Day 16: Aunty Alex' Tradie Tips

This is actually a D.I.Y. tip, but that just didn't roll off the tongue in the same way.

If you live in a reasonably modern house, there's a good chance that your walls are made out of plasterboard. As its name suggests, plasterboard is a big sheet of plaster sandwiched between two sheets of paper. As you can probably guess, there are a few issues you tend to run into when using such a piss-weak building material. First of all, it's incredibly easy to poke a hole in, or knock a chunk out of it—especially when you're moving furniture, or if you have kids who like to roughhouse. Secondly, it's incredibly vulnerable to water damage.

There is an alternative, however …

Thanks to the legacy of James Hardy and their infamous asbestos scandal, cement sheeting's been saddled with a bit of an image problem. The truth is—however—fibro's been asbestos-free for decades. Nowadays, it's sold under the name "Versilux", costs about the same as plasterboard, and doesn't suffer from any of the problems that plasterboard does.

So, why don't builders use fibro more often?

Well … being tougher means it's also harder to cut … which means you have to spend longer cutting it … which means it costs you money, if you're not being paid by the hour. I—however—use it whenever I can. I figure if a little bit of extra time and effort in the short-term is going to save me a hell of a lot of time and effort in the long-term, then why the hell wouldn't I use it. That's just me though.

And as a bonus tip, you can also find a product on the market called "Boscote", which is a general-prupose alternative to plaster—that sets rock hard. Slap it into the cracks between your Versilux™ sheeting, wait for it to dry, and then simply sand it smooth.

…

I know this isn't what I normally do, but I hope somebody gets some use out of this.