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Caviteclad Neopanel


Christchurch’s devastating earthquake on 22 February 2011 reminded us all of the power of Mother Nature.  It caused massive amounts of damage to a vast number of residential and commercial buildings, the majority of which were clad in some form of brick veneer.  Although it is fair to say that the bricks didn’t fall off every building they were attached to, even where there has been minimal damag in most cases at least some cracking has occurred.  Due to the instability of any remaining brick and the unknown state of the brick ties holding the remaining veneer in place, all of the bricks will have to be removed so a new exterior cladding can be installed. 

The questions that every owner of one of these dwellings should now be asking themselves are;

  1. Am I really sure that the shaking has stopped (i.e. what’s the likely risk of damage from aftershocks)?
  2. Do I really want to reclad my home with more heavyweight bricks (i.e. potential risk factors)?  
  3. Are there access issues at my site that may make a new brick veneer difficult or expensive to install (i.e. my home is on a sloping site surrounded by a lot of immovable landscaping)?
  4. What if only part of my brick cladding needs to be replaced?  Will I be able to get matching bricks for the repairs? If I can’t get matching bricks what will be the additional cost of plastering over my existing bricks?
  5. Will my insurance cover the additional cost of plastering over my bricks and will the plasterwork crack if there are any small shakes or further ground subsidence in the future
  6. What alternatives do I have?

 

For anyone who has any concerns or doubts about recladding with bricks, Caviteclad Neopanel may provide a solution.  Caviteclad Neopanel is a cavity-based external wall cladding system for residential and light commercial buildings where domestic construction techniques are used.  Caviteclad Neopanel is an Exterior Insulation and Finishing System (EIFS) that uses either 70mm or 90mm Neopor EPS panels fixed over either a 40-50 mm cavity as a backing substrate that is subsequently plastered to provide a lightweight, durable exterior cladding system.  The system is fully BRANZ appraised and incorporates a primary and secondary means of weather resistance (first and second line of defence) against water penetration.  This is achieved by not only separating the cladding from the external wall framing with a nominal 40 mm drained cavity, but by incorporating proprietary flashings into the system unlike the original brick wall.  Not only will Caviteclad Neopanel massively increase the existing thermal envelope of every dwelling to which it is applied, but structural raking tests using EIF Systems have proven that the fixings used are able to move within the substrate.  This will massively reduce the likelihood of future earthquake damage or settlement damage occurring in the cladding even in extreme circumstances.