All Activity

Fire Resistance.

Thanks a lot Nick that is helpfull, yes all steels are galvanised and painted with anti rust paint, steel not holding second floor, only carrying a small mono pitched roof on top of a bay window. What is FR?

I'm sure I've seen some photo's but can't find them. They tend to show a forest of brand new screwjacks which I believe we have purchased. It's useful to have this sort of feedback as it demonstrates there are alternatives that need assessment before a design decision is made. Just to qualify my approach I'd say using foamed concrete would put an extra 3kN/m2 load on the existing basement floor/sub grade. I'd say that was pretty nominal in the great scheme of things and likewise, horizontal loading on the existing basement walls would be resisted by the existing external ground. Access to pump could be via one of the ground floor windows of the affected flat. Mind you if the costs come in too high it might be just as economic for leaseholders to club together and buy that flat leaseholder out. Remove the floor and put a simple steel stair behind the front door to give access into the basement. It's always worth thinking outside the box!

To put it into real life context, in the Steading we left a significant proportion of 600mm original wall exposed internally. This was for aesthetics and a historical nod. That would never pass Passivhaus which is an extreme target. I have no intention of sacrificing lots of money and aesthetics for the certificate that comes with a few % energy benefit. But many do and it's their choice and money (never regained in £ payback). We did get respect from the bco who agreed it was a good design feature, and we balanced the insulation by extra elsewhere. You are building all new, so can more easily tweak the insulation. Should be easy enough esp with a proper analysis with expertise. You say lots of insulation. What products?

"Thermal bridge free" is a common term used in low energy home design, but its use relies on the person reading/listening understand what the term means. It just means that the losses at junctions have been reduced to a level that they have no effect on the overall structure's heat loss and can therefore be considered as a continuation of the floor/wall/roof U Value. The PassivHaus threshold for "Thermal bridge free" is a PSi value of 0.01W/(mK). The PHPP thermal modelling package considers any thermal bridges with that Psi of 0.01W/(mK) or lower as not needing to be individually calculated into the building's overall heat loss. They obviously do still need calculating to show they are under 0.01W/(mK), but their heat loss does not then need to go forward to the total building heat loss calc.

My Amtico fitter was outstanding. It is all he does and he is so good that he limits his quote area When he installed our >100sq m he trimmed every single plank on two sides at a 45 degree angle to stop the "glue squidge" problem. This was absolute genius and I cannot fault the quality of the install. I had some very fixed ideas about how I wanted it laid but all his "suggestions" were the exact right ones in hindsight. I have laid Amtico myself in a previous house and I got the "glue squidge" problem and a line where two plywood boards butted together, I was still pleased with my efforts but a proper professional makes a huge difference in quality Regards Tet

Premature use will damage the surface and make it too wet. Leave it too long and the surface dries before it sets. There are rules about not pouring in cold weather. But for hot it will depend on the mix, the thickness, time of day. I've never used sprinklers but I see the advantage as compared to single use polythene. Curing spray may be optimum.

If there really is a problem, can it be mitigated by extra insulation in other places?

As long as you don’t put them on prematurely, and they damage the surface.

Id be looking up if there are any sink hole type construction projects in the wider national area. Surely the approach to resolving those is not dissimilar to what you need to achieve here? Id be looking for engineers or companies which have been involved in those sorts of projects, and see their views on it.

Thanks to both for your replies.

Its not complex. A screwdriver which shouldnt go through, and a wire brush to remove the surface. More technically, a drill to look for inernal shiny bits.

so what happens if you live on site while doing the building work?

The best person to speak with is @fatgus, he was looking at them recently. I’ll drop you a message.

I mentioned the war(m batteries) but I think I got away with it! (& yes, if you get the reference then you are indeed, as I am, a wrinkly lol)

Maybe reach out to @craig as he’s the resident ‘lord of fenestration’

Seems to me the very first thing is to accurately asses the level of corrosion in the steels. Ultrasonically maybe? All that seems to have happened is a visual assesment that saw lots of corrosion. Which really doesnt tell you much.

I'm assuming that as it's construction, the hose pipe ban that's in place does not apply. I like the idea and it saves covering the concrete with polythene sheeting.

Hi everyone, I’m currently looking at windows for a self-build project and have been considering Westcoast Windows aluminium-clad windows. I’d be really interested to hear from anyone who has used them, or has any experience with their products or installation. I’d particularly appreciate any feedback on: Overall quality and build Thermal performance Quality of the finish Reliability and after-sales service Installation experience How they have performed after a few years of use Any advice, good or bad, would be greatly appreciated before I make a decision. Thanks in advance!

I'd like to say yes..............but............

+1, I've just eaten.............. lol

Depends what fill you use. I thought I'd seen people talk about fill that was a mix of concrete and other lightweight products, so the overall weight might be relatively limited. Especially if you are replacing the steels with a solid floor.

Sorry to hear about this predicament. Filling is a nice easy idea. Make a hole and back in concrete trucks and pour until you see it coming out the top. £10k of concrete and call it a day........ However 160 odd tonnes of extra mass over the basement floor might have unforseen consequences. Also pouring that much concrete might be ok in small bites in one go and I'd be worried about the walls of the basement buckling out. Then comes drainage pipes etc. Gut feeling is to do as little large scale disturbance as possible and retain access to the basement for future maintenance and inspection. I don't love the idea of not addressing the existing steels as they sound beyond salvaging, but we can't tell from this distance. Also it would be good to know if the existing floor is carrying loads that it shouldn't. I have a suspicion that if the external area around the apartment was backfilled the floor may be resisting the pressure of the ground pressing in from outside. Could you perhaps make a semi accurate cross sectional drawing and maybe some pics. A good SE, a diligent local builder and a few £1000 in men and materials might be enough to solve this yet.

I love the sunny weather, but sometimes it really is hard work being out there from 8am to 6pm. Today’s task was supposed to have been finishing the Radon membrane on the garage, laying the XPS 300 insulation and then finishing the remaining slab prep in the house. As always, I over estimate one’s ability. Thankfully, I have a good boss who is ok with me taking days off at very short notice. So I have to get this finished tomorrow. Install vcl on top of insulation, lay mesh and then finish final slab prep in the house.

>>> I have this vision of walking through the house in a state of blissful house completion euphoria Are you naked at this point? 😄 On second thoughts, don’t answer that.