trialuser

Hi, you seem to have double header and sole plates, can I ask if this was by design, or needed as a correction. I would like to double up on the header plate to spread the load of the upper walls and roof built off the platform floor joists which wont align with the studs of the ground floor walls (different centers). My understanding is that most of the shrinkage occurs within the plate timber thickness and I was worried doubling up may introduce a problem. Thanks

Thanks, presumably if you run in the horizontal socket safe zone you just notch or omit a bit of batten at that height?

On a bit of a tangent, how are cables run in this service void, it's something I will be having later on. The safe zone is vertically above and below the back box, but presumably you don't clip the cables through the vcl into the soft pir insulation, but if you branch off to the side and pick up a counter batten it may not be in the zone, and could be a risk from a badly placed plasterboard screw. Thanks.

Thank you everyone, have a good christmas. Roof will be tata cc urban hopefully, so not overly heavy, build will be at 100M 3 miles inland from coast, dumfries and Galloway, so reasonably windy at times. Plans show the strongtie brackets bolted through the soleplate into the blockwork, but that was my concern. I was thinking of also casting some of the L straps under the reinforced slab up against the inside of the blockwork, but potentially a bit fiddly ensuring they are in the correct place to coincide with upright studs. Sid

Hi, occasional lurker, now after a bit of preliminary info please. How is the timber frame (140mm) held down to the foundations if there is no external skin of masonry, ie timber or steel cladding? All the details I have been able to find show stainless holding down straps fixed to the frame uprights and built into the external skin of full height masonry. Other products I have seen (https://www.strongtie.co.uk/products/detail/hold-down/81) seem to rely on being bolted into the concrete block foundations and I always thought mortar joints were fairly useless in tension. Is it enough to fix to the blockwork, or is a connection to the mass of foundation concrete required? What have other people used when constructing lightweight clad external wall. The soleplate will be shotfired into the blocks, the frame nailed to the soleplate, but what is the correct way to provide restraint against any uplift force to the whole lot? I hope that makes sense, thanks Sid