Im a boatbuilder and have just built a SIPs home for myself under the Owner builder exemption. I consider personally Gib or plaster board to be a crap product. We speced Plywood for all our interior linings and I'll bet it's much stronger and cheaper to do especially taking into account Gibstopping etc. To be honest coming from a boatbuilding background I can't believe the crappy materials we use to build a home. And that crap is expensive too. There are alternatives out there just clients and designers could think outside the square if they can. After the disasters of Fletcher Building over the last 10 years including the Gib debarkle I'm pleased to say I would never use Gib in my home and don't get me started on how ugly Gib would be in a good earthquake!!😬😬
It's because Gib is specified in the BRANZ docs which lazy architects then copy-and-paste into consent docs, nothing to do with quality or price. We tried to substitute Elephant board at a time of shortage and council told us we couldn't because our consent docs specified Gib. Asked the architect why he had done that and he just shrugged his shoulders and said "because that's how we always do it"
"Supplier" - Monopoly, etc., them throwing money at the industry councils as "sponsors". 94% market share is good for no one, aside their profit margins.
Im completely renovating my bathroom. As a DIYer, I've found GIB to have excellent technical documentation and guides - which gives me great confidence in what I'm doing. The guy at bunnings tried to sell me their product, and I absolutely know it would have been equivalent... but if I follow the instructions, use all the specified products, I will get a standard result - even as someone who knew nothing about wall linings to start with.
Elephant board brand was originally manufactured in New Zealand way back. They were effectively driven out of the market by fletchers undercutting them back in the 80s. The problem is also that gib as a brand has been specified in branz specs and in effect is the only products many councils give consents for because they are too stupid to do their homework. Ill be building a new house next year and I've said to my architect that where there are fletcher alternative product we will use them if they are cost competitive.
Interesting how the price of gib and other building materials is still WAY higher than pre covid. Yes sure, we've had inflation, but gib is way more expensive now. Framing is 30% more, plywood 200% increase. We're being screwed by fletchers. So that in itself is enough reason to buy from the other smaller suppliers and at lest try to create competitive pricing.
I was a gib fixer for two years prior to doing my carpentry apprenticeship. I absolutely loved being a fixer and I would do it again in a heartbeat. it does get repetitive which is why I decided to get my qualifications instead. Love your videos, super informative and great for apprentices to learn at home.
Nice video. I'm 67 this October. My father was a builder and his father was a builder. I did my apprenticeship in the family business and for as long as I can remember (3 years old and falling through rough sawn Rimu floor joists), Gibraltar Board has been going on walls. Not so much ceilings in the early days (usually Pinex) but certainly on walls. No beveled edges in those days, just square edges and no taping that some poor plasterer had to try and look flat. I agree with you, Winstones aren't a monopoly but have survived because they produce a fucking good product! For you younguns, it got its name from the rock of Gibraltar. Google 'Strong as the rock of Gibraltar'. Love the channel.
Great video and well said. Gib is a good product it's also what most architects, designers and councils know because so long it was the only product available. There bracing calculator and software programs have also made a lot easier and quicker for designing. But yes i agree more alternatives would be great if they could get it through the government regulations. I understand that's not ideal but there's not really that Many other options that can compete at that price point. When building is all ready so expensive.
We get Elephant board it gets delivered & loaded onto site by labours who stack it into piles were we want it put.. free of charge. And all this is still way cheaper than Gib let alone to add in the etra cost to have it on site. This madness when you take into account Elephant board is shipped from Thailand. Elephant board is the exactly the same product as Gib, We find Gib is a little softer and not as dense. Plaster boards main function is a fire barrier as long as the fixings haven't broken the paper surface when being installed. The old Gib had tiny stones in it.. how things have changed, so many different types of plaster board being used nowadays compare to the days gone by.. ps..Some Architects stipulate Gib is to be used, so there maybe backhanders/incentives going on as well.
Plans were made well in advance of getting it to our building site, and when it was due, it was due and everybody got out of the way for it. You should've seen the PM move when I told them a wayward sprinkler was aiming at a freshly delivered batch (in a unit that didn't even have windows yet). Crazy times.
I just don't understand why NZ decided to use plasterboard as a means to achieve it's bracing requirements. Can't use other products if it doesn't meet bracing requirements = manufactured monopoly. it took a global pandemic to expose how relying on a single entity and/or technique for a critical part of modern homes wasn't a smart thing to do as building across the country ground to a halt because they couldn't make enough. If there is a conspiracy, it's located at the design and regulatory level.
@@cjeam9199 no it works fine, it changes the type of screw, number of them and placement points of each screw and also a plasterboard sheet that meets the bracing specifications (can't be standard plasterboard in some scenarios). The insane part is that they moved away from other methods and thus self manufactured a monopoly. Stick in spoke bike meme comes to mind.
@@N1rOx but it hugely lacks structural strength. I mean, get it wet and it’s got no structural strength. If a building suffers flood damage and you have to rip all the plasterboard out, the bracing component is just gone until you put it back in? It’s like requiring windows to all be weight bearing rather than building a strong enough header?
@@cjeam9199 Not in the direction it's braced for, no. Try it yourself, build a small frame like you would a wall. Try to rack it with no bracing. Then apply plasterboard to one side with only the corners fixed, 4 screws total. Then rack it. Now put in screws around the entire perimeter about 50mm spacings and try to rack it. Now line the other side with same amount of screws and try rack it. You'll find you've created a stiff diaphragm with strong resistance to lateral loads. When you anchor the end studs/bottom plate to the floor of this diaphragm, this is increased again. To your example, the house will not fall down if the plasterboard got wet. Just as it didn't before it was lined. Except now the house is cladded to add rigidity (brick's a different story). You would replace affected sheets and screw off as it was before the damage. Unless you're insinuating that the house experiences BOTH a flood and then and an earthquake of sufficient magnitude then we may have an issue.
I don't know what your 'recently' is but if its in the last 20 years your misinformed. The only thing the Government did was allow the importation of board from overseas to allow builders to continue work. There has still been a variation of board available for people in NZ. But not like non standard board. Stuff from Asia for example.
GIB is a synonym for Plasterboard here... but GIB is really an entire system of products and methods designed to function together -- THAT is where their competitive advantage comes from.
Nz has tight regs when it comes to many different systems. politician chris penk was trying to make it that if a system has been prooven overseas it can be used here, much needed. Gib performed bracing performance tests to boast and has tried to monopolise based on excluding others in the past. Even their rules have changed over time like pre ~2018 a penetration in the middle of a bracing element was allowed so long as its size didn't exceed 1/3 of the total area placed in the middle third then they removed that rule, does that mean all previous braces would affect structural integrity? I remember hearing council inspectors talking in 2010 era about materials and regulators monopolies through aus and the like. It really seems like the apple was someehat rotten to the core. Worse still we've levelled mountains for the stuff and now fletchers gouged us. Remember seeing a block of the piles of gib per house 3months before ready for lining ? Artificial supply constraints and everything
Damn I'm the opposite - would rather live in a house with exposed insulation / wiring than with gib (plasterboard, not the brand). Absolutely hate the stuff, hate working with it, hate how it looks, hate how it feels, hate how it smells, hate how it tastes, just everything about it.
The use of the Gib calculator IS manipulation of the building industry. Does a building plan specify which brand of timber has to be used in framing? Does a building plan specify what brand of nails to use? A particular Brand should not be recommended unless there are legitimate reasons to do so.
They are screwed now. They have built a factory that will now over supply, and will also be competing now against foreign brands. They will not be as dominant and expect to see their market share reduce a lot over the next 5 to 10 years
Gib continues to innovate 😂 Really!?! it hasn't changed since its inception. If anything its become worse. You did say that they used to use horse hair to reinforce it. Why did they remove the fibres. A fibre composite makes sense.
@@UhOhUmm Not if you use the right nails. You wouldn't use bright nails for instance. What do you mean "haven't been used"? I know a lot of chippies including myself who never stopped using nails
@24reprise yeah I was told to remove screws from Gib, once it was solidly glued to the wall, to prevent the screws tearing the Gib during an earthquake.
Gib sucks ..looks good for a year or so but Its so easy to damage. We build solid timber homes. They are so much better. ,they are durable and strong. Live in a solid timber home thats 20 years old and still going strong,.
Im a boatbuilder and have just built a SIPs home for myself under the Owner builder exemption. I consider personally Gib or plaster board to be a crap product. We speced Plywood for all our interior linings and I'll bet it's much stronger and cheaper to do especially taking into account Gibstopping etc. To be honest coming from a boatbuilding background I can't believe the crappy materials we use to build a home. And that crap is expensive too. There are alternatives out there just clients and designers could think outside the square if they can.
After the disasters of Fletcher Building over the last 10 years including the Gib debarkle I'm pleased to say I would never use Gib in my home and don't get me started on how ugly Gib would be in a good earthquake!!😬😬
It's because Gib is specified in the BRANZ docs which lazy architects then copy-and-paste into consent docs, nothing to do with quality or price. We tried to substitute Elephant board at a time of shortage and council told us we couldn't because our consent docs specified Gib. Asked the architect why he had done that and he just shrugged his shoulders and said "because that's how we always do it"
Exactly this. You hit the nail on the head.
"Supplier" - Monopoly, etc., them throwing money at the industry councils as "sponsors". 94% market share is good for no one, aside their profit margins.
Fetchers wrote the building standards.......
Im completely renovating my bathroom. As a DIYer, I've found GIB to have excellent technical documentation and guides - which gives me great confidence in what I'm doing.
The guy at bunnings tried to sell me their product, and I absolutely know it would have been equivalent... but if I follow the instructions, use all the specified products, I will get a standard result - even as someone who knew nothing about wall linings to start with.
Elephant board brand was originally manufactured in New Zealand way back. They were effectively driven out of the market by fletchers undercutting them back in the 80s. The problem is also that gib as a brand has been specified in branz specs and in effect is the only products many councils give consents for because they are too stupid to do their homework. Ill be building a new house next year and I've said to my architect that where there are fletcher alternative product we will use them if they are cost competitive.
Interesting how the price of gib and other building materials is still WAY higher than pre covid. Yes sure, we've had inflation, but gib is way more expensive now. Framing is 30% more, plywood 200% increase. We're being screwed by fletchers. So that in itself is enough reason to buy from the other smaller suppliers and at lest try to create competitive pricing.
loving the channel production quality keeps improving good stuff
I was a gib fixer for two years prior to doing my carpentry apprenticeship. I absolutely loved being a fixer and I would do it again in a heartbeat. it does get repetitive which is why I decided to get my qualifications instead. Love your videos, super informative and great for apprentices to learn at home.
Good on you getting qualified!
Nice video. I'm 67 this October. My father was a builder and his father was a builder. I did my apprenticeship in the family business and for as long as I can remember (3 years old and falling through rough sawn Rimu floor joists), Gibraltar Board has been going on walls. Not so much ceilings in the early days (usually Pinex) but certainly on walls. No beveled edges in those days, just square edges and no taping that some poor plasterer had to try and look flat. I agree with you, Winstones aren't a monopoly but have survived because they produce a fucking good product! For you younguns, it got its name from the rock of Gibraltar. Google 'Strong as the rock of Gibraltar'. Love the channel.
If you use gib as a bracing element you may as well throw your money away ply bracing is way better
Great video and well said. Gib is a good product it's also what most architects, designers and councils know because so long it was the only product available. There bracing calculator and software programs have also made a lot easier and quicker for designing. But yes i agree more alternatives would be great if they could get it through the government regulations. I understand that's not ideal but there's not really that Many other options that can compete at that price point. When building is all ready so expensive.
Hey Josh, love these recent videos!
Thanks Josh great info good job love your videos
Thanks for watching!
We get Elephant board it gets delivered & loaded onto site by labours who stack it into piles were we want it put.. free of charge.
And all this is still way cheaper than Gib let alone to add in the etra cost to have it on site.
This madness when you take into account Elephant board is shipped from Thailand.
Elephant board is the exactly the same product as Gib, We find Gib is a little softer and not as dense.
Plaster boards main function is a fire barrier as long as the fixings haven't broken the paper surface when being installed.
The old Gib had tiny stones in it.. how things have changed, so many different types of plaster board being used nowadays compare to the days gone by..
ps..Some Architects stipulate Gib is to be used, so there maybe backhanders/incentives going on as well.
Gib is the foodstuffs of the building industry 😂
Plans were made well in advance of getting it to our building site, and when it was due, it was due and everybody got out of the way for it. You should've seen the PM move when I told them a wayward sprinkler was aiming at a freshly delivered batch (in a unit that didn't even have windows yet). Crazy times.
I just don't understand why NZ decided to use plasterboard as a means to achieve it's bracing requirements. Can't use other products if it doesn't meet bracing requirements = manufactured monopoly. it took a global pandemic to expose how relying on a single entity and/or technique for a critical part of modern homes wasn't a smart thing to do as building across the country ground to a halt because they couldn't make enough. If there is a conspiracy, it's located at the design and regulatory level.
Er….sorry…plasterboard is specified to achieve a structural requirement? That’s, sort of insane isn’t it?
@@cjeam9199 no it works fine, it changes the type of screw, number of them and placement points of each screw and also a plasterboard sheet that meets the bracing specifications (can't be standard plasterboard in some scenarios). The insane part is that they moved away from other methods and thus self manufactured a monopoly. Stick in spoke bike meme comes to mind.
@@N1rOx but it hugely lacks structural strength. I mean, get it wet and it’s got no structural strength. If a building suffers flood damage and you have to rip all the plasterboard out, the bracing component is just gone until you put it back in? It’s like requiring windows to all be weight bearing rather than building a strong enough header?
@@cjeam9199 Not in the direction it's braced for, no. Try it yourself, build a small frame like you would a wall. Try to rack it with no bracing. Then apply plasterboard to one side with only the corners fixed, 4 screws total. Then rack it. Now put in screws around the entire perimeter about 50mm spacings and try to rack it. Now line the other side with same amount of screws and try rack it. You'll find you've created a stiff diaphragm with strong resistance to lateral loads. When you anchor the end studs/bottom plate to the floor of this diaphragm, this is increased again.
To your example, the house will not fall down if the plasterboard got wet. Just as it didn't before it was lined. Except now the house is cladded to add rigidity (brick's a different story). You would replace affected sheets and screw off as it was before the damage. Unless you're insinuating that the house experiences BOTH a flood and then and an earthquake of sufficient magnitude then we may have an issue.
NZ don't love gib, gib is the only product legally allowed until recently. anticompetitive to the max.
Watch the whole video bro
I don't know what your 'recently' is but if its in the last 20 years your misinformed. The only thing the Government did was allow the importation of board from overseas to allow builders to continue work. There has still been a variation of board available for people in NZ. But not like non standard board. Stuff from Asia for example.
There was a bunch of Thai board imported in 2022 to help sites keep on flowing, but I'll be honest.. there was no guarantee the lifetime of the board.
The other trouble is that gib is used to refer to stone wall, just look on your building plans from the architect it will specify "Gib".
GIB is a synonym for Plasterboard here... but GIB is really an entire system of products and methods designed to function together -- THAT is where their competitive advantage comes from.
The fire line and aqua line appears to be the same rose by another name.
Great video, enjoyed it & agree with everything you said
Glad to hear it!
What about timber Paneling? It looks way better than Gib
Depends on the look each person is going for - wood look is definitely beautiful but not everyones cup of tea
Nz has tight regs when it comes to many different systems. politician chris penk was trying to make it that if a system has been prooven overseas it can be used here, much needed. Gib performed bracing performance tests to boast and has tried to monopolise based on excluding others in the past. Even their rules have changed over time like pre ~2018 a penetration in the middle of a bracing element was allowed so long as its size didn't exceed 1/3 of the total area placed in the middle third then they removed that rule, does that mean all previous braces would affect structural integrity? I remember hearing council inspectors talking in 2010 era about materials and regulators monopolies through aus and the like. It really seems like the apple was someehat rotten to the core. Worse still we've levelled mountains for the stuff and now fletchers gouged us. Remember seeing a block of the piles of gib per house 3months before ready for lining ? Artificial supply constraints and everything
What do you use instead of GIB?
Fireproof ply.
In the US and Europe hemp board strong light breathable sustainable.
Save board or ply in our builds. My next video has some more options - stay tuned
Sticking to kiwi products keeps people in their jobs. Very ethical.
Gib is imported
Damn I'm the opposite - would rather live in a house with exposed insulation / wiring than with gib (plasterboard, not the brand). Absolutely hate the stuff, hate working with it, hate how it looks, hate how it feels, hate how it smells, hate how it tastes, just everything about it.
Rammed earth is the best to build with. No monopoly on dirt.
Ive seen houses built with rammed earth - would love to hear from you if this is your company.
@@nzbuilder What's your phone number?
@@nzbuilder Hello mate. What's your number?
So good as per
Thanks for watching!
That was 2022. There’s good supplies now.
Yes everything back to normal now which is great
was gib invented in nz?
GIB is the brand name used mainly in NZ - but gypsum is used in plasterboard all over the world
The use of the Gib calculator IS manipulation of the building industry.
Does a building plan specify which brand of timber has to be used in framing? Does a building plan specify what brand of nails to use?
A particular Brand should not be recommended unless there are legitimate reasons to do so.
They are screwed now. They have built a factory that will now over supply, and will also be competing now against foreign brands. They will not be as dominant and expect to see their market share reduce a lot over the next 5 to 10 years
We do not love it, we are forced to use it
Metrapanel or Triboard
Gib continues to innovate 😂 Really!?! it hasn't changed since its inception. If anything its become worse. You did say that they used to use horse hair to reinforce it. Why did they remove the fibres. A fibre composite makes sense.
You screw your GIB? We use nails... always have. Cheaper and easier.
Nails haven't been used for plasterboard for like the last 50 years. Nails cause nail pops in finished walls.
@@UhOhUmm Not if you use the right nails. You wouldn't use bright nails for instance.
What do you mean "haven't been used"? I know a lot of chippies including myself who never stopped using nails
I suggest you checkout what happened to nail fixed gib in the Christchurch earthquake sequence
@24reprise yeah I was told to remove screws from Gib, once it was solidly glued to the wall, to prevent the screws tearing the Gib during an earthquake.
Just following the GIB install guide
ask your architect not to specify gib as bracing element
Yes planning phase is where you need to specify what you would like to be used
Gib sucks ..looks good for a year or so but Its so easy to damage. We build solid timber homes. They are so much better. ,they are durable and strong. Live in a solid timber home thats 20 years old and still going strong,.
Bullshit