Smart sensors on site: concrete maturity, slab moisture and humidity monitoring explained
Small wireless sensors can tell you when a slab is strong enough to load, when it is dry enough for flooring, and whether a frame is too wet to line. Where they save time and callbacks, and where a meter and common sense will do.
8 min read
Blog
Building Materials
What the materials in a house are doing: new products, how established ones perform, supply and prices, and the details that decide whether they last.
Smart sensors on site: concrete maturity, slab moisture and humidity monitoring explained
Small wireless sensors can tell you when a slab is strong enough to load, when it is dry enough for flooring, and whether a frame is too wet to line. Where they save time and callbacks, and where a meter and common sense will do.
8 min read
Wet area tiling: lipping, movement joints and adhesive selection
Lipping is rarely a tiler’s fault alone. It is the visible end of a chain that starts with the substrate, the adhesive bed and where the movement joints were put.
11 min read
Windows and glazing: U-value, SHGC, frames and the installation details that stop leaks
Windows are the biggest lever in a home’s energy rating and one of the most common sources of leaks. What the performance numbers mean, how frames and glass compare, and how to install windows so they stay dry.
8 min read
Low-carbon concrete: what builders can specify, and what changes on site
Concrete is the biggest source of embodied carbon in most houses, and almost all of it comes from the cement. Here is how low-carbon mixes work, how to specify them, and the site practices that make them perform.
8 min read
Shower and bath setdowns: getting substrate geometry and waste layout right
A setdown is a substrate decision that locks in the fall, the finished floor level and the waste position long before anyone rolls out membrane. Get the geometry wrong and the waterproofing cannot rescue it.
10 min read
Steel vs timber framing: cost, speed, termites, thermal bridging and what goes wrong with each
Most Australian houses are framed in timber, but light-gauge steel has a loyal following. An honest comparison of cost, speed, performance and the defects each material is prone to.
9 min read
Winter condensation in new homes: why it happens, how to diagnose it, and how to build it out
Every winter, builders get the same call: “there’s water on the windows and mould in the wardrobe.” Here is how to work out whether it is the house or how it is being lived in, and the details that stop it happening.
10 min read
Prefab and modular construction in Australia: how it works, what it costs and where it fails
Governments want more homes built in factories. From wall frames to complete modules, this is how prefabrication works, where it genuinely saves time, and the site interfaces that decide whether it succeeds.
9 min read
Mass timber in Australia: CLT, glulam and what builders need to know before using it
Sydney’s Atlassian Central has just topped out as the world’s tallest hybrid timber tower. Mass timber is also turning up in social housing and townhouses. Here is how it works and what a builder has to get right.
9 min read
Masonry flashing and weep holes: where water is meant to leave the wall
Water will get into a cavity wall. The detail that decides whether the building performs is where that water leaves. This article covers the drainage path from the outer leaf to the outside face.
12 min read
Engineered stone ban: what builders, cabinet makers and renovators must do now
Engineered stone can no longer be supplied, installed or processed in Australia, but the silica rules reach much further. What the ban means for kitchens, renovations and every cut into concrete, brick and tile.
9 min read
Brickwork movement joints, ties and articulation on NSW residential jobs
Masonry moves. Movement joints, correctly specified ties and articulation at the frame give it somewhere to go, and the defects that follow when they do not are expensive and slow to appear.
12 min read