benben5555

Hi, just got our heat loss calculation back for our ASHP. It details the room sizes, insulations levels, window sizes etc and finally the air changes per hour. All of the living rooms and bedrooms have been set to 0.5ACH and the kitchen and utility areas to 1.5ACH. Is this standard practice? We are aiming for a good air tightness (1.5-2ACH), but we will not be anywhere near 0.5ACH. I saw something on Heat Geek saying that the minimum requirement for a new house is 0.5ACH, but surely the heat loss calculation cannot be based on this which would be better than Passivehouse standard.

In the stud wall PIR or mineral wool batts between the studs (make it better by adding some insulation backed plasterboard on the inside). The other bit, if you want to do a proper job remove the soffit and then PIR the area and refix the soffit.

Hi, I'm building timber frame. Got 140mm mineral wool between the studs and then 50mm PIR over, then air tightness membrane over that. Have people taped the joints on the PIR with aluminium foil tape? Or is this not necessary given the air tight membrane will be going over the top anyway? Thanks

Hi guys, we've got polythene airtightness details over and behind the stud walls. What is the best tape to attach these to the airtightness membrane? I'm going to use a better quality membrane for the rest of the house, but this is what we were left with by the timber framers. I'm a but concerned about the tape not sticking. Has anyone used PHS Argo Plus Joint Tape? Seems very cheap compared to some other brands. Only £12 a 25m roll.

Hi Guys, I've got a 6.6m x 6.2m reinforced concrete slab to go down in the garage, on top of the beam and block floor, 100mm thick. To avoid future cracks do I need to include a movement joint? Or a crack control joint? I was thinking about laying in two bays, but that would take more time and cost more. Any thoughts?

There is 50mm PIR going over the studs internally. Frametherm 32 is about £24/m2. Rockwool flexi slab is £14/m2 (slightly lower thermal conductivity), has anyone used that?

What insulation have people used in new build timber frame walls of 140mm depth. Looking to use mineral wool batts or roll. There seem to be a few options (Isolver / Rockwool) but none seem to be readily available on the internet. I want something that is easy to fit and effective. Thanks

We are running a bit tight on budget and I've noticed that the cost of 'wool / batt' type insulation varies from £3-15/m2. The timber frame batts are at the top of that range, but is there anything stopping me using masonry cavity wall insulation which seems to have the same thermal resistance but is about half the price.

I just checked Part E. It needs 100mm mineral wool. What's the best way to do this? Position pipes and cables in the top of the floor void, then push the mineral wool in the gaps between the joists before plasterboard? Wool rolls are the cheapest, but I can see it falling out as its not very rigid.

I'm trying to decide if to insulate the first floor floor void or not. I don't believe it is building reg requirement (feel free to correct me). Benefits are reduced sound transmission, and stops so much heat transfering upstairs? Problems I see are the void is full of services, cost, time and getting the insulation to be continuous and not fall out from between the joists. Any thoughts?

Just bumping this if anyone has any experience or advice

Depends on the size of the roof. The quote looks reasonable and they have detailed what is needed. Even for a modest size house £4,000 labour is probably fair. Just get the local authority to inspect and issue a building regs cert, it costs like £250 for something simple like this and it will keep the roofer honest if he knows the council are going to inspect.

Good photos. What has been done here? Have you laid a strip of DPM under the DPC and onto the floor, taped that, and then cut flat 'room shaped' sheets of DPM and taped that down?

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The timber framers installed a 300mm wide DPC on top of all of the blockwork before installing the timber frame. So we now have an exposed BB floor with strips of DPC hanging down, I assume this is standard practice (if not, too late!). What is the best way to install the DPM. I'm thinking folding into the corners and up the wall and then taping to the DPC under the timber frame. Although I can feel this is going to be a complete pain in the backside! Any tips on how to do a good job and maintain airtightness. Thanks

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Any tips on what to do at the window reveal for air tightness? I'll post a picture below, but we have a timber cladding trim in the opening that the window will sit within. Window will be packed, air tight foam and then mastic seal on the outside. I was planning on using an air tight tape between the window and timber frame following installation. Anything else need doing? Does a membrane / vertical DPC need running round the reveal before window installation. Thanks

I think it is common practice to just rest it on the fascia / ventilator. Also in my opinion, don't really need the tilting fillet as the felt support tray is quite rigid.

The windows are fully finished on delivery. Problem with leaving the windows open is that the screed manufacturer says that there shouldn't be any drafts or dehumidifiers used for the first 72 hours to allow it to cure correctly. Similarly with plastering, could leaving the windows open cause the plaster to crack by drying too quickly?

We are having timber windows fitted and the manufacturer has warned about damage from excessive moisture from screending and plastering. Has anyone else had this issue, and what did you do? Thanks

Hi Guys, we need to decide on the colour we are going to paint our horizontal feather edge cladding and timber windows. About 50% of the house is clad and 50% is brick, so the window colour needs to go with both. The following list is what we are thinking, what would you go with? Black cladding / black windows Black cladding / light green (painswick) windows Blue-grey cladding / cream windows Blue-grey cladding / greige windows

Hi, I'm trying to sort out the water main, 32mm MDPE, and for some reason I can't find any insulation to suit the pipe. I bought the Shalloduct product to then find that it is completely rigid and basically useless. The only product I can find on the web is the below, but I can only find it stocked in one builders merchant in Lancashire and they don't deliver! How have others dealt with this? Thanks

Any tips on the use of timber frame lintels in brickwork? Our windows are going to be set back quite far into the reveal and I'm just wondering what aesthetic this is going to give at the head with a large expanse of lintel showing? Is there an alternative? Or does anyone have any photos to share of what their window head looks like externally. Thanks

Hi, Has anyone got a foundation detail through a garage door opening. The below is what I have come up with. We want block paving up to the garage door (which sits on the inside face of the garage wall) rather that seeing a 300mm wide strip of concrete. I've added an extra DPM (red line) to direct any water that falls in the doorway out to the sub base of the driveway. The purple hatch is the beam and block floor with a 100mm reinforced concrete topping. The blocks on the outside of the trench block are a continuation of the footing for the brick plinth either side of the garage door opening. I thought I might as well leave these in rather than miss them out and then try and fill with tonnes of concrete. Thanks

The below layout has been approved by Building Control. I'm interested if anyone has used anything in their projects to 'protect' the end of the beam and block floor beams. I've seen some plastic caps that you can buy to cover the ends of the beams and am wondering if these are necessary? I'm probably going to fit a cavity tray where the brick plinth detail changes to a single brick so any water getting into the cavity will be directed out. Any comments welcome.