way to build! I hope this hasn't annoyed any WA people here...this is only my point of view! Re: Building in WA?? Why no frame 9Apr 27, 2009 12:33 am Hi, Just wanted to mention that I'm living in a brick veneer house at the moment and in the heat of summer its sometimes up to 7 or 8 degrees hotter than the double brick houses in the same street with the same orientation. I think the orientation of your house has alot to do with how hot it gets, but would vouch for double brick (with insulation obviousy) making a positive difference as well. I think we also generally have a longer period of hot weather than lots of the east, especially north west WA. Just my own experiences though! Re: Building in WA?? Why no frame 10Apr 27, 2009 12:41 am the interesting thing I've noticed in the brick and wood frame houses over east is they have insulation between the 2 . Have brick veneer houses always done this? I didn't think our WA brick veneer did way back when... Re: Building in WA?? Why no frame 11Apr 27, 2009 12:55 am The reason we have double brick in WA is because of the high thermal mass it provides. Having a high thermal mass in our climate is more beneficial than having the higher insulative properties that framed construction gives. (This is assuming Perth climate, not up north) Re: Building in WA?? Why no frame 12Apr 27, 2009 1:10 am A good list (although perhaps slightly biased being from a brick manufacturer): http://www.australbrick.com.au/vic/why_ ... _brick.php Looks amazing, however I think for double story application I think noise matters , we have a patio which makes ticking noises all the time, some times they are as… 6 3682 6 11466 That sucks! Hope it all works out. Good to move away from steel anyway for all your reasons, but it's also thermally poor. 16 17709 |