Russell griffiths

A friend of mine is building a very modern build with board finish concrete on the inside, he is basically making the shell a concrete box with insulation stuck on the outside, it’s all been designed and looks cracking. The only problem is he can’t find anybody to build it, the general builders just haven’t got a clue unless it’s traditional brick cavity, so he’s having to look at civil Engineering companies. I would look on YouTube at the builds in the states as they are far more up on these methods. Also look at an icf product that only has insulation on one side and plywood on the other, you could substitute the ply for boards to give you what you want, however you would need to increase the insulation on the outside to make up for the lack of it on the inside.

So thinking out loud here, if you swap the timber floor for concrete have you thought where your new electric wires will go and your central heating pipes. In an old house like that it is going to be hard to find places to conceal it all, unless you like surface run pipes. Also you need to consider the final floor finish, getting your average builder to concrete that floor will leave a finish not that flash, so unless he is told it must be to a certain standard I think you will be disappointed with what you get, and having to do extra work to make it good enough for carpet, laminate or tile will be extra expense. On another topic topic you say the upstairs wall bows out by a couple of inches. Lenthening the joists to meet the wall again does not really seem like the correct thing to do. Maybe you should get a builder in with a good rep and local knowledge of these houses. Just my thoughts.

Hi I’ve just made a name sign for outside our site out of oak and would like to protect it, it’s going to hang on a post like an old pub sign so will be swinging in the wind and rain for a good few years (I hope ) any veiws on a good sealer protector I want it to stay oak coloured and not grey off. Cheers.

We have used all manner of these pre made edgings over the years, and found them to all be a bit flimsy and over priced. We now recommend standard mild steel in 100 x 4mm or 150 x 5mm both come in 6m lengths we secure these in place with 16mm re bar tack welded to the back with a bit of care you can create some nice sweeping curves and some very sharp looking corners. If fitted down the side of a driveway any dodgy driving where a tyre rides over it will result in no damage to the edging, unlike the garden centre stuff that won’t like it one bit. The steel will rust to a nice brown colour and looks quite arty. I will try to find some pics.

I seem to find this with almost everything I purchase, it doesn’t seem that until the mk3 version comes out that they get it right. Kind of puts you off buying a new product until you have heard that they have fixed all the issues.

Just a guess as I haven’t got one, but just fitted a mcalpine one that looks similar, does it not compress when you put the Crome top on and screw that down. Or twist it on however it fits.

Our planning officer told us his case load is supposed to be 25 planning applications at once including any enforcement notices he is working on. But due to 2 staff members both handing their notice in at the same time he has 85 cases to deal with. It beggers belief how this system of ours is holding together.

Sitting here bored. I found these for you.

On a previous house we needed a retaining wall aprox 3m high and found out that any structure used for retaining would require engineering drawings if over 1m high, so we built 3 terraces all aprox 900mm high with a very light slope aprox 3m wide and built timber planters on the relatively flat bits and turned it into a veggie garden, it worked very well as each flat area was sheltered by the one above. Just bear in mind a group of terraces will take up more land than a vertical method.

Well done, ?? I wish these planners new how traumatic and stressful the can make people’s lives

We have this in our garden, it would be more costly to build than the pre formed version but has loads of space in it for future equipment. Just an idea if you have the space.

Personally I would buy the kiosk first, so you have it sitting in front of you before you commit to a concrete slab with a hockey stick in the wrong location. You could measure it nicely and be spot on, but why take the chance.

So I think my mind is being distorted by costs. The prices I have seen for eps look to be higher than the ones @IanR is quoting, and the cost of concrete is cheaper. I was typing this as Ian did his last reply. What an excellent reply and just what I was looking for. Top man Ian. So in essence having 20% of a slab with a slightly lower u value than the rest of it will be better than 100% of the slab at the lower value. I was having trouble thinking a colder area all around the edges would be sucking all the goodness out from the middle so why bother trying to improve the middle if the edges just rob it back. Excellent as always thanks everyone. ??

So @IanR said the cost of eps 100 is cheaper than concrete. Unless my maths is wrong (which it could possibly be) I would also disagree with this. How much is everybody paying for 1cubic m of concrete ? how much is a 100mm thick sheet of eps at 1m square. How far does a cube of concrete go when laid at 100mm thick? This is assuming my previous question about cold edges to the slab would dictate that 200mm of insulation all over was ok.

Why? I believe it would be cheaper, if you have to excavate to a required depth surely it is easier and less labour intensive to pour a thicker slab than to have spent the time pre forming thickening beams and adding the additional re enforcement. A pour and finished slab takes the same time to lay regardless of whether it is 100mm -150mm or 200mm

So looking at the pic I found, am I missing something, in a lot of the replies it looks like the more insulation you can cram under a slab the better, I fully agree. In the pic is a ring beam that the wall sits on, this is sitting on 200mm of insulation, the rest of the slab is only 100mm thick so you can add an extra 100mm of insulation underneath so it sits on 300mm, if you then put 2-3 thicker beams throughout the slab to stiffen it up these will allso only have 200mm underneath them, so looking at the pic have we not created a slab with many major cold spots all around it and through out the middle. This will require the thoughts of blokes far cleverer than me. @JSHarris @IanR

Evening. FWIW @HerbJ I was stating that I disagreed with a statement you had written regarding the structural engineer, it was by no means a dig at your capabilities or approach. From my point of view if we didn’t question the way things are done and look for various approaches then we would never progress and would still be building in 9 inch solid brick. I question everything untill im satisfied of the correct approach.

Having a look at this pic just for an example. Lets say for argument that all the insulation in the pic is 100mm thick, so we have 300mm under the main slab with 100mm of concrete over the top, so if we require thicker sections through the slab for point loads or supporting walls why not get rid of the top layer of eps and replace with additional 100mm of concrete, so in effect the picture would have 200mm of eps and 200mm of concrete. Tell me why this is silly/stupid im hoping that I’ve preempted your answers in my head, but need some clarification. Cheers.

Im afraid I disagree with this, he may be a super smashing engineer the absolute dogs danglies, but I don’t believe for a minute he designed it with your wallet in his mind, he would have designed it to meet all the relevant criteria and to completely cover his back, but he would not have given a monkeys if you couldn’t afford it.

Yes it would add an awfull lot of concrete, but what is cheaper 1m square of concrete or 1m of eps.

Thanks @HerbJ very helpful, quick question. Your slab is quite complex with lots of thickening beams throughout. Looking back could you see a benefit of having a thicker slab all over rather than all the associated work in forming the thickening beams. My last house had beams incorporated into the slab on top of piles but that was due to sloping ground, I’m thinking know all the effort in creating these beams you could just cast a thicker slab all over, more concrete yes but less labour.

Evening, I know many on here have used an insulated slab, I tried not to call it a passive slab as even though it may be insulated the house you put on top does not necessarily have to be to a passive standard. So question, how thick was the vertical element to the insulation, not how much you have under the slab, the bit that stands vertically and held the concrete in place, I don’t want to pay for two much insulation if it is not needed, looking at various companies and they all have different specs. Cheers.

Hi @Pete I’ve booked myself on the catnic course on the 23rd of this month, so I may find some answers out but I will try you first. Looks really good by the way. Is the hidden gutter a standard made thing or did you have it folded just for your project ? what sort of fall did you put on the gutter, it looks quite shallow. Any pics of the outlet to the gutter. What was the average length of sheet you used, they look like good lengths. How many metres did you get done, in what time period ? Did you do this with just the misses or did you have any other help ? Would you do it yourself again ? how much dosh do you think you saved doing it yourself ? Bloody hell dont don’t I ask a lot of questions, if you have time any answers would be most appreciated. Cheers russ.

I have also lived in oz with a steel roof and they are noisy, I think the difference will be you will probably be looking at having a roof build up with a thickness of at least 300mm maybe more, whereas I bet your roof in NZ was 100mm max with probably 25mm of insulation if you are lucky. Im having a steel roof with a vaulted ceiling and noise has not even crossed my mind.

Our tray for the air con unit was hung from the rafters on 4 pieces of threaded rod so very easy to adjust to give a little fall to the outlet.