90s brick and weatherboard house - no cavity?

[jack2016]

I am looking at a 90s house that is brick on ground floor and stained wood where the roof triangle area is.
The house plan is very basic but the drawings do not appear to show much, very basic in those times.
There is a line that says "75mm fibreglass batts to outside walls.
This made me wonder - brick houses are not required to have cavity and building paper in that era too?

Is this kind of house safe to buy?

[jimO]

a 90s house would have a cavity behind bricks with building paper but no cavity behind weatherboards

[jack2016]

a 90s house would have a cavity behind bricks with building paper but no cavity behind weatherboards

Thanks jimO,
The house has 2 storeys with a very long low roof - with good eaves - (comes all the way down to 1st storey).
In fact the 2nd storey is like one giant attic if you know what I mean.

The 1st storey is all brick.
The "attic" aka 2nd storey is clad with stained wood of some sort which has a bit of warping.

So will the "attic" have a cavity in the walls?

There are no drawings for the attic weatherboards.

Thanks again.

[jimO]

aany weatherboard will be fixed directly to the studs on the out side and the gib will be fixed directly to the studs on the inside

[jack2016]

hi thanks. so the insulation would get wet in that case?

[jimO]

hi thanks. so the insulation would get wet in that case?

hopefully not

[OnTheMove]

IM no expert Jim, all I know is our brick/polystyrene and rendering quality got worse as the years went on and people wanted monoloith houses on the cheap.

If its REAL Brick, surely, thats a plus?

[nick000]

You'll never have a problem with brick. I assume it's timber framed? And no, building wrap has only been commonly used for the last decade or so.

[John the builder]

'Building paper' was part of NZS 3604 from at least 1986. The term 'building wraps' is more recent and indicates a different role in the moisture management from paper that was more condensation control and air barrier.

Weatherboards don't need a cavity as they behave in a similar way with any leaks directed to the exterior as water hits the board below the leak (even if the water is running down the inside face and there is air leakage that has a drying effect. Cavity does provide more robustness)

[jack2016]

'Building paper' was part of NZS 3604 from at least 1986. The term 'building wraps' is more recent and indicates a different role in the moisture management from paper that was more condensation control and air barrier.

Weatherboards don't need a cavity as they behave in a similar way with any leaks directed to the exterior as water hits the board below the leak (even if the water is running down the inside face and there is air leakage that has a drying effect. Cavity does provide more robustness)

Thanks.

A weatherboard house built today 2019, will it have cavity (is it required)?

[John the builder]

it may not unless high risk but most designs provide one anyway, it is a no brainer for new work.

Depends on Risk Score up to 12?
from Table 2 E2AS1

https://www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/building-code-compliance/e-moisture/e2-external-moisture/e2-riskmatrix.pdf

what you describe is unlikely to be 6 or more

[nick000]

Yes, as there is a misconception that there is something wrong if there is not a cavity. It's the first thing that agents do is try to grab their hand under the cladding to see if there is a cavity

[John the builder]

cavitys are the "airbags" of the building but cars are still good value without them?

[Wayne]

cavitys are the "airbags" of the building but cars are still good value without them?

Good comment - but I'd add "if designed and built right".

[jack2016]

thanks again everyone, i really appreciate all your comments