Russell griffiths

I was thinking of getting 100 zonts and 50 zuckles, to make up 50 braces. As regards fixing to the floor I had thought of first fixing down a scaffold board using a fixing that only penetrates 40 mm into the slab and then fixing braces to that, just to lesson the amount of fixings going into the slab. As I have decided on block n beam floor I don’t have the problem with ufh any more as it will get installed later.

My first idea was 240mm of a soft roll type insulation installed between the I joists, with 40 mm ridgid wood fibre insulation laid over the top, then a breather membrane and a vapour control layer on the inside taped to the walls. Roof to be held off the wood fibre with a counter batten providing an air gap.

Right running with my other topic, are there many people who have used or considered spray foam insulation @PeterStarck What sort of thickness was sprayed(average) do you have a rough cost per m are you happy with it ? did this provide you with an air tight finish ? god this is getting complicated. Russ.

Why are people buying the fancy membranes if I could just use clear polythene

With an mbc type build up I believe the roof timbers are spread apart with a plywood gusset and then loose fill insulation is pumped in to the roof void creating a no cold bridge construction, is this correct @JSHarris would I joist construction do the same or would the osb web transfer heat to the outside needing additional insulation over or unde the joists to prevent a cold bridge.

I am really trying to avoid pir, I hate it I think it is massively overpriced, Getting back to the airtight layer at the ceiling, in a perfect world I would fit an airtight membrane then a service batten and then the finished ceiling, I think I need to add up the cost of pir versus an external insulation with a airtight membrane on the inside, I know some of these membranes can be costly so it may be that pir taped will end up cheaper.

Well this all looks like it could come together i would be happy to purchase them first, and use them around November time, @willbish comes over to Cirencester to have a look at them in use, I finish up and will comes over to collect them, he then uses them in December ,January and packs them up to send on to @Alexphd1 i love it when a plan comes together doing some rough figures in my head I think we could all save a grand on the hire costs.

Sorry. This would not be the only insulation full fill insulation between I joists as well, trying to find a solution to create a warm roof and provide an air tight layer.

Ok cool that lot has sort of confirmed what I was thinking lots of timber frames being built here with timber sheathed walls and ceilings with taped joins to provide the airtight layer. My build is icf so a layer of polystyrene insulation on the inside walls all sealed up nice and tight, what is to stop me having this layer of eps extend up and under the ceiling joists all glued and taped to make a complete airtight box.

Not being rude, but what has it got to do with logix who’s bracing you use ? if it’s anything like nudura they will say it’s crap and you must hire theirs What sort of price have they quoted you. Location wise you would be a perfect partner @willbish what stage are you at I’m looking at needing braces towards the end of October.

If you have done your sums right for £20 I would just paint it but to be honest I don’t believe it if it was that cheap everyone would paint them, and very few do.

So I would like to go back to basics and get my head around what I need to achieve in my build and how I’m going to do it. My build consists of beam and block floor ICF walls I joist roofing timbers metal sheet roof covering so what am I struggling to get my head around ? my walls consist of 67mm of eps insulation then 150mm of concrete then 67mm of eps insulation, according to all the literature and my common sense way of thinking my wall will be very air tight. YES, NO. so I have a 5 sided box floor and 4 walls, what do I do with the roof/ceiling ? what is the difference between airtight layer and vapour control layer all my ceilings will be vaulted. I have seen that my icf company make an eps product for ceilings, so if this is used I would end up with a 6 sided eps lined box, all fully sealed nothing escaping out of here is this what I want to achieve? what is all the talk about intelligent membranes ? Are these all more aimed at timber frame with I joists as a roof construction this portion of the house feels like timber frame construction, would it be right to have the inner side fully sealed and the outer breathing to allow any moisture that occurs in the joist area to breath out. God it was so much easier building draughty brick houses. Help @JSHarris @PeterW and any other of you clever bods out there. Many more parts to this question, just want to get the ball rolling. Cheers.

We used to noggin out the beam roughly, tack it to that and intumescent sealer on the corners, then board over it with your ceiling board. Its a load of crap really just to keep bc happy.

A trick we used to do if you score plasterboard like normal and snap it ready to be cut. BUT. Dont cut through it, you can fold it up like a 3 sided box and slip it up from below and hold it in place with the ceiling sheet hope that makes sense

The zont system is part engineered, part diy you get metal brackets that adjust but add 4x2 to make the whole system so no need to ship great big long things about, just a couple of stacking crates of brackets and add your own timber.

Have you had a chat with the neighbours, it would probably look better being done all around instead of one side, offering to contribute to the cost very often gets a good result

With my elf and safety head on they might not be very nice if you trip and fall on them.

G,day would there be anybody out there who will be doing an icf build and require bracing im afraid the hire cost has scared the c##p out of me so I’m thinking of buying my own to sell on afterwards another lad on here has shown an interest, so I was wondering if there could be a third interested party to keep the cost down for everyone the product we are looking at is called. Zont bracing, made by a Canadian company. Let us know. Cheers russ.

I would get a couple of quotes, when you have one you like let them do the application as they will word it correctly and will likely have a better working relationship with the tree officer.

I would think you could do the trial holes yourself by hand, contact a local structural engineer and tell him you want a brief site meeting to discuss the likelihood of having acceptable foundations, i would think you could get a good feel for the project without spending more than £500.

I think you may be overthinking a bit soon get it all tiled and have another look. You can change the bulbs to one with a different spread pattern so may change it i wouldn’t panic yet

@Dreadnaught i suppose my thoughts depend on how your slips will fix to the frame, i am not keen on anything fixed directly to the frame I would want to see a void to act as a drainage plain any moisture that finds its way to the back of the slips needs a void for it fall down and out my last house had an insulated frame, then an uninsulated cavity, then a block outer skin, then rendered we all have to make choices based on our thoughts and research, but I would rather have a system where I would be happy standing with a hose pointing directly at my external wall knowing if there is any moisture penetration then it has a path to escape.

Ok @Boris it was your wording clad, that made me think you where having brick slips

Hi @Boris welcome, my personal thoughts having built a timber frame home a few years ago, have you considered a brick outer skin instead of the slips, you may find it cheaper to get a couple of brickies and put a full outer skin on. There is a thread going at the moment regarding the costs of render board and other facade systems.

J Turner and associates speak to Anthony hes on holiday until the end of September, he was recommended by nudura who I am using, very pragmatic in his approach some over design so much to cover their arses, instead of understanding the system they are working with. Google them, if you struggle I can find his number later. Russ.