Lincolnshire Ian

I am pushing it into a 220mm rafter leaving at least a 50mm void between the OSB sarking on the rafter and the insulation apparently the gap is important as this is a warm roof (vaulted ceiling).

Hi folks I'm going to fit 150mm PIR insulation between the rafters of my vaulted ceiling. Can I simply cut the insulation slightly too large and squeeze it into the gap and the minimal expansion of the foam will hold it in place, or do I need to fix it in place. After the 150mm PIR is fitted I will be adding another 50mm PIR across the whole ceiling which will cover the rafters and 150mm PIR. Many thanks

Hi everyone My clumsy scaffolders haven't been treating the breather membrane on the external face of our frame with the same reverence as the timber frame erectors and we have some minor damage. Should I repair this with "breather membrane tape", does it exist, or is there another way to repair tears? Thank you.

They will want to see a drains test (already discussed it in the most and vague terms) and I'd like to test the system before needing to. If there are any problems better to know sooner rather than later.

Hi everyone We would like to replicate the test that BC will want when they carry out the final inspection. I have asked them what they expect to see and the best and most detailed answer I could extract was, "a normal water test". I have bought the bung to close the pipe run furthest away from the house, and intend to fill the highest inspection chamber with water and monitor for water loss. Am I doing this right, do I need to block the soil vent pipes as with an air test , what is an "acceptable" water drop? Does anyone know of a simple guide for water testing, or could maybe answer a question above. Many thanks

I spoke to the guys from Envirograf and it was a stress-free process for a novice. I explained my scenario, they asked a few questions, made some suggestions and followed up with an email - all within the space of a couple of hours.

Thank you everyone - very helpful. I will call Envirograf to get the info we need.

Ohh, that's a good idea. I need 32m to expand to fill a 50mm cavity. Thanks

Our architect gave us the option of having vents added to the cladding or intumescent strips. We thought the vents looked pretty poor, but there might be more elegant solutions.

Hi folks We need intumescent strips to close the 50mm void in our timber frame where we use cladding (about 30% of the house). I am more than a little shocked by the difference in price between cavity socks for the masonry walls and intumescent strips for the cladded walls. Does anyone have a supplier that offers intumescent strips at a reasonable price? Thanks

The 2x2 is OK around the openings, but we also need cavity barriers at roof height to mitigate the potential for the cavity to act like a chimney.

Hi all Our next BC inspection is when our timber frame has been erected and the cavity barriers have been installed. I had assumed that the cavity barriers would be installed as the block work went up, but apparently this isn't what the BC inspector is looking for. We have a window of opportunity between the timber frame erectors leaving and the brickie arriving to get the cavity barriers installed, but this is four weeks before the brickie arrives. I am assuming that the cavity barriers are waterproof, but will they be OK left for 4 weeks before being boxed in with the block work. Thanks everyone

Nope. We are buying a timber-framed building, and the company has a number of exclusions in their service, which includes the design the outer skin of the property. We were expecting a more joined-up service due to the nature of the focus upon self-builders, but alas, that hasn't been the case. I suppose if we had read all the small print and asked more questions, it could have been clear.

Hi We are building a new timber-framed house house. The house will have a block skin which will be rendered. There are lots of blocks we could choose, but which one is best to take render and minimise block work preparation before rendering starts? Many thanks

That's a brilliant reminder - our timber frame company offered us the same option, but we didn't accept it (maybe should have!).