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Thanks Nick … the pictures didn’t load previously… looks good… really useful 👍

Good question. I have contacted the first SE to ask the question.

I am busy building houses for everyone except me All the pics are from previous or current client self builds that I am employed on, in many various guises. The above pics show my go-to methodology, 75mm acoustic in as soon as weathertight, using bricky string and staples, then all M&E etc under that. Then more insulation, where required, then PB and skim; resilient bars where the upstairs floors are solid vs carpet is my recommendation, although some decline.

Yes, I would. A few long screws would do the job well. For the sake of £10 and less than an hour of work.

After a few months of delays I'm heading toward finally getting the keys to the new house. In the meantime I've been trying to unpick the house extension history and I think I finally got there. Green is the original cottage. Two (or 3 very small) bedrooms to the left, bathroom & kitchen in the middle, living room at the bottom. I suspect this pre-dates 1950s. Livingroom has raised flooring - probably about 20cm higher than the rest. The ceiling has been raised accordingly and the rafters are visible between the ceiling panels as a feature. I wonder if this was done to retrofit floor insulation at some point... Weird. Wall construction unknown, but from memory, it might be ~10cm thinner than the cavity wall of the top extension, which makes me wonder if it's a solid wall. Will need a closer inspection. Blue extensions were added probably around 1950-60s. Top extension turned the bedroom wing into 3 bedrooms + 1 study. Wheelchair-accessible toilet & wetroom was bolted on to the side of the bedroom wing. Bottom-right blue section is a single-skin flat-roof garage. Right above it is a potential garage conversion into a bedroom/dining room/study. From memory, Flat roof is raised above the garage roof, and walls were quite thick. Will need investigation. Top right pink bit is a single skin utility room. Looks like this is going to be my hobby for the next 10 years. God knows what horrors I'm going to uncover on close inspection.

So you think ties of some description are necessary then?

Thanks. Posi’s are 22cm from very top to bottom so hoping I might get more than 100mm insulation in there. Good suggestion on the strong backs. I do have some narrower channels with no strong backs so predominantly going to use those but there will be a few places I need to scallop out. 👍 Do you have photos of your ceiling build up? Would be interested to see and get a visual in my head. cheers

I used builders sand, no sharp sand. We went over the old mortar with a wire brush, taking out quite a bit. And removing any loose material. that gave a good area to re-fill.

But as you know, when i needed an SE, i used one.............................

Looked at that too. Im not a fan, as keeping said insulation dry in this environment will be rather difficult. Wind driven rain can be rather bad. More expensive than spray foam, a bit more expensive than my under cladding wheeze (mainly because i can the do latter, but not the former) but cheaper than a new composite steel roof. The thing that skews it, is the overall roof is 4000sqft the workshop circa 2400, the balance being either the canopy (big) or the rear of the already insulated office bit. If i do inside, ive only 2400sq ft to do, and whilst i "could" do only part of the outside, it would look terrible and its not exactly hidden from the house! But everything is an option. Spray foam still looks like the winner. If i stop the leaks. Its not asbestos as built in 2001.

@Nickfromwales, on it 👊

Well here goes, a few extracts from the report. Note it does not say piles are absolutely necessary, only recommended due to trench depth, stability and potential heave. Once again, appreciate any suggestions.

I cannot see whether the wooden arch oversails by much, but if I were making it up from scratch I'd perhaps make the arch say 50-70mm oversize all round, build in L-shaped 'end soakers' as you roof, (maybe v thin alu - at one time - when I had a supply - I'd have used second-hand printing plates) then sandwich one leg of the soaker between the arch and a rear-face 'mini-arch'. I wish I could draw! Not 100% sure what you do at the top, but I am sure the solution would come to me when I got there!

You could just drive a few screws, or search "screw-in wall starter ties".

We're currently, selectively and strategically, adding the second layer of 75mm insulation between the lower chords, eg where kids bedrooms upstairs are over the sitting room and the TV room / snug, so 150mm total acoustic insulation. Then 15mm sound block plasterboard to finish. I suggested acoustic 'resilient' bars but the preference was to keep the max ceiling heights possible. Go 50mm + 50mm and the void in between will take the services, as I note you have quite shallow posi joists. FYI you can quite heavily scallop those strongback timbers to allow you MVHR ducts to pass over or under, as long as you leave them complete where possible. You can completely remove a section, just lay replacement timber on top of the lower chord and straddle those two posi's, to keep them 'tied'.

Evening all. This weekend I'm going to lay the reclaimed bricks you see below along the face of the blockwork wall. I've laid some blocks on their sides in front of the wall, as you can see. The bricks will be laid on top of those blocks, fairly tight to the block wall. It'll add up to about five or six courses. You can see that I've forgotten to include any ties when I laid the block wall. Does that matter for such a low wall? Should I try and put some ties in now? Ultimately I'll add coping slabs across the top of the bricks and blocks which will add stability, I presume. Cheers

Thanks that’s useful. Still trying work out the best build up for my ceiling. The posi joists upper cord is about 45mm and there are regular noggins with the same gap above so thinking maybe 50mm Rockwool rwa45 then MVHR ducts then another layer of acoustic insulation. I feel like the ceiling should have as much insulation as I can get in but realise I also don’t want to be insulating the wiring . I’m probably way off here so really interested in what others do… another steep learning curve!

Hi I am looking to built a Pod from scratch gothic arch and was wondering were the metal tiles mee the barge board / facia if there is a flashing or not. Or it does not mater due to the overhang being out side?

Normal nozzle or vent are different from coanda effect. The coanda ones are specifically designed to encourage air flow to follow the ceiling, ours travel around 6m before coming downwards. By that time the air is at ceiling temperature - you will never feel a draft - ever. It also allows to use way less duct and have supply points near doors etc, and air moves across the room before coming down and being swept across the room back to an extract point

You should be covered - but be careful with your choice here as not all the same from a pressure drop perspective

I always put a piece of 18mm OSB between each posi, screwed to the underside of the upper chord, and that gives a flat surface to mount to. The tabs are a bit soft, so use penny washers with the screws. Note: I always install 75mm acoustic insulation in before ANY 1st fix or M&E begins, as it’s so much easier to have that lost between the upper chords, and near zero effort to fit it as zero obstacles. Then you have the whole void for services etc. Ergo, the 18mm OSB is requisite to fly over the 75mm acoustic batts. I don’t fix anything (routinely) to the Egger / P5 as it’s “not the done thing”.

All vents will be in the ceiling. Only one vent will be near a seating area and that one is in the living room. The rest will be as far away from beds etc as possible. You mention coanda effect. I take it general vents are just going to push the air out in a specific direction? Cheers.

My MVHR parts have arrived 😀 I have plvcu ceiling/wall plenums and wondering the best way to mount within the ceiling. The mounting tabs are useful but not sure whether to go direct to the underside of the 22mm egger floor above or whether I need to fit a piece of timber for each one and screw into that. Any advice and photos would be really appreciated. Thanks

Thanks Nick that picture’s really useful too 👍

Hi, thank you. We have already got a heatpump and underfloor heating. Do you think an a2a would be better than mvhr?