Boyblue

1. Because we've torn down every available hill on our island to fill in slab foundations and according to one of the two suppliers left, we will run out in 5 years. 2. A lot of the remaining land is is low lying areas where even more fill will be needed than normal which will likely accelerate that eventuality. 3. Occaisionally fill is hard to get and having an alternative is prudent, especially if you're trying to fill a housing shortage. 4. As fill becomes scarcer the price will increase. It has already gotten to a price where larger projects have begun barging in fill from nearby islands. 5. It’s really about sustainability vs convention. There is a point where sustainable methods become more efficient than conventional methods and I believe we’re approaching that point. Born in the 60's I have a good sense of how many minutes I must have in a cellular calling plan, however I don't have a clue of how much data I need. It's the same with building materials and technology. I have a good sense of what size a conventional steel reinforced column should be for a given situation however I'm not familiar with lintel beams reinforced with pretensioned wires. I was just hoping someone here has the experiance. 1. With the use of pretensioned reinforcement for undergirding, along with beam and block, 20 - 35% less steel & concrete is needed, but with a higher cost of production, you could be right, the savings could be marginal. 2. However, there would be significant savings on fill. For example, for a 140 m2 home there would be a $3,500 savings on the needed 200yds of compacted fill for a standard 3 course installation. 3. The amount of labour needed is close, but there is an inverse requirement for skilled/unskilled labor. With the need for more unskilled labor and less skilled labor, there is a net saving with standard beam & block installation (1 meter floor height or less) and significantly more as height increases. 4. Although not a direct cost savings, there is about as week savings in time, for the aforementioned 140 m2 home.

All of the videos I've watched shows intermediate walls used to shorten beam spans with beam & block floors. If you were building on limestone as we do, would piers and beams be a cost effective alternative or would you suggest block walls (we don't use brick)? When using pretensioned lintel beams 150mm x 200mm, how spread out would you suggest the piers be, to give solid support? Is 3 meters too much?

So, specifications given on the company websites are for a fixed set of variables. Once one variable changes (like requesting a 50mm screed), everithing else does? Once a specific order is made and 50mm screed is requested, the appropriate configeration will be detailed?

Some B&B manufacturers specify 65mm and others 50mm. The beam sizes are similar if not identical, so what is the unseen, that causes the difference in specified toppings. Might it be the number or placement of reinforcement wires, the strength of the concrete, the shape of the beams?

Thank you so much, I see all the videos of neat installations and might have been dejected. I realize they've been doing this for years. BTW which beam did you use, I feel like that kinda I shaped one may be the more problamatic of the two basic shapes.

The answer did come to me though. The genius of what I call the UK system, is the flexibility of being able to use the narrow side to basically double the strength of a section of floor. You also have the wide beam which aids in flexibility. And besides unless you'd be applying a cementitious plaster, you could be asking for trouble skimming all those different surfaces, because monolithic above doesn't mean monolithic below.

Electrical would go as it does now in the screed. Plumbing of course would go below, so a second ceiling would be needed in rooms with drain pipes. It may be compettive with first floor poured concrete slabs, but I catch your drift.

Yes, the light Cast does leave a flush ceiling, but it's a 100mm block and requires a 50mm pour just to bring it flush with the beams.

The hollow flush blocks seem to tick a lot of boxes. It has the density and strength, eliminates the need for slip bricks, and it leaves you with a flush ceiling. So what am I missing here? The only disadvantage I see is that the profile looks like it will take significantly more screed, but the offset of a flush ceiling seems like a fair tradeoff presuming you're able to apply plaster .

Room arrangement is the issue I've just landed on. The house plans here have only 215mm walls coming up from the foundation, which covers in most single story cases, only exterior walls and bathroom walls. So, there's not the labyrinth of rooms that work so well for you guys. It's either use long spans and install with a crane or add supports and make the job manageable by hand. I beleive the former would be playing at the extreme end of the of the span charts and the latter, would be in the comfort range.

Yea shipping assembled stuff like that is a nonstarter especially when it's already pricy in its own market. Glulam has been around or years and the amazing things I see them do with it is impressive, but you’re never going to see that stuff here in everyday construction. Shucks, Insulation is available but because it’s so bulky, it’s priced beyond standard construction.

LOL, I spend about 10% of my time in the sun, havenbeen on the beach in 40 years even though I drive by it every day. If you lived here you'd grow weary of it as well. I always tell folks, having sunshine all the time is a blessing, but so is having our seasons. O course you're welcome if I ever turn this discovery into something.

70 million Brittons can't be wrong, (not to mention India and several African Countries) The more I research the more I like it. Sort o like the metric system, it just makes sense. Our good buddies to the north can be wrong every now and then 🙂 In terms of the extras, I get your point. I'd have to over order everything because a short on an item like that bracket could hold production up for days, possibly weeks.

You precher, me chior 🙂 totally agree