jamiehamy

I've been told Jewson will be putting timber prices up in Jan - they have already crept up a bit. I just put in a big order and will do another before Xmas.

Too small!

They wouldn't quote me for 270m2. Neither would Bison. I went with Tetris instead who were excellent to deal with and very similar thermal properties.

I would agree with this - it would be my preference if faced with similar. We held back on the measurements for the sills until everything was fitted (the different wall thicknesses of the tank mean most sills are different depths)., but I don't think that's normal!

Quick update - spoke to my Bro and he advised that it is my responsibility to ensure the windows meet the required spec - however he would expect externally glazed units to have tape and that I should insist on this. He also told me if I was struggling to get the window company to do this he could write me a letter. The window company have now said they will remove all the glass and install the tape. Not sure when - biggest glass panels needs replaced and as I suspected, all the cladding is the wrong colour and they can't get a match for the sills... What are people's thoughts on a company supplying units labelled 'Secure by Design' when the blatantly are not?

Polarwall here - Alan was brilliant to work with and invested a lot of time in helping me with planning and the actual pour. Product was great to work with - realy straight forward and very flexible.

There are few limitations in terms of block size when using Polarwall,apart from course height. Might not matter for a standard build as much but certainly simplifies build and icf spec as there us no need for special pieces on corners, arches, lintels etc...

I first became curious when the glass fell out the kitchen window during transit - two beads had come loose and the glass partially came out. It was only when I watched the glazier remove the glass from a side panel I realised something was simply not right. I will see what the window company say, but also have contacted my BCO for his view - my architect told me ages ago he was quite a stickler for windows and he in theory is my ultimate decision maker as to whether the current install is acceptable. If he wouldn't approve, then really the windows are not fit for purpose. I'll update when I have more.

Thanks both, that's helpful. Safe to say I'm 'scunnered' with these windows...

Arch! That's exactly the scenario I had on mind but thought I might be over thinking it... I've emailed the MD and he's already got back saying he'll look into it.

Hi all, Without going into too much detail - if it's possible to remove glass from a unit that is sold and labelled 'Secure by Design' with only a flat bladed tool and a suction cup - that's can't surely be SBD? In our long running saga, some glass was replaced yesterday - and on some of the units, this was all that was needed to get the glass out - from the outside. No extreme force required to pull the glass out once the beading was removed. Glazier was not familiar with the SBD standard per se, but said he would have expected my type of unit to have the glass secured by a special double sided tape which would make it extremely hard to pull the glass out. As it is - it's a rubber seal and silicon type seal at each corner to hold it in place then a bead presses into the side of the frame. . Can anyone offer any insight to this? Thanks, J (Added pic - the bead slots into the groove on the left, the glass presses against the grey seal - and is held in place with the white silicon type seal on each corner. )

I was actually wondering if I could spray in a weakish PVA solution to bind it all together and fill the gaps - although it compacts down pretty well as it is. Ideally I would put these chippings through an industrial food blender to get it down to tiny pieces, but realistically that ain't gonna happen!. Hmm! I actually need rid of the stuff anyway, and need loose fill insulation. This is just the outer layer of the beam - inside is PIR which acts as a VCL as well. Might just fill it all in with this and be done.

It seemed to work on the XPS, chippings rather than beads. Slow going but steady progress...! Jack, it has to be loose fill at there is only 100mm access to the front of the beam from the top.... Plus joists resting every 600mm.

Guys! What an idea! We only happen to have 4 Bulk Bags full of Xps offcuts from the icf walls. Do you think that's a goer? Would solve two problems at once and save us a wee bit.

Hi everyone, I need to use about 1m3 of lose fill insulation around a steel beam (Warmcell/Thermofloc etc) but can't find anywhere to buy it without paying more for the postage than the material! Does anyone know where I might be able to source this near Glasgow or if there is somewhere online that will sell it without charging a fortune for postage? JEwsons can't source it for me which is frustrating! Thanks, Jamie

Same here - mainly 'cos ProDave recommended it before I think! but yes, did the job.

Our 'business name' is the name of the house

oh - and for what it's worth - if I was to do this again, I still wouldn't order windows until the walls are poured. We built using ICF and a number of things did change slightly during the build - some by design (because it was easier to build to a slightly different dimension or when the walls went up we decided a different opening would be better - and in fact, we added two in) but some, like our biggest window - the opening ended up smaller. Despite Willie from ebuilds clear guidance I some how didn't put enough props on the 3.2 metre span and it bowed slightly, losing 20mm in height at the middle - on a 3.2x2.3 window, that would have been a real pain(pardon the pun!). I'm maybe a bit cautious tho.

We can store everything inside now, however if it had to go outside, I'd get some cheap OSB, stack the timber neatly on battens to keep it celar of the ground and make a rough 'roof' for it that will let rain run off the side. Lapped OSB will keep most of the rain off - and with a tarp or heavy duty polythene sheeting (we used this a few times for various things and it worked well) stapled over that and down the sides, it 'll be pretty dry . If you get it delivered during a dry period and stack it, it should be just fine. I wouldn't try rope anything - nail your temporary roof and staple the sheeting - that way it'll not get carried off with the first gale! Making a temporary roof sounds OTT, but in the grand scheme of it, esp if you can get old ply/OSB or even insulation boards, it's easy to do but will last the winter. As per another thread just make sure a) it doesn't look like a big pile of timber and b) it's kept a good distance from anything else. I wouldn't put in in a shipping container tbh - ours is ventilated but in winter you'd still get condensation dripping off the roof inside some mornings.

Just off the phone to International TImber and when I did my usual and asked if they could knock any more off, he very confidently came right back and said that the price has not changed since we placed our first order. We had a chat and he said as they import most of their timber, they are expecting prices to start rising in the New Year. Will run it past my other half but I'll be bulk ordering the internal timber pretty soon I think.

Just noticed this on my facebook - estate next to a friends.

That's exactly what we did - fixed price for each stage until Building Control - 'per hour' for time after. Our first architect )for the Barn that never happened) was fine with that approach, as was the one we chose for the Water Tank. I don't think even asked our budget - we knew what we wanted, what support we wanted and that's what we asked for - it helped we had built a model of what we wanted. One local architect asked what our budget was before I had even sat down - I could see the visible disappointment when i stated we didn't really have one...I very quickly made my excuses as it was obvious from the off he was out for money and status, not to help us fulfil our dream.

I'll be honest with you, . I found this very challenging. We used the ball park figs widely available per m2/area/house type and used that to give us an overall budget. Going lower level however, I didn't find the house builders bible very helpful in terms of overall cost. Even at a lower level I found it only vaguely useful. And ICF barely gets a lookin there! I think to us being the builder and procuring everything direct, as well as a slightly over engineered/non standard design make it less relevant. I use the HBB as a post-reference rather than my baseline for costs. We have the overall budget but just manage everything very carefully as we go through each stage. We have a tracker and should come in on budget if we don't go OTT on the internal fit out. In terms of project managing, i would suggest an 'all or nothing' approach - probably limited scope to do only some bits unless you get a main contractor to get you wind and watertight and complete the rest yourself.

Looking good! The porotherm should go up fairly quickly once they get into the swing?

Not a chance... We did the ICF last year and there was lots of expanding foam here and there. Apart from discolour, there was no sign of deterioration. It had been exposed to a good few frosts and all weather. When I cut into it, under the surface was perfect. That included stuff that had been immersed in water. It will be weatherproof, as opposed to water proof - same as Compriband.