October 9, 2019
Brace yourselves, summer is coming.
The harsh Australian summer is right around the corner, this means scorching hot days, air conditioners running at max capacity, and weekends spent at our beautiful beaches.
Before you leave your home each morning, you lather up on the SPF 100+ to make sure you are well protected from the sun’s harmful UV rays.
If you don’t, well you should be, come on guys — slip, slop, slap.
But what about your home? It’s going to sit there 24/7 coping abuse from the sun’s rays with nowhere to go.
This leads to faded roof tiles, weathered driveways and garage doors, and even inside your home where sunlight enters the window.
To help you protect your home this summer, we’ve come up with a list of heat resistant house materials to keep your home looking good as new all year round.
Liquid limestone is one of the most popular choices of outdoor flooring in Australia for one reason — it’s natural ability to stay cool underfoot. No more burnt feet? That’s priceless. Liquid limestone is perfect for all outdoor areas including patios and alfrescos, driveways and even more so for pool surrounds.
Not only is it heat resistant and anti-slip, it’s also extremely durable, low maintenance and can last a lifetime if looked after. With minimal gaps, you won’t have to worry about ants or weeds invading your entertainment areas.
To ensure it looks great all year round, a concrete sealer should be added to help maintain its natural appearance and protect it from stains and potential cracks.
Credit: Integrity concreting – exposed aggregate driveway and portico
One word. PVDF. Okay, it’s actually two words — Polyvinylidene Fluoride. PVDF coating is known for its exceptional weathering properties, inertness, and resistance to chalking, fading and UV rays. It is one of Australia’s leading coatings that can withstand our harsh climate all year round.
PVDF coating is a type of thermoplastic fluoropolymer, think of Teflon coatings on heavy duty industrial applications or cookware and you’re on the right track. Now imagine a version applicable for architecture, both residential and commercial, and you have yourself a high performance and versatile coating.
It’s highly resistant to UV rays, which means it doesn’t fade or chalk and retains its high gloss appearance and colour. It has high thermal stability, which means it can be used to coat roofs to create an insulating layer and ultimately reduce your energy costs.
There are different grades of PVDF, with the most common blend being 50% and reaching up to 70%, with the price increasing as you go up in strength. If you’re after a house material that can resist the hot Aussie weather, PVDF will be your go-to product.
Let us make this very clear, outdoor paint is not the same as indoor paint. When it comes to choosing exterior paint for your home it needs to withstand the harsh Australian climate, which includes torrential rain, ice (hail or snow), extreme heat, UV rays, and let’s not forget the local wildlife.
Homes in coastal areas in particular, are subjected to salt and sand and will require high performance paints to protect your home from corrosion.
Whether you’re painting exterior walls or your roof, you’ll also need to consider the type of building material: wood, masonry, or brick, and finally a matching colour scheme that ties in with the rest of your home.
Some products to consider include Dulux Weathershield Low Sheen, Taubmans Endure Exterior Paint, and British Paints 4 Seasons Low Sheen.
Say goodbye to those obnoxious solar panels and say hello to the future of solar roofing. Thanks to the innovations at Tesla, you can now power your home with a solar-powered roof. Using an integrated Powerwall battery and glass solar tiles, energy is collected during the day and is stored to be used at any given time.
The tiles are extremely durable and are warrantied for the lifetime of your home, however, they do come with a cost, and quite a hefty one. You can expect to pay AUD$28.4 per square foot for the Tesla solar roof, fully installed.
Hybrid flooring is a revolutionary product which combines the best of both worlds — vinyl and laminate — to give you a traditional hardwood look while being extremely durable and completely waterproof.
What makes it so resilient to fluctuating temperatures is the limestone composite core, which makes it heat resistant and 100% waterproof. It’s also great for homes with furry friends, being 100% odour proof.
This flooring is perfect for all areas of your home that is exposed to direct UV rays or moisture, including the kitchen, laundry and even the bathroom.
Just like luxury vinyl planks, hybrid flooring is very easy to install and utilises a simple click and lock system, with the boards sliding into place. Hybrid flooring is an excellent option to outlast the Australian heat and keeps your home looking brand new for years to come. More heat resistant flooring ideas here.
We supply the latest hybrid flooring range Artemis by Godfrey Hirst – don’t hesitate to talk to us about it.
Credit: Godfrey Hirst
When it comes to replacing the flooring in your home, we always recommend contacting the flooring professionals who can help transform your home with a guarantee.
