A two year old house constructed with vinyl weatherboard, vinyl windows, fascia boards, vinyl fencing, and made with wood-plastic composite (WPC) decking at the front and back, remains virtually unscathed after the Black Saturday fires in February, 2009.
Local builder, Rowan Steele of Ro-N-Co Construction has been experimenting with and selecting materials for construction and was particularly impressed with the performance of the vinyl products and how they withstood the extreme conditions of fires.
Steele believes a fire-ball passed across the block along the right-hand side of the house, closest to the vegetation, dissolving layers of paint on timber posts of the rear deck. The WPC decking on the front and back remained undamaged. Vinyl weatherboards and window frames escaped any significant damage and protected the house from ember attack to the interior.
When building the house, Steele chose fire-retardant materials, including vinyl and incorporated several energy efficient principles, such as good insulation and keeping the house airtight using double-glazed windows.
As a consequence of fires, Standards Australia fast-tracked a revision to the national standard for construction in bushfire prone areas. AS 3959-2009 is aimed at improving the assessment of bushfire risk and construction of new houses.
Certain vinyl products are allowed for construction within the standard, including steel-reinforced vinyl windows up to specified radiant heat risk levels.
PVC Windows supply a wide range of vinyl windows and doors.