The two-storey Welcome Bay house was originally framed with typical stud centres for the era of the house. "The existing timber framing centres were too far apart for standard building flexible wrap in that wind zone," says Masons Key Account Manager Graham Cater, "so the architect specified a rigid air barrier to overcome this, and to add extra bracing units."

Superior bracing

When contacted by project builders Davy Construction, who were looking for the best solution, Graham suggested Barricade Weather Defense System, a high-performance, three-part rigid air barrier system suitable for extra-high and specific engineering design (SED) wind zones.

"We had another product already specified," says Nick Thomson, Project Manager at Davy Construction, "but it was not correct for extra-high wind zones, so we switched to the Barricade Weather Defense System."

Due to its situation in an extra-high wind zone, the reclad had to conform to the bracing requirements set out in NZS 3604. For Nick, this was easily done using the Barricade Weather Defense Bracing Calculator on the Masons website, ensuring the completed project met the bracing demands for both wind and earthquake resistance.

Easier to install

Along with structural performance, Barricade Weather Defense brings the techniques and benefits of commercial construction to residential projects. As a hybrid system, it combines a rigid air barrier with a modern synthetic weather-resistive building wrap and offers simpler installation — the sticky wrap doesn’t fly around in the wind, is easy to put on and does not need flashing tapes on the fibre cement panel wall joins.

Barricade Weather Defense is a three-part system comprising 6mm or 9mm fibre cement boards, weather- and UV-resistant Barricade WD self-adhesive wrap, and 40 Below Flex flashing tape for openings. For Nick and his team, the advantages of using a self-adhesive wrap soon became clear.

"With normal building paper we have to hold it, staple and pull it tight," says Nick. "I initially thought Barricade WD was going to be tricky with the adhesive paper, but it goes up faster. It’s much thicker so it’s less impacted by the wind and doesn’t move around as much when handling. There’s also no need to tape the joints, which is one of the big advantages of a self-adhesive wrap."

Keeping construction moving

Once installed, Barricade Weather Defense System seals the building envelope, offering up to 150 days of air, moisture and UV resistance before the cladding is applied, and adding 30 minutes FRR of fire protection with the 6mm fibre cement. Barricade WD also provides very substantial secondary defence against moisture for the life of the cladding, allowing water vapour to escape and assisting with interstitial drying.

With the building envelope secured, Barricade Weather Defense System allows for interior construction to continue for up to five months pre-cladding, keeping downtime to a minimum and reducing cost overruns. And because it’s a rigid barrier, the site can be locked up and secured against non-weather intruders once the joinery is installed.

For their first time using Barricade Weather Defense System, the team at Davy Construction were highly impressed. "We used it on the whole house," says Nick, "two-storey, four bedrooms, and it went up easily — the adhesive paper is thicker, easier to smooth out, and it doesn’t flap in the wind."