Grendel

Our builder has completed the annexe which we are now living in. He's carrying on with the main house which is half done. We need building and contents insurance for the annexe but are having trouble. The builder says that as we are living here it's no longer covered by the site insurance. But the insurers that we have contacted say they can only insure once BCO has given sign off. But BCO won't be able to do sign off until main house is also completed. This can't be a new problem. Has anyone else solved it before??

Thanks Russell, a parge coat might be best given the porosity of the velox, if Purple Passive can gaurantee the air tightness then We were looking at alternatives to wet plaster. Agree it's an effective method but we are looking for a dryer method to avoid bringing so much water into the building structure

Hello all We are up to wall plate of our build in Leicestershire and wondering how to sort out airtightness. It's an ICF Velox build so a solid airtight concrete layer, but the Velox blocks are quite an open weave of mineralised woodfibres. Our experience of wet plaster on Velox in an outbuilding is that it took years to dry out. Has anyone used a spray like purple passive or blower-proof liquid on Velox, Durisol or Isotex. Or how did you sort out internal airtightness? Any suggestions? thanks

I've got an oak block worktop from worktops express. About 40mm thick. They advise a moisture barrier stuck to it's underside where you have a washing machine, oven or dishwasher. They talk vaguely about heat and moisture. Is a barrier needed above a fridge with a small freezer compartment? thanks

So...our new build had it's garden room internally plastered recently. It's a Velox ICF build so a continuous shell of concrete around the structure surrounded with insulation. On the inside of the concrete is a Velox board 35mm thick. We plastered with a standard brown coat plaster system whic has worked fine but it took months to dry out. Windows are in, it's winter so not much evaporation or drying. For the main house should we use plaster again and hope that spring is warmer and less humid and it dries quicker, or should we try "plastering" with sand and cement? Then normal skim over the top. Would sand and cement wet the walls less or dry out quicker? Are there any drawbacks with sand and cement "plaster" thanks Andrew

With Velox window openings there is a Velox board each side and above, but not below. Does it not work to put a board down as an under window sill and then pour the concrete? If there is not a horizontal lower board do you have to stop the concrete pour every time you reach a window sill level? If there is no lower horizontal board how do you support the window in the insulation layer?? Any thoughts?

psssst....whats a Kale-mushroom?

Yes, whole build is Velox. The curved section is a 60 sided thrupenny bit

Velox is happy with the plans, and have suggested people who have built in this before. But there are not many experienced Velox builders around, or they are 200 miles away, and they are busy until 2010, or they want silly money for a fixed price build Good thought. But builders seem not so familiar with a circular build regardless of material. Were you thinking of curved SIPs? or just brick and block?

What sort of contract are you using with some bits day rate and some fixed price? Is there a JCT contract that suits this sort of arrangement? thanks

Our new build is a funny shape ( has a circular tower), funny material ( velox), has a basement, is on a slope etc. etc Builders seem to view it as complex and pile in 100% risk factor £££ when providing a fixed price tender. Some builders are happier to share some of the risk with a time and materials contract, or a cost +% contract. Does anyone know of a contract suitable for a main contractor not based on a fixed price? What is a reasonable day rate for the boss of small building company to charge assuming that some of the time he will be project managing and other times he will be labouring. If we go for a time and materials contract do we need a QS to monitor the costs or materials claimed or should I assume that I can do the monitoring? Thanks!!

Surely this has been an issue for everyone on this Hub who has self built??? Whether you are ordering a timberframe, or windows or other materials there is often a very big up front amount to pay. Has everyone just bit the bullet and paid out with a bit of "checking" or is there a UK based way of covering the risk of a supplier going bust before delivery taking your money with them?? We are about to order an ICF system but feeling very anxious!!!!

Looks like possible winding up petition for CRL according to posts on trust pilot. We were about to take out their structural warranty, but then they have stopped answering their phones. https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/c-r-l.com Petitions to Wind Up (Companies) Petitions to Wind Up (Companies) In the HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES, INSOLVENCY AND COMPANIES LIST (ChD) No CR-2019-005500 of 2019 In the Matter of CRL MANAGEMENT LIMITED (Company Number 07563546) and in the Matter of the INSOLVENCY ACT 1986 A Petition to wind up the above named company having its registered office at 62 Wilson Street, London, EC2A 2BU, presented on 20 August 2019 by EC3 LEGAL LLP of 4th Floor 106 Leadenhall Street, London, EC3A 4AA, claiming to be a creditor of the company, will be heard at 7 Rolls Building, Fetter Lane, London, EC2A 1NL on 2 October 2019 at 10:30 am (or as soon thereafter as the Petition can be heard and/or at such other venue as the Court may direct). Any person intending to appear on the hearing of the petition, (whether to support or oppose it) must give notice of intention to do so to the Petitioner in accordance with Rule 7.14 by 4pm on 1 October 2019. The Petitioner’s address is 4th Floor 106 Leadenhall Street, London, EC3A 4AA, email : steve.mynard(at sign)ec3legal.com (ref CRL/sm) 21 August 2019 Useful Share

....and it must be OVER £100, not exactly £100 there's also section 75a which covers payments up to £60,260 under certain circumstances. It also must be for a single item, so 2 train tickets totalling £140 won't be covered

So does softened water taste salty? And wouldn't filtered hard water have more calcium in it ( assuming your kidney stones are calcium rather than uric acid or struvite ) and so be worse for kidney stones. Sodium in softened water would just be bad for raised BP

But that 3-4 times summer electricity is free off your solar PV??

So, to mitigate against overheating you can make south facing windows smaller, provide external shading, use low g glass etc. But the more you reduce summer overheating, the more you need winter heating. If you have solar PV to provide electricity is it better to design a house that overheats in the summer and use free electricity to cool the house via a cooling heat pump, than to pay for grid electricity to heat the house in the winter when the PV doesn't work so well? Where does the balance lie in a well insulated, fairly airtight house??

Of those people using Velox has anyone got or applied for 10 year structural warranty? We just got an application turned down by a well known company as: "Unfortunately, Velox ICF is not a product which is approved by ourselves for warranty purposes. Although, they are accepted by LABC, our requirements are different as we cannot accept this product as they are not a member of IFCA." I'm not sure what IFCA is - presumably nothing to do with inshore fisheries? Who have you used?? thanks

Hello SimonR Does this steel cope with a curved barn shaped roof, or a curved drum shaped building with the seams running vertically?? Do you know the minimum radius of curvature?

Is it less messy when you catch them in the loft

That's reassuring about the ties, although 1000 ties with xsection of 1mm gives you a 10cm x 10cm bar of steel sticking through the structure But would cost a lot in additional labour fixing the extra insulation on the outside! I guess I shouldn't be concerned

GBS used compacfoam 200 under the window and door thresholds on their Golcar passive house - fixed with threaded bar into the slab, to reduce thermal bridging. https://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/products/compacfoam-200/ I'm not linked to GBS in any way. Has anyone considered the thermal bridging of Velox metal ties?? They did talk about a ??basalt?? tie 12 months ago, but they dont seem to have developed this.

We're talking to 4 builders while detailed spec is being drawn up for our "self build" I've come across tendered contracts previously, but some builders were talking about negotiated contracts and cost-plus contracts. What does everyone else use? Are tendered contracts on the way out? Has anyone got advice on the pros and cons of different contracting methods? thanks Grendel

Hello, what sort of roof system are you putting onto the velox? How did you choose your builder? Are you doing the velox yourself? Thanks

We are considering velox and trying to balance it against timberframe and porotherm. Just got planning. We have a semibasement so need something durable for that. Then we have a curved section above , several build methods won't manage curves well