[MotherBear]

Quite a lot of the more modern houses are now being built from brick and tile instead of the wood and steel roof type. No doubt the weatherboard (wooden) houses require more upkeep, as they have to be painted/stained every so often to keep them looking good and to help protect them from the elements. Poor maintenance of weatherboard houses can lead to rotting of the timbers over time, but there are still plenty that have been well looked after and are in good repair after many, many years. A bonus of the weatherboard houses (there are other similar finishes like hardiplank etc.) is that they are often cheaper to buy than the brick ones. One point to look out for, though, is termites (borers) that can chomp their way through a tasty meal of wood. Personally, I haven?t heard of a particular problem with them, especially in houses that are well maintained, so it would just be a case of keeping an eye open. Some of the older weatherboard houses may not have insulation and could suffer from damp in the winter time. It would depend on whether the current owners had taken steps to remedy this.