What is Magnesium Oxide Board?

And what are the benefits of Magnesium Oxide Board as a cladding and internal lining product in residential construction?

Steve Marskell from Rescom Building Products shares more information about this, and what to know about Magnesium Oxide Board.

This is Part 1 of my conversation with Steve Marskell.

Hello! This is Episode 277, and in it, I’m talking with Steve Marskell from Rescom Building Products about Magnesium Oxide Board. 

As you’ll hear across my conversation with Steve, you’ll learn that not all Magnesium Oxide Boards are the same. And so, knowing more about them, and understanding how to select and specify them, becomes super important.

If you listened to my conversation with Joost Bakker in Episode 266 and Episode 267, you’ll have heard us discuss Magnesium Oxide Board. 

You’ll have also heard us talk about Joost’s experience with Magnesium Oxide board, his extensive testing of it, especially through his fire testing and, as a result, he spoke about the Rescom product, and the fact it’s the only manufacturer he’ll source Magnesium Oxide board from.

I’ve been getting LOADS of questions about Magnesium Oxide board, and how it compares to other board products homeowners use conventionally, especially fibre cement board externally, and plasterboard internally.

I know that when you dive online to check out Magnesium Oxide board, it’s a rabbit hole of confusing and conflicting information that can make any homeowner – and frankly any industry professional – just think ‘too hard basket’, and head back to the more traditionally used materials.

However, Magnesium Oxide board keeps getting brought up as a seriously amazing and viable alternative that has environmental, health, fire and durability credentials. But not all Magnesium Oxide boards and products are the same, and so, we’re going to dive into this rabbit hole and explore it in detail.

Joost kindly put me in touch with Steve, and it’s great to be able to bring him onto the podcast to discuss more about Magnesium Oxide board and what Rescom does.

Rescom Building Products Group was founded in 2009, and Rescom Cellulous Magnesia Cement Building Products have been used in homes and projects across New Zealand, America, Australia, UAE and Europe since 2010, withstanding some of the worst extreme weather events. 

The properties of their patented formulation and compounds, along with the proper curing process, contributes to the strength and performance of their Magnesia Cement products that well exceed that of traditional FC sheet, plasterboard / drywall, and OSB or Oriented Strand Board.

This is a detailed, in depth conversation into this product, and also the industry in general. Over this and the next couple of episodes, you’ll hear Steve discuss how much work Rescom have done to test and verify the performance of the product.

Steve Marskell is an accomplished multi disciplined professional with extensive hands on experience in project management, procurement, FF&E due-diligence specification for resorts and hotels, real estate project development and implementation. 

Steve established MgO Corp Board in Australia in 2009 – now known as Rescom – as the first internal and external lining commodity to receive official JAS/ANZ Australian and New Zealand Federal Government approval for use in residential and commercial buildings.

This episode begins with Steve talking more about his background, how Rescom came to be, and some of the challenges and learnings he’s had in producing Magnesium Oxide Board. We also dive into what Magnesium Oxide board is, and its multitude of benefits. 

And, over this and the next two episodes, you’ll learn about how this product, which has actually been around for a long, long time, can be used, and what to be aware of when selecting and specifying it for your project.

As a side note: You’ll hear Steve talk about OME – that’s when you get someone else to make your product for you. Rescom used to do this, but now manufacture their own product through partnerships they’ve established.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

RESOURCES:

Learn more about Rescom Building Products >>> www.rescombp.com

This video shares the home that Joost Bakker build to test the fire safety of a building methodology including Magnesium Oxide Board >>> Straw house offers bushfire safety

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program, HOME METHOD >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/the-home-method/

Learn more about how to get started with your home design with the Happy Home Design mini-course >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/happy-home-design

Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/projectplan