Russell griffiths

The bracing is all steel, but comprised of 4-5 components, so a foot plate bolted to the floor SOLID a cross brace and a brace on the wall this is all really good, what happens is all components need to be taken apart so they are fixed together with a large steel pin and a circlip. This pin has a millimetre of movement in it, multiple this by 3 pins and you get a fair bit of play. What I found is that the wall doesn’t weigh much, so you plumb it up, but it’s not really tensioned against the brace as it’s so light, you then make it really heavy by filling it with 20 tonne of concrete, it then wants to lean one way or another so it tensions up all those little 1mm of play in the pins and this is when it needs a little tweak to get it lovely and plumb. Its relatively straightforward, but don’t underestimate how many hands you will need that day. For the size of your place I think I would want 5 blokes 1 on the pump controls 2 on the hose 3 on the vibrator 4 cleaning up spills 5 running about untangling extension leads, looking for blowouts, fixing stuff. You will need string lines setup but out of the way so you can eye along the top of the wall as you plumb it. If you look at stones blog he has some good pics to show how to set the lines up using little blocks of timber at the corners, but I’m sure you know this stuff.

TBH there are thousands of them, I would look at your budget and pic one to match it, at the cheapest end you can use a roll of polythene, and at the dearest anything from SIGA. The INTELO stuff looks nice.

Nobody, except a self builder just out of interest what has your icf supplier told you to do with the bracing. We were told to lean the walls IN towards the bracing as when the concrete goes in the weight of it pulls the wall away from the brace and the whole system goes into tension. I plumbed mine 10mm out of plumb leaning hard against the braces, when the concrete was poured it was nearly perfect and just needed a tweak. As a word of caution, you can push a wall away from you but it is hard to pull one back, so lean them in, if they fall out it is a bugger to get back and you can pull the screws out.

Hi mr @magnethead what sort of dough you paying for the triton, I think I paid about £150 plus vat per 20kg bucket. I was considering painting the whole area under the timber cladding.

Have you found any type of glue stuff that sticks to eps, I would like to find something to go around gap sealing that I can squeeze out of a gun and smooth using a flat scraper

I would have thought that even if that gap was non existent you would still need to air seal it, it would never be air tight no matter how tight, so applying a tape or liquid will always be needed. I presume you will be putting a batten on the ceiling to take the ceiling finish, so this gap will end up in the void area, I would fill it with a 10mm strip of insulation then foam the life out of it then liquid seal it. Looks like a nice complete system. I have been using the triton tt, and for the sake of a tub full I would be sealing all those edges.

The only thing I can add @LA3222 is check with the delivery co if you have a maximum time to unload, I recently had an artic delivery and it was stated very clearly that the truck would not stay longer than two hours on site without additional costs, we had 4 lads unloading and a forklift and it still took 1 hour 45mins, so just have a check to see that you don’t get an additional bill.

Just be prepared for them to move and you will need to re plumb after you pour, I was surprised how much they move about with the concrete thundering in. Just make sure you have enough lads on site to carry out adjustments after it’s poured as it all gets a bit hectic.

I went on their Facebook page and put up a pic of what I wanted to do, they replied the same day. Bloody expensive stuff.

Can you do a sketch from above and one from the side showing height difference, from lower to higher pads, you might not need any hangers, in fact they might stop you gaining height you need.

I may be wrong, but are those grooved panels not a retro fit solution and designed to go over an already solid floor, and then you lay your second floor on top. How is your design going to be level or flat? will the xps panels not move about unless fully bonded to an underlying structure. Do you have a link to the product.

I think this was covered a couple of weeks ago, I think the main concern was being able to replace the glass if needed.

I used to do a large amount in Hillingdon, I would bargain on going down further than you think, make sure you have contingency for going deep, the last job I did there the foundations went into the ground further than the building came out of the ground.

Cordless everything, I think the only thing I own with a cord is the mixer.

E bay, had a load of paint used for shipping containers, must be tough if they put it on them.

Just rest on a roll of dpc.

I personally like solvent weld, reason, if fitting multiple push fit joints they can twist out of shape and pull apart as you are working on the next stage.

Agree with dave, building mass housing is not hard, you can choose any method and get a house up in about 14-16 weeks and habitable, it’s getting the councils to release the land and removing the profits from the developers that put a stop on things. Why are councils not making available serviced plots, ready to go with a small mark up on them.

Here you go chummy.

have you thought about an aluminium transom bar, those used for roofing, router out a groove in your timber and insert bar, stainless nuts and bolts, could look a bit special, have you thought about a different finish to the timber on that facade, might make it stand out nicely.

What ya mention me for. Get a bunch of big nails and you can sleep easy.

remember this.

As peter said, can you go in the loft and fit noggins between for trusses then come down and screw into the noggins. If this is downstairs then then there is a multitude of 125mm frame anchors that will do the job. You can get the concrete anchore screws in 125mm also, so no plug needed.

Bugger me you can keep that. Shocking price.