Scotrock

Hi Herb That looks a very neat build. ? Thanks for posting the pics. Derek

Hi Lizzie, Looks super. Ours is a cottage look on the outside. We still have to back fill around the house to get back up to ground level so that's why it might look higher right now. Peter only got involved just before MBC laid the passive slab. We had been dealing with Keith in the UK and David in Ireland beforehand. I have been pleased with our timing. We started demolishing the old house on Aug 5 last year. The site was ready for MBC by end August/early Sept. They arrived on Oct 3 to lay the slab and started to erect the house on Oct 17. Since then I have been concentrating on the outside first - slates on, windows in etc. MVHR ducting is in now and all wall penetrations have been made. Render should be finished this week, then temporary guttering can come down for fascias and soffits, the proper guttering up and At Last, the scaffolding can come down!! And then MBC can return to install the insulation and do the airtightness test After that we're on the inside and remaining groundworks and garden. I am project managing it myself and it does help to be there to keep an eye on things. All the best Derek

Hi Lizzie My build is just outside Wrexham. Where are you building? We better be careful here.....Peter will be thinking of patenting this solution ?. I only wish I had thought to specify that it is finished in matt powder coat rather than gloss, which seems to be the default finish at my metalworkers. Still, it is a very good solution and my renderers are impressed with it, as am I. Derek

Good morning all, I am building a house with a frame supplied by MBC Timberframe. I have been very impressed with the service so far. We are not finished yet although the frame is up and my windows and doors are in. Roof covering is also on and the render guys are on site at the moment. We are using Parex rendering by the way. I also had MBC install a passive slab and this made me thing about how to finish the works below ground and up to what will be my finished ground level. if I was building with block/brick i would have installed several courses of them agains the insulation. But since we don't have conventional trench foundations that isn't ideal. The passive slab sits on hard EPS insulation as you probably know. I asked Peter Gray who is my project manager at MBC if he had any suggestions and he told me about a previous installation he had designed for a client. I involves fabricating a trim of powder coated aluminium which is attached to the bottom of the frame with a layer of Geotex waterproof membrane protecting the EPS as this is below ground level. Peter was very helpful, sent me a drawing of it and talked me through the process. I had a local fabrication firm (Barnett Engineering in North Wales) make up the metal. They also made me a selection of inside and outside corners which neaten up the corner element of the trims. The cost of the metal came to just over 2K. I applied the Geotex to the outside of the EPS and then attached the metal trim to the bottom of the frame which was very straightforward to do. I have attached some pics and I hope that this might be of interest to others who are self building! The battens in the pics are the carriers for the render board. if you have any questions, I would be happy to help, and I'm sure Peter would be too. Derek