Wall cladding: original details
1970s houses most often used timber weatherboards, brick veneer, asbestos or stucco cladding, or concrete block construction.
A range of new cladding materials or variations on existing materials emerged during the 1970s (Figures 1-5).
Figure 1: Clinker brick.
Figure 2: Vertical plastic interlocking planks.
Figure 3: Plain asbestos-cement planks.
Figure 4: Rusticated western red cedar weatherboard.
Figure 5: Types of rusticated weatherboards.
Timber weatherboards generally used a rusticated profile (Figure 5) - a change from the preferred use of bevel-back boards in the 1940s-60s.
Masonry (concrete or brick) veneer was also fairly popular, as was asbestos-cement weatherboards or sheet cladding, concrete block, and stucco.
Other materials were also used, such as stone, and plastic, metal or hardboard weatherboards.
A cladding feature used in this period for split-level and two-storied houses was to have the lower floor finished with a different cladding from the upper - for example, brick veneer to the lower with weatherboard to the upper.
Timber cladding
Timber, dimension and other details for horizontal weatherboards and vertical board claddings. Read more.
Asbestos-cement cladding
Asbestos-cement cladding was popular due to its ease of installation and low cost. Read more.
Masonry veneer
Clay and concrete bricks were a relatively common cladding. Read more.
Concrete masonry
Concrete blocks were a popular low cost construction method. Read more.
Stucco
Stucco was used as a cladding on some architect-designed homes in the 1970s. Read more.