fatgus

Fair point. That’s our main concern. I think aluclad is a better option. The main reason for looking at aluminium was that we’ve struggled to find one supplier of aluclad that can do all we need without some compromises, so we’d either need to to use more than one supplier or, well… compromise 😁 A bit concerned about mixing suppliers, particularly on the same elevation 🤔 Deceuninck (and others, I’m sure) can do it all, but we’ll look more carefully at the frame construction 👍

Have thought about it. Might revisit Then I shall respectfully remain fatgus 😂 Aerobarrier is really interesting. Have encountered it a lot while reading this forum and it would seem to be well worth the money 👍 👍👍👍 to posi joist roof & blown cellulose. Norrsken is on our list. Love the windows, but wish they weren’t such a premium over most of the others. I suspect we’ll go for something more middle of the road like Zyle Fenster, Nordan or possibly aluminium like Deceuninck, although I’d prefer aluclad. We’ll soon be sending our final schedule out to the window candidates, so we’ll see what that throws up. Thanks for taking the time to comment everyone… it’s much appreciated!

We’ve had some samples of cedral and a few composite alternatives. Other than possibly millboard, there are none that really appeal, which is a shame 🫤

Thanks

The existing roof is flat and will be removed entirely, so the overhang can be tailored to match whatever we do with the existing walls. We’re considering larsen trusses on the existing walls so we can maximise the insulation and try to maintain a kind of continuous envelope of insulation around the entire building. We’re aiming for passive-ish levels and airtightness is a priority, along with the insulation. We’ll have MVHR, ASHP, UFH, triple glazed windows/rooflights. Incidentally, despite the username I am also Nick and am in Wales 😁 We were going for block construction, but it’s taken a long time to get to this stage and timber frame would appear likely to make the process quicker and easier in so many ways. Twin wall isn’t definite, but seems appealing… more insulation, easier to blow said insulation, less cold bridging and thicker walls. We’ve had a few quotes that seem reasonable, although we’re still looking at the details. We’ve discussed the fire risk with one of the TF suppliers and their suggestion was to use cement board behind the cladding. I can’t help feeling that the original plan of block build would make more sense 🤔

We’ve finally been granted permission for our extension and hope to get started in the spring, subject to discharging a few pre-commencement conditions. Our plan was to go for block build with 300mm cavity (a bit like Denby Dale), with EWI on the existing (block) building, but we’re now considering a pivot to twin-wall timber frame, mostly because of speed and precision. The original design had wood cladding on the ground floor and metal on the first. Planners didn’t like the aesthetic so we switched to 100% wood. On the intended block build, that seems to be fine, but on a timber frame I understand that insurance can be problematic and, if we were to sell, mortgagability might be an issue. Obviously, some of the building will be the old block structure, but the surface area of the extension walls is something like 3x that of the retained exterior walls. It would be great to know if anyone has faced a similar choice, built a 100% wood clad timber frame house or have any other insight on the subject Thanks!

Thanks @craig

We're getting a quote from Craig 👍 Internorm & Norrsken are probably our two top contenders at the moment, but they're pricey. I think the Internorm seals seem 'better' than Norrsken, insofar as there are more of them, but we'd ideally prefer outward opening which Internorm don't do. Nordan is currently number three, but is notably cheaper. Some of our fixed windows are quite large and a few manufacturers can't do them in one piece. For aesthetic reasons, we also really want our main lift & slide to be three panel but a few of the suppliers can only do two or four, or a two with a fixed side panel which doesn't look right. This really is proving quite tricky!

That’s probably quite feasible. I can see us using different companies for windows & sliders anyway. The openers are mostly first floor, with ground floor being fixed, sliders or patio doors, so slightly different aesthetics probably wouldn’t be too noticeable.

We’re gathering quotes for (mostly) aluclad timber windows and there’s (predictably) a very broad range of prices. The two systems we like most are over £30k more expensive than our third choice, but have 2 or 3 seals instead of just 1 in the cheaper system. They all have comparable Uw values and perfectly acceptable aesthetics. The more expensive systems feel more substantial in operation, but a lot of the windows are fixed and most of the openers will probably be rarely opened. So I’m wondering how important are the multiple seals? £30k buys an awful lot of other stuff….

We’re researching 3G windows and have focused on aluclad timber, but came across these two possible alternatives. They seem to have decent Uw values and we like the aesthetics (albeit based only on web images) and Deceuninck in particular would appear to offer all the different options we need (fixed, top hung, 3-track lift & slide & french). I’m waiting for calls back from both, but wondered whether anyone has first hand experience of either system? Cheers

Bit late to this, but in case it helps someone… I found ArchiTouch 3D pretty good. There’s a free plan, or you can pay by week/month/year. Easy to use, with or without an Apple Pencil, and the paid plan has quite useful outputs…

Your post prompted me to dig a bit deeper on this… I thought it was only available in one colour, but it seems that’s not the case. Might actually be useful to me too

I’ve been looking for something similar too… the only option I found was from Kingspan. https://www.kingspan.com/ie/en/products/insulated-panels/roof-panels/quadcore-sinusoidal-roof-panel/

Thanks @craig and @saveasteading I've just spoken with IQ Glass... will get a quote from them and go from there.

Thanks @craig. That’s pretty much what we’ve found from the suppliers we’ve contacted…. Thought it worth investigating, but we’re happy to split into two units. I’m going to speak to a couple of the oversize glazing suppliers but not hopeful that it won’t be unnecessarily expensive. Next deliberation will be where to split…

Superb! Thanks @SBMS 👍👍

Thanks... might see if I can find the episode on youtube. That's interesting... would love to know why 🤷‍♂️ No need! Grateful for any thoughts or pointers That's kind of what we're leaning towards. When we designed it we were resigned to the fact it would be split, but while looking for interior design inspiration we've seen a few houses with similar windows in single units so we figured we'd investigate! We definitely want the full height so we'll just have to live with the join... as you say, it's probably barely noticeable.

I believe it can, but of course it could be cost prohibitive... 😬 That's a good point. I think with the companies I've approached, the frame seems to be the limiting factor. Most don't seem to go over 3.5m. I don't really want to push any supplier to their limits as that seems to be when problems arise, but if there's any way to achieve the unbroken 5m, we'd like to look into it...

We're looking for a supplier that can do tall windows (roughly 5m tall x 1.0m wide) as single units. The companies we've approached to date would need to split into two units. The best solution so far, which is pretty good to be fair, would give us a 90mm-ish horizontal join. If we can find a supplier that could do them as single units, we'd consider sourcing them separately to the rest of the windows. Any suggestions gratefully received!

I think it probably depends on how the monitor would be used. For me, as the monitor gets wider the usability decreases…. I can see why it might be good for gaming, but if I’m viewing docs side by side I don’t really want to be turning my head to do so IMHO the additional height of the 16:9 is more useful than the width of the 21:9. Two pages can be viewed side by side with a decent font size without having to scroll. My current 32” 16:9 is also something like 2560x1440, which is much lower res than the last 21:9 I had, but I’d still choose it over the wide ones. Also, no matter where I position a 21:9 monitor I find that anything towards the sides of the display get a little blurry, so I have to lean towards the monitor slightly. Really pisses me off, but I suspect others might not have that issue.

I’ve had a couple of 34” ultra-wide monitors, one flat and one curved, but moved to a flat 32” 16:9 and much prefer it. It’s mostly office work and a little photoshop/indesign, but the 16:9 seems to suit my eyes way better than the 21:9. I fleetingly had a 43” 16:9 in my home study. It looked spectacular, but it was truly horrible to use… not recommended at all 🤢

Last one… The project is actually an extension… the existing walls are shaded orange below. The design requires minimal messing around with what’s already there. The two walls that will remain external will have EWI and the rest of the house will be 300mm cavity with full fill insulation). We contemplated knocking down and starting from scratch, but would much prefer to utilise the existing building.

Would be very keen to hear any thoughts/observations/criticisms