Dreadnaught

Heat loss through frames is often greater than through the glass. Manufacturers who make triple-glazed windows probably care more about frames than those that only make double-glazed ones. Buy good frames.

@Visti has a Brink model I believe. I heard he was happy with it. Remember that the Brink units are also branded as Ubiflux Vigor too.

(@Nick Laslett, I might have about 8m of the 32mm insulated twin pipe spare on my site if you're interested. I'll measure the off-cut next time I'm there.)

What does that mean please?

Same here. I just sent them the whole report.

Suspect that's a minimum. Or rather a maximum that their lifetime-aging-system will allow them to estimate. 30-years will see me out. And it will probably be an easy-ish job to replace it when the times comes.

I too am considering using Ubbiflex B3 for covering my insulation at the bottom. I have the samples of grey and black (tempted by the black). I am puzzling over fixings. @ToughButterCup, how did you attach yours to your EPS? Regarding stopping vermin, I am thinking of putting a narrow layer of MOT-style stone right next to the house and up against the Ubbiflex. I assume the buggers won't chew or burrow through stone. Then backfill with soil for my flower beds.

I paid £22 per panel delivered, with free clips. Cambridge.

@GaryM, looks great! Installed by IdealCombi's official installers or DIY?

I have a simple DIY OSB cubicle on site sitting on a couple of pallets, knocked-up by one of my groundworkers, with white goods and a flexi to the nearest IC. Bucket for flushing. But I also have access to proper facilities next to the site.

I have my SAP calculation for my forthcoming bungalow and all generally looks good. The roof and floor have U-values of 0.08 W/m².k. However, the walls are a bit low, about 0.18 W/m².k. I did this on-purpose to maximise floor-space but it has turned-out a bit lower than I expected so I am thinking of adding an additional layer of insulation inside the the airtightness layer of say 25mm or 50mm of PIR. I was planning a 25mm service void anyhow. My questions: Could I just fill that service void with sheet PIR everywhere except where services run? That would do the job without stealing more floor area. I am aware that electrical cables may need de-rating if they are insulated. To counter this, could I just leave, say, 50mm air-gap each side of a cable run? Are there any other problems with largely doing-away with a service void by filling it with insulation? (For service runs, as a bungalow with a warm roof I will have 200mm of open space between the metal-web joists in the flat roof). (The external walls will be 240mm I-beams at 600m centres full-filled with blown-cellulose/Warmcel.) (The airtightness layer is Pro-Passiv Smartply.) (I am aware of condensation-risk analysis and I am confident that adding such a small amount of extra insulation won't cause a problem).

Keep in mind that I am building this dwelling primarily for my enjoyment of the process and journey, and as a learning experience. I am therefore optimising for my own involvement, which is close to full-time, not for the usual triad of price, time and quality (although from that triad, I choose price and quality over time). I'm sightly reluctant to name names on this public forum as it may be unfair to those I did not choose. I would be happy to send you a PM with the names. In general terms, my long list was about eight frame-companies. I visited the factories of two and spoke at length with about four. Unusually, I was quite opinionated about the frame build-up that I wanted and so was looking for that flexibility. In the end I chose the company that offered that flexibility and which also happened to be a local company, not halfway across the country. I learnt, with the benefit of hindsight, that it is perfectly possible to take a different approach. Having now also been introduced to an excellent and personable frame designer, next time I might start with them and ask them to recommend a frame-manufacturer in the local area of my next build, wherever in the country that may be (frame manufacturers are the clients of frame designers). I learnt that it is perfectly possible to work with the various parts of the supply chain oneself, such as pile designer, foundation designer, frame designer, roof designer and make it all work, and not resort to using a one-stop shop, with the inevitable constraints that provides. I didn't choose a standard package but invented my own. Its a bungalow: Foundations: a complicated and completely bespoke solution. Screw piles, 240mm heave protection, 230mm PIR insulation (not the more usual EPS), reinforced concrete raft (with UFH pipes and lots of other pipes and ducts embedded within it, including the potable-water distribution pipes). Three embedded recesses in the concrete (two shower-formers and a mat-well for the front door). Frame: 240mm I-beams full-filled with woodfibre insulation (either Wamrcel or woodfibre batts, I am still choosing). No internal walls: I will do those myself in metal framing. A single steel beam. Flat green roof: warm roof, by Bauder for the transferrable warranty and no worries about leaks. Bauder is also installing the extensive green-roof atop. Six windows. Nine roof windows. Passive-house-style front door (the only external door). I chose this as I had read a lot about frames and wanted my chosen balance between thickness (which steals floor space), U-value, decrement delay, acoustic insulation, and greenery (saving the planet). I will be interested to see how this frame preforms. Yes, two of the big national firms did. But that was actually of no interest to me as I want to do the airtightness process myself anyhow to see what sort of results I could achieve. – (By the way, I simply could not have done this without BuildHub!) Hope that's helpful. Of course, it is only one personal view and, as you may have gathered, I am somewhat unusual in my motivations for building. Others, and there are many here who have much greater experience than I, may be able to provide insights that align more closely to your own personal circumstances.

When is an Intumescent Pipe Collar needed?

How would I seal the outer face? Foam around and then just tape the duct to the breather membrane?

Could someone explain how to make an airtight seal for the supply and extract ducts to atmosphere please? The ductwork work will be 160mm Aerfoam insulated mass flow ductwork. My external wall will be a timber I-beam wall at 600mm centres. Cladding will be brick slips. Is it simply a matter of cutting the holes through, inserting the pipes and then using a pair of airtightness grommets on the inside airtightness layer?