ARTICLE

Cyclone: Building Design & Materials

Working at a timber/lumber warehouse

A little bit of forward-planning when you’re designing your home can make a real difference when it comes to your home’s resilience to extreme weather.

Here are some tips to consider.

Material Choices

Building products can deteriorate over time due to corrosion, rot, and attack from insects – with timber being particularly prone to this kind of damage. Deterioration of key parts of the tie-down chain can severely reduce a building’s resistance to wind loads – so appropriate maintenance is essential to keep a house safe during a storm.

Consider the structural integrity of products such as materials and fixings that adhere to higher wind classifications such as stronger hinges and bolts, that are less likely to blow open during a cyclone.

Material Maintenance

Just as your car needs regular maintenance, so does your house. By maintaining your home regularly, you can ensure that it’s in the best structural position possible.

General maintenance activities include:

  • Ensure there is no corrosion within your home, tighten bolts and screws regularly to ensure they’re corrosion-free.
  • Check for rotten timber or termite damage to ensure any timber walls are in the best shape possible.
  • Reapply protective coatings to metal and timber elements to keep them in good shape.
  • Replace any elements that have broken, been incorrectly installed, or have deteriorated – this can make a major difference in your home’s defence against weather events.

Area Planning

When building or renovating, consider using a room in the centre of your house that is window-less and will be less susceptible to flying debris.

Strengthen the walls and ceiling of one or two rooms located in the centre of your home, to create a strong compartment that can be used for shelter during a cyclone, if you are unable to evacuate. Note that this situation would only be required if you can’t evacuate.

For more information, see the Queensland Reconstruction Authority’s (QRA) Cyclone Resilient Building Guidance.

Source: https://weatherthestorm.com.au/#/maintenance

The information is intended to be of a general nature only. Subject to any rights you may have under any law, we do not accept any legal responsibility for any loss or damage, including loss of business or profits or any other indirect loss, incurred as a result of reliance upon it – please make your own enquiries.

Working at a timber/lumber warehouse

AUTHOR:

Suncorp

DATE: 

April 8, 2022

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