Nick Laslett

@Mulberry View, I have a similar product to @JohnMo for my flat roof also from Sika, Sikaplan SGK-15. https://gbr.sika.com/en/construction/roofing/flat-roof-productsandsystems/single-ply-roofing.html Sika have so many different roof covering products that I find their website very difficult to navigate. We used these guys, they were friends with the scaffolder. http://jcservicesltd.com/services/cladding-installation

@SBMS, looking at your responses in the heat loss thread you had -10° as the coldest design temp and 4 Air Changes an hour in the spreadsheet. My understanding is that the 4 air changes per hour is the minimum air purge requirement in building regs for domestic dwelling. This is not the steady state figure you should be using for the spreadsheet. Also, are you sure -10 in the actual average coldest temp where the house is located? My house is a similar size to yours, with similar U-values, but my heat loss is around 4kWh.

@YodhrinForge, are you going to use something like genie clips for decoupling? Soundstop show their decoupled sound proof wall buildup having a sound reduction of 56 decibels. This is with a 36 db single skin brick wall despite what the picture shows. Metal has much better acoustic reduction properties than wood. You would need to adjust the gap to suit your insulation requirements as 50mm of rockwool is probably not enough. E.g. you would add timber battens to the wall first, then the genie clip with furring channel.

I didn’t use AeroBarrier. Not sure if they were operating when I was making these choices. I have an ICF build so the walls and floors already have good airtightness. My air test will be happening soon, so wish me luck! For my window installs I used Illbruck TP651 compriband tape, Illbruck FM330 foam and Siga Fentrim tape. I have Thermohouse roof boards, so used Illbruck FM330 foam and Siga Wigluv tape for the board joints. I used Siga Fentrim for the wall/roof junction. I have a steel frame roof structure, where the Thermoroof boards are fixed to the timber on top of the steel ridge beams, I used Siniat Foil Roll Intumescent Acoustic Sealant. For MVHR inlet and outlet, I used Illbruck FM330 foam and Triton TT Vapour Membrane paint. We have two dormer windows. For the dormer cheeks I used Pro Clima Intello membrane, with Siga Wigluv tape.

Other members thoughts on different options from a few years back.

My airblower door test guy had just tested a house that had the AeroBarrier treatment and he was amazed with the results. To paraphrase him, “it was a no brainier.” My approach has been to keep it simple, if you can. The less steps, less trades, less materials, less things that can go wrong. Despite all the taping, sealing, foaming you do yourself, it is hard not to still fret about if you’ve done enough, or if the work is good enough. I have an ICF build, so the actual walls didn’t need any extra considerations, but all the junctions soon mount up. The material costs too.

Insul have a trial version of their software you can use, but this is a professional tool. https://www.insul.co.nz

@ruggers, I used Thermofloc, for a similar problem. https://www.ecomerchant.co.uk/thermofloc-loose-fill-cellulose-insulation-12kg.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqo9DLSk6Bu1OfNCWrbfDJHnqhT4aZgcLG_cKt7wAmK0fomDcFT

@CJO, I’m sure you’ve already watched it, but back in April 2019, Grand Designs: The Streets, Series 1, Episode 1 featured two Durisol builds. They feature a wall blow-out during the concrete pour, which is not as rare as you might suspect. We have an ICF build, which was constructed by the supplier. We had two wall blow-outs, despite all the bracing. For us they poured 2.7m walls in one go, but maybe doing two lifts would alleviate a lot of the stress. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs-the-streets/on-demand/58244-001 They talk about the episode here.

@Ben Brewin, we had a ridge height restriction. Our architect changed the angle to 48°, and cut the top off the roof to create a tabletop style roof. It worked very well for us, the increase in the angle really helped open the rooms. From the ground you can’t tell we have a flat roof.

Why not just buy some armaflex sheets and glue this to the exterior of the existing box? This is what I did with the galvanised steel filter box from Zehnder. Funnily enough just stepped out of my place, to be passed by farm vehicle moving manure. On Sunday, next door had a bonfire. So glad I’ve got a pre-filter for all these country smells.

Not used these guys software. https://www.h2xengineering.com/blogs/cooling-load-calculation-essential-guide-mechanical-engineers/# But their blog article covers the topic in a lot of detail. There is a video here too. Also found this simple rule of thumb method. https://www.calmec.co.uk/blog/understanding-heating-and-cooling-load-calculations/# The process of working out load calculations is the following: 1. Determine the square footage of the space you are looking to heat or cool 2. Divide the footage by 500 3. Multiply that figure by 12,000 to get the space cooling load 4.Add around 380 Btu per person within the building and 1,200 Btu for every kitchen 5.Add 1000 Btu to account for solar radiation through windows 6. Convert the final number into tonnes by dividing it by 12,000 This is all in imperial measurements.

You can calculate cooling loads in LoopCAD. You can use it free for 30 Days. Link is to page of tutorial videos. There is a 14mins video on how cooling loads work in the software. Watch video see if it makes sense. https://www.avenir-online.com/AvenirWeb/support/tutorial/?productLine=loopcad

@CharlotteJ, here is the text of a post I made recently about the sound insulation topic. Here is a really good YouTube video from Ali Dymock that covers a lot of the concepts for sound proofing a wall.

@TerryE, talks about the thermal bridge detail of the plinth for his MBC insulated raft in this thread and on this blog post. @Oz07, you are right to highlight the importance of the junction between the raft and the superstructure. People also need to consider the requirements for external doors. These details should really be designed into the insulated raft.

Hello All, Just to confirm I will be there at 6.30pm, as planned.

You need to look at the performance tables from British Gypsum or Siniat GTEC, etc. This picture shows the acoustic performance of a simple 12.5mm timber stud wall, 35 is the key number. Next picture shows more variables, double boarding or insulation 16km/m3. Number now is higher than 35, this is better. You can find these performance tables from most plasterboard manufacturers, sometimes in a document called the White Book. Sound insulation is a complicated topic. There are three types of sound transmission that you are trying to control. I have a post about it here already.

GSE trays comply with MCS 012 certification. I used Midsummer for my supply. Trina panels comply with MCS 012. My electrician is MCS qualified, so he signed off the install.

@flanagaj, we have Thermowood Ash from QTD. https://www.qtdgroup.com/cladding This material will lose all its colour and go grey just like normal timber cladding. The advantages of the Thermowood vs normal timber are: 1. Dimensional stability 2. Greater resistance to insects and fungi. That is it. Downsides: 1. Cost 2. Installation time. Thermowood needs pilot holes and is fixed with screws. You can’t use nails, the timber is very dry and splits easily. If you use timber paint on thermowood, it will last a lot longer as the thermowood does not expand and contract as much as traditional cladding, so the paint doesn’t crack as easily. We used Osmo Clear UV oil for first year, but that stuff only lasted a year before needing a re-coat. Considering OSMO tinted UV oil this year. Or going with a paint. This has also been recommended. https://rubiomonocoat.co.uk/durogrit Picture of when it was first installed. I will post a more recent one later.

@Drellingore, I used the Stroma SAP software to do my “as designed” submission in 2021. This was a free download at the time. Here is a good thread discussing various approaches to SAP This thread links to the current download I think. Then this is another good discussion about using the Stroma software. You needed to edit the PDF output to remove the DRAFT watermark.

@Dave Jones, my expectations are so low at this point, that it will be hard to be disappointed!

I really rated the Senior Architectural PURe line, well engineered frames. They are a relative newcomer to the domestic market, but very strong in Commercial buildings. https://www.seniorarchitectural.co.uk/senior-opens-doors-into-the-domestic-market/

@flanagaj, this is an area where you could potentially save some money. You can get good u-values from 2g windows. For aesthetics we had to go with 2g, we wanted the crittall style look and steel windows are another level of expense. Our windows are only 1.3 u-value, but the coating on the inner leaf of the outer pane is what makes all the difference to how the window feels. This is a pretty standard thing to have and it helps reflects back your body heat. We have Smart Alitherm Heritage windows. A lot of companies use their systems but market them under different names like Duration and Cherwell. In the UK windows market you have system manufacturers, underneath them you have local fabricators, then you have installers/retailers. Sometimes the installer will also be the fabricator. The fabricators supply the local retailers. There are many exceptions to this. You could have the best window system, but be let down by the fabricator or installer or both. This website does good coverage of the aluminium windows market and will list a lot of system manufacturers. https://www.doorandwindowexperts.co.uk/aluminium-windows/who-makes-the-best-aluminium-windows/

That sounds great. Next Thursday works for me. Thank you for hosting.

@zzPaulzz, I agree with Alan, your build is at an interesting stage. I would love to take a look.