Carly Lawson

Hi, thank you for all the information. I took your points to Ecobrix and the Ecobrix technical director and inhouse Architect (Andy) kindly showed me how they got intouch with all the former durisol clients and offered some free blocks to finish their projects. They also took me to meet a client that had been let down by Durisol but Ecobrix stepped in to help the client. The build was really impressive. Right in the middle of Brimingham. I had a private conversation with the owner and he was nothing but thankful for everthing the new owners of Ecobrix did for him. We also went and met David from Isotex but he said they would have to connect us with the head office in Italy and we had to prvide all the quantitiies needed or if we gave them the quote from Ecobrix they would match it. TBH, we did not feel comfortable with the poeple from Isotex as they only seemed interested in getting us to put down a non refundable deposit to some poeple in Italy that we'd never even spoken to! It all seemed a bit rushed and all they wanted was to see what Ecobrix had done for us. One thing that we thought was nice, was that Andy from Ecobrix never said a bad word about Timber frame or Isotex. The same could not be said for Isotex. They spent at least 15 minutes tell us how bad Timber frame moved and shrank and how terrible the Ecobrix people where! Having been to the Ecobrix factory in Wales for a free training day and after meeting the team and the lovely Welsh man that runs the factory, I think we are feeling confident to use the Ecobrix blcoks for all our walls and then timber frame for the floors and roofs. We are due to go to Carephilly In July as Ecobrix arranged for us to meet with A1 timber and Celtic offsite to discuss the Roof and floors.

Hi, yep totally agree about AI but from a newbie perspective it was certainly interesting looking at all the other information it pulled in. It seems that based on historical data, the information is correct is regards to ecobrix/durisol being more eco friendly and that the over all costs are reduced using woodcrete as apposed any of the EPS or polystyrene ICF systems. From the looks of it, there really is not much in it as afar a coats go, maybe only £5 or £6 better off per square meter with woodcrete, but that's only if it's like our house with render and no cladding. I guess it really comes down to if you want to save a little money, be eco-friendly and support British manufacturing. I have a bit of a soft sort for that because my mother had a terrible time and lost her job 6 year before retirement when the company she worked for closed down and moved all it manufacturing out of the UK.

Afternoon, Thank you for the additional information. Yes, the plot we bought has limited space either side. However, we have plenty of space front and back. So we are looking at adding some features to the front and rear. Due to the space limitations our architect see's the Ecobrix wall as a total of 440mm. 20mm render, 365mm block 40mm gap and 15mm plasterboard. At the weekend after reading the above, I researched using the CHATGPT AI to compare the different types of ICF. It all got a bit technical but the bullet points were that Nadura and other EPS ICF's works out to be more expensive than Ecobrix because the Durisol blocks use less cement and do not need bracing. There are a few reasons for this but one interesting point was that the inside dose not need to be battened (dab and dob or direct to the blocks). Seems that all the Styrofoam type ICF's need to be battened on the inside and the external needs different types of battens or boards fitted depending on what you want on the outside. With all the extras you need to build with EPS ICF it appears to add something like £17 or maybe even £23 per square meter. Plus the additional carbon from international transport. We are only looking to have render and brick slips (Maybe some stone slips). Apparently these fix straight on to the rough surface of the woodcrete. It also looks like the Ecobrix is more breathable. The AI pulled a lost of information about condensation and it seems that there is a lot of data available on woodcrete (loads of university research papers) and the inside of woodcrete and also hempcrete homes are much healthier to live in. The ChatGPT also added that Products like SIPS preformed even lower for breathability than version of ICF (Interesting!) The last point that the AI delved into was the thermal mass. The main point was that the EPS/Styrofoam ICF did not provide the same benefit as the thermal mass from the woodcrete blocks. It basically said that because the concrete core was sandwiched between 2 layers of EPS foam, any thermal mass benefit would be lost. However, the Canadian, European and British woodcrete blocks are all designed to give maximum benefit of the thermal mass. It seems that over the life of the building, there is significant energy savings because the thermal mass helps regulate the heating and cooling of the building (warm in winter/cool in summer). In summery, it seems that according to the AI, Nailbiters first woodcrete choice would have worked out more environmentally friendly and less expensive and that makes JohnMo and Russell Griffiths, builds even more amazing! Sorry for the long reply, I will start a new thread now that I underhand the forum and the information.

Thank you Steamytea for the link to ICE. That looks like a good reference point.

Hi SteamyTea, I really appreciate all environmental efforts. We try to help where we can (not easy with work and kids) My husband and I have been privileged to spend some time volunteering with a group that is working to alleviate the damage from ghost fishing. It's so upsetting to see the damage done by discarded fishing nets. Thank you for the input. I'll update the forum with our selfbuild adventure. Hopefully we will find the best materials to use. We only get to do this once, and if we end up with something as beautiful as JohnMO's Ecobrix house, we will be over the moon!

OMG OMG OMG that is magical!!! I absolutely love it!! Thank you for sharing. What a beautiful setting and design! Gosh, I hope we do something that good

Hi JohnMo, I think your house sounds amazing. Stone Slips must look amazing! Our architect was thinking mainly render with brick slips (hemp brick slips) to add some charm. However, maybe we should look at adding in some stone slips, ground level as a feature. Thank you so much. This forum has so much helpful advice. I don't understand what steamytea is talking about, sorry that all seems very complicated and I have not been to the Ecobrix factory yet and I don't know anything about crude oil. I just know that if we can, we'd would like to try and be ecofriendly and support UK business and jobs. This country was once full of shops and people had jobs making things but now it seems that people get angry if you try to suggest buying something made in Wales! I don't understand that. We do like the Timber frame but it seems we will save money and the walls will be thinner if we have ICF walls. We were impressed to learn that the ecobrix blocks are mostly made of recycled wood, so isn't that kinda the best of both worlds because we will have a timber roof and floors will all be made here in the UK.

Thank you, that's very kind and so good to know. They said they would give us the quantity for cement and rebar but we have to work that out. It seems straight forward and made in Wales is amazing! My husband and I are hoping to do as much as possible to keep the costs down. Did you render the walls yourself?

Hi Russell, if you add in the extra money for bracing and the additional concrete that goes into the core for the polystyrene ICF, is that not a lost more expensive? That must add about £10 extra per square meter? Also, I picked up one of the woodcrete blocks at the NEC show, they were not very heavy, what do you need a crane for? I have also just started to research thermal mass. It seems a wonderful benefit you get with the Ecobrix ICF system (same as the Italian system). I have only researched online but it looks like you don't get that benefit from the American polystyrene/EPS ICF systems? The other ICF's seem to have it locked in between 2 layers of foam? How do you make things the kitchen cabinets attach to the inside of the house?

Hi, sorry I am new to the forum and did not mean to cause offence. I was just saying that we are trying to find an affordable way to build that is ecofriendly and use sustainable materials. We have been looking around and please correct me if I am wrong but it seems that Ecobrix (new owners of Durisol) is one of the few UK made ICF's? I can't imagine how much extra pollution and extra carbon must be produced to import EPS foam from the United states. Is that not a crazy thing to do or is that just what everyone dose? Also, why would you want to spend another £1000 for bracing? Is it not better to buy UK made, support local jobs and save £1000 cause you don't need bracing? Any guidance is welcome, we have not decided yet but the price per square meter from lady that owns Ecobrix seems very good but maybe I am missing something? I

Hi, my parents went with Advantage for build warranty for their selfbuild. https://ahci.co.uk/new-build-warranty/ The people at Advantage were really helpful and they helped my father in-law so much but I think it was the same price as buildzone but they seems more helpful.

Hi Thorfun, isn't MBC twinwall TF build really expensive and the walls very thick? Is that the system that puts SIPs in-between the timber frame? We also looked at SIPs made in Scotland. They gave us lots of information at the NEC show but to get a good insulation level the walls are really wide. We are looking for advice on the best system to use but timber doesn't seem to be as good or ecofriendly as the UK made woodcrete (similar to TF). On their website they have the insulation built in, so that seems a bit easier? Sorry, new to the forum and just trying to make the right decision.

Hi, that sounds like an amazing build. We looked at Nudura but then we found out you have to use loads of bracing and extra bits, which is very expensive and not included in the price, we also worried that the render may not stay on. Plus we are trying to be as environmentally and sustainable. We found out that Nudura is imported all the way from America? We are still trying to decide which product to use for our self build. We looked through your post and we have also looked at Durisol/Ecobrix because you mentioned them. We did some research and thought that it looked like a better option as it's more straight forward no extra costs and UK made. We saw them at them at the NEC show. They invited us to visit one of their builds and they gave some history about the product. We were amazed that Europe has more than 400,000 houses built with woodcrete and that its been around for so long.

Hi, my husband and I just bought a plot in Oxfordshire, we have outline planning and we are just starting to get ideas before we go for full planning . We are now looking at different build methods and we don't know which one is best. What made you deicide to use SIPs? We looked at them at the NEC show but there were ones with yellow foam and thicker ones with grey EPS. What did you use and can I ask why?