Thread: Hebel Costs

Seen it, used it, not impressed! Its weak & ends up cracking all over the place.

I'm not entirely convinced about the Hebel either Carpenter,but am usually "jumped"all over by the other tradesmen on the job (I'm a bricklayer)who speak glowingly about it.Of course the main thing to them is that they can fix it themselves and of course eliminate the bricklaying costs.My brother has just costed one out and says that the materails are not much different from a good high range brick(about 90odd cents here or approx $45 a sq mtr)A hebel powerpanel (600mm*2400mm-1.44sq mtrs)I think from memory is about $56 so the basic costs were similiar but the labour costs to install,patch and render with rockcote or similiar were miles higher than brick or block.As for the two story job they do use it here with no apparent problems (as yet)But I have mates up the coast who reckon they have seen quite a few problems with cracking etc.Of course they are mostly bricklayers and instinctivly dislike it for obvious reasons.You need normal size footings to carry it so that might the first thing to check.Anyway,I see lots of it used these days and it looks like it is here to stay with the advantages of fairly moderate skills to fix it,themal value,etc.Anyway,see how it prices out.Regards Terry

Thanks guys. I have to reclad a house and I have read elsewhere on the forum about how good this stuff is. I wasn't convinced either. I think I may stay with traditional cladding or even blue board.....

Jaypee,
the one good thing about Hebel is the insulative properties, not fantastic but probably better then traditional systems. I reckon when you reach the building phase, it is an opertunity to insulate & make a big impact on the comfort of your house, so no scrimping. This stuff is good http://www1.aircell.com.au/ & combined with standard insulation (go the polyester, not the horrible fibreglass crap) its worth it.

I can speak from experience about Hebel cracking. We are in cane country -Mackay, FNQ where there is a heap of soil movement between wet and dry seasons. We have up to 25mm -Yes I said 25mm, of movement.Thats the amount my gate posts float up and down.
The Hebel does crack but can be repaired with the Hebel cement.None of the cracks would be wider than .5mm wide.It has sealed reinforcing inside it and has not moved much relative to
As a retro fit it is ok if your framing is straight and square.There was a heap of work in packing out the studs so you could look down the wall from the end and see it all plumb.

Other negatives are that the surface finish I put on it.Taubans Armourwall does not seem to have fillled the porous Hebel surface and certain wall surafces are prone to mould.A big hit with bleach and a water blaster every couple of years has sorted it.

The average summer internal temperature has dropped by several degrees at least, but we had the ceiling cavity insulated with a cellulose wool product.
I hope this is of assistance.
Would I use it again?
Yes ,but only on a new house with minimal movement.

Hope this helps

Grahame

Is the Hebel itself cracking? Or is it the expansion joint? Are you talking about a house with expansion joints?

Cheers

Namtrak
I am talking about the Hebel sheet it self. It is worst where there is a directional change in the wall at the corners where a stump has moved.I tried to take a digital piccy this arvo but the picture flares with the light color of the paint. The house was restumped 11 years ago.The bottom of the sheets are supported by 75 x 75 x 10 duragal angle sections bolted to the outside bearers.The frame could not be any more rigid if I tried. If it matters it is an old house made of real wood (hardwood) not pine crap. While the original external sheets where off I added as many cyclone rods as I could squeeze in-either sides of openings and every meter.
This was when I found out that the ######## who restumped it used black strap iron painted silver to strap the bearers to the external concrete posts and used unwashed (salt)river sand and gravel to concrete the internal duragal posts which have corroded through the duragal at ground level.

If you have good soil go for it,I would uses the stuff again if I built new.
I you are going DIY remember the hebel needs tungsten tip saws to cut it and has a corrission coated re inforce mesh inside.
There was a picture somehere of Hebel houses still standing in Kobe Japan after an earthquake,so that says something about it.Also it has a three hour fire rating.I built an oxy welding bench topped with my hebel off cuts and it has lasted 4 years at the man arts dept at the high school where I teach.

Grahame

Thanks for that Grahame. I went and had a look at a display home of it, with cut throughs and I like the end effect, fire rating and strength. But it is a concern that the Hebel itself cracks. I might quiz them about movement allowances and soil testing results

Cheers

Originally Posted by jaypee

Thanks guys. I have to reclad a house and I have read elsewhere on the forum about how good this stuff is. I wasn't convinced either. I think I may stay with traditional cladding or even blue board.....

Hi Jaypee, i'm going to texture coat a blueboard house in a month time,might put photos on the forum if able when job is done, cheers,
Joe the renderer.