# Forum Home Renovation Cladding  Magnesium oxide wallboard as cladding

## mullfitz

Has anyone used the product below for cladding 
I an thinking of using it for  the house that I have built and either using colorbond on the outside or rendering  over it   RENDER MANGNESIA BOARD 1/3 price of blueboard Melb $12sh cement sheet fibreboard | eBay  
I am in a flame zone area and the fire resistance  factor is partially  the reason I want to usei 
Does anyone have any other issues that they might  think could be a problem by using the product over blueboard   
Ta

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## mainly-outside

Hi Mullfitz,
I sell Modak board, it is Magnesium Oxide board and we do sell a lot of it. This is the Website ModakBoard - The Australian Building Board Alternative 
All building materials need to be accredited with the BCA the most recognised way is with Codemark, all new (modern materials) need it, or reams and reams of engineering and testing facility reports.
You mentioned that you are in a fire zone, I feel it fair to point out that all areas in fire areas are assessed in the form of a BAL (bushfire attack level) rating, these range from BAL 12.5, BAL 29, BAL 40, BAL FZ, if you house is in these areas you will need an accredited product or you could be wiped from your insurance company and in saying that even if your not in aBAL area, by selecting a building material that doesn't deem to comply you may not get insurance at all. Please remember you get what you pay for.
If your in my area come into the External Systems Centre at Caloundra and I can give you some addresses to look at jobs with Magnesium oxide board. We sell it for internal lining and flooring as well as external cladding, especially in all the areas that just got flooded because it doesn't disintegrate like gyprock and it is a lot stronger for rental properties. 
Modak is a lot better than blue board seeing it doesn't expand or contract like fibre cement, and is a lot stronger, I am biased seeing I sell Modak but I have been a Solid Plasterer for the last 18 years and blue board is the worst substrate I have ever come across, you wont have to ask around to far to find to many people with the same opinion.
Cheers
Chris

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## mullfitz

Thank you all for the advice and I have taken it in 
All I am doing is covering the frame and to keep the weather out and then using colorbond over that 
 Could I also use the Magnesium oxide wallboard as cladding internally then render it or normal render board  
I liove the look of  natural concrete internally    
Ta

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## Gaza

you can use 13mm fire rated plasterbaord for that, gives a better rating for fire see CSR website for fire rated wall systems.

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## mainly-outside

Hi Gaza,
With all due respect 13 mm Fyrecheck from CSR only has a 60/60/60 FRL where as Modak has a 90/240/240 FRL. Giving Magnesium oxide board 30 minutes as a minimum extra fire rating. 10mm Modak is cheaper and lighter also and doesn't require any special tools, you just treat it as gyprock. The other thing to note is that Fyrecheck has only got an internal fire rating, the FRL's are separate for internal and external. FRL is different to BAL. 
Mulfitz,
You could definitely use mag board internally, and to finish it off  in that OFC (off form concrete) look you use a gypsum based or lime putty render. I would recommend a pre packaged one and can only recommend the RSA one out of experience. Their product is called Patch smooth, you add 10% GP cement in it and polish it up with a steel trowel, either a venetian trowel or a pool trowel it is also sandable. If your not a solid plasterer I would not recommend having a go at white set with a lime putty plaster. 
cheers Chris

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## mainly-outside

Hi Mulfitz,
I got you PM, you need to cler your PM box I cant reply.
Cheers

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## mullfitz

Done

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## mullfitz

Any idea of anyway I could finish the  Magnesium boards (as photo above ) excluding rendering could I use "texture paint or  normal paint 
Also does anyone know  if you could leave it in the weather for a short period of time without coating  ?

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## mainly-outside

Hi Mulfitz,
The Mgo boards will pull moisture out of the atmosphere and retain it when they are unsealed, you would want to use a moisture meter and wait until they are 15% or less moisture content before coating them in anything. A consequence of sealing over Mgo sheets with a high moisture content is re-hydration of the product, delamination and or blistering. Get yourself a cheap moisture meter suitable for masonry substrates and you will save your self a heap of money on materials and labour in the event that something goes pear shaped. Also use a paint that achieves over 150 micron dry film build or it will keep happening. 
Place looks like it is coming along  :Wink:

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## shauck

I've been doing a bit of a search on the MgO boards and came across this one (amongst others) Multiboard-eXRES_Brochure.pdf. What I like about it is there's no rendering required (as some products need) and it's for timber frame construction either with battening out or direct to studs. Its fixing is stainless steel nails using a brad nailer. Bit of a fuss with sealants and so on but I prefer this to the insane rendering process. Anyone got any comments on this product and is it a reputable one?  
Cheers, Su.

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## mainly-outside

If it isn't BCA compliant by having a CodeMark accreditation you would have to draw the line as you could be wiped from insurance or any other warranty claims with associated products you might have on your house.
The BCA compliant MgO boards such as Modak don't need to be rendered either, they have that good a surface on them that we have used them as internal lining to achieve a class 5 finish. You can also do a direct fix to timber or steel frame however in my opinion why would you? Direct fix cladding can be a world of dramas. You only need to look at the polystyrene cladding, such and awesome product and when used as direct fix like any product it can fail. The reason is that basic building practices seem to be forgotten with modern products, you would never see brick veneer without a cavity or weepholes, the same principal should be carried over to lightweight claddings. 
Stick to Codemarked products its just a lot safer and easier with insurance companies you can find all the codemarked modern building materials here ABCB - CodeMark Certified Products

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## shauck

I would think best to fix to battens rather than to studs.  
I've been through the website for Modak board and it would be good to see an installation manual for timber framed construction. Soon I hope.  
The other company with codemark accreditation, mgoboard, has a fairly non functioning website. Big shame.

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## mullfitz

I have been overseas and the person  who installed the boards(mainly my fault) didnt put a sealer on them, and now have they  been exposed to the weather
I understand I will have to fix the joins but my question is can I use a sealer paint  now even though it has some moisture on the panels and can I put the paint on now or  have wait till it drys out 
My other question is can  I put colorbond sheets over it now 
Ta

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## mullfitz

Does anyone know if you can just   paint over Magnesium  wallboard  cladding or do you have to render it 
Cheers

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## WilliamWallace

> Hi Gaza,
> With all due respect 13 mm Fyrecheck from CSR only has a 60/60/60 FRL where as Modak has a 90/240/240 FRL. Giving Magnesium oxide board 30 minutes as a minimum extra fire rating. 10mm Modak is cheaper and lighter also and doesn't require any special tools, you just treat it as gyprock. The other thing to note is that Fyrecheck has only got an internal fire rating, the FRL's are separate for internal and external. FRL is different to BAL. 
> Mulfitz,
> You could definitely use mag board internally, and to finish it off in that OFC (off form concrete) look you use a gypsum based or lime putty render. I would recommend a pre packaged one and can only recommend the RSA one out of experience. Their product is called Patch smooth, you add 10% GP cement in it and polish it up with a steel trowel, either a venetian trowel or a pool trowel it is also sandable. If your not a solid plasterer I would not recommend having a go at white set with a lime putty plaster. 
> cheers Chris

  Ah, with all due respect there is no such thing as a 90/240/240 FRL system. In regards to the difference between FRL and BAL, AS3959 states equivalence of BAL-FZ walls to 30/30/30 or -/30/30 systems. The issue with Fyrchek externally is weather related. Regardless, if your house is within 10m of the firefront you cannot use AS3959 deemed to satisfy systems (e.g. untested), all elements must be tested to AS1530.8.2 so if you want a safe house both from a life safety standpoint as well as an insurance standpoint you need to build with AS1530.8.2 tested systems.
I'd also be worried about the underside of your house mullfitz, fire does terrible things to the strength of steel so it's no good if you have a fire rated house that collapsed completely because what it was supported on wasn't protected.

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