Lintels over openings in brick veneer and masonry walls
A lintel is a small component that carries the whole wall above an opening. This guide covers choosing the type, checking the bearing, integrating the cavity tray and preventing cracks.
12 min read
Topic
Framing
Articles and news about Framing for Australian builders.
Lintels over openings in brick veneer and masonry walls
A lintel is a small component that carries the whole wall above an opening. This guide covers choosing the type, checking the bearing, integrating the cavity tray and preventing cracks.
12 min read
Temporary bracing and propping during construction works
Temporary supports hold a building up while you change it, and much of the trouble on a residential site happens while they are in place. Here is how to decide what needs support, when an engineer is needed and when it is safe to take a prop away.
11 min read
Fire separation between attached homes: what builders must get right
Between attached homes, the separating wall, its penetrations and its junctions decide whether a fire stays in one dwelling. These are the details most often missed on site.
12 min read
Continuous wall insulation over framing: what builders must get right
A continuous insulation layer only works if it is continuous. The fixings, the joints and the window reveals decide whether the layer does its job or quietly becomes a set of cold bridges under a new cladding.
12 min read
Wet frames and shrinking timber: the moisture defects behind cracks, nail pops and sticking doors
Timber moves as it gains and loses moisture, mostly across the grain. Enclose a wet frame and the shrinkage shows up in the linings months later. How to manage moisture from delivery to handover.
7 min read
Termite management for new homes: physical, chemical and slab systems, and how they fail
Termites cause some of the most expensive damage in Australian homes, and most attacks exploit gaps in the barrier or the inspection zone. How the systems work, what the NCC expects, and how builders and owners keep them effective.
8 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
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
Roof truss bracing and tie-down checks before sheeting
Bracing and tie-down are routinely signed off without being checked, because the work is done by someone else and the paperwork arrives before the roof does. Here is how to inspect it before sheeting closes the frame in.
11 min read
Engineered floor joists: installation errors that show up later
Most engineered joist failures are not manufacturing faults. They are penetrations cut in the wrong place, bearings detailed for solid timber, and moisture allowed into a member that cannot dry.
11 min read
Steel framing fixing details: how cold-formed frames are actually fastened
Cold-formed steel frames fail at the connections, not the members. This covers screw and fixing selection, how load reaches the fixing, galvanic risk between dissimilar metals, and what to inspect before the frame is closed up.
12 min read
Nail plates, cyclone washers and fixing schedules for timber frames
The fixing schedule tells you what holds the frame together. If you only read it after the plasterboard goes on, you are relying on someone else’s work with no way to check it.
15 min read