Triassic

I’m on limestone so I have a radon barrier located above the first layer of insulation, this is a dual radon and DPM barrier. The load bearing areas are a mix of EPS 300, 200 and 150, depending on the load and were designed by a structural engineer.

In one of the original designs Proton blocks were suggested. This web site shows a number of different designs of passive slabs and how to eliminate the cold bridge, http://www.viking-house.ie/passive-house-foundations.html edit to add “use the above web link with caution, just look at the pictures” - see Jeremy’s post below.

I have a simpler design 300mm EPS (designed by Hilliard Tanner and a DIY install by me). 100mm of concrete (up to 250mm thick in the ring beams) with underfloor heating pipes zip tied to the top layer of reinforcing mesh. Power floated finish to the concrete. Our pump guy is local and this was included in the pump hire.

I like the idea of vertical fire compartmentalisation, I’ll probably fix the fire sausage vertically at the corners, so that each wall is separated in the event of a fire, is is there any guidance on the subject that anyone can link to?

No! Hence the question. To be honest I’d not thought about a fire stop, however I have changed the cladding from larch to fibre cement as we live in a wooded area and we had a woodland fire just down the road last year. The TF company have left a large roll of what looks to be fibreglass inside a 150 x 150mm red plastic sausage. No idea if this the fire stop or how to position It?

Following on from the discussion about poor build quality? Can we discuss fire barriers in timber frame houses, what are they, where do they go and what are they made of?

Thanks for all the input. I’m in the land of the SUV 6 litre gas guzzler and I’m yet to see an EV. Even thought the sun shines all day I’ve not see a solar panel or a solar water heater and every shop and hotel has the air con set to an artic blast. If the power went off and the fuel ran out they would all be doomed !

I read in the news that we need to accelerate the take up of electric vehicles to help meet climate change targets, but I’m left wondering are they really that green and sustainable as they are made out to be?. The fuel to power them needs to be produced and the cars appear far more complicated in their components and manufacture. I assume someone has looked at their lifecycle costs and compared them to other forms of powered vehicles?

@Ian you describe exactly what I am doing in my build. So no need to worry about Dew point problems!

I asked the original question from a point of ignorance of how this whole moisture thing works. I’ve got a membrane on the outside of the timber frame, with the frame filled with a plastic insulation and a waterproof membrane on the inside. Will moisture even get inside this plastic bag if it’s sealed up?

How did you all deal with corners in your aluminium trims? I have 4 internal and 4 external corners to do and I’m not sure how it’s done?

Apparently, 60% of homeowners didn’t know they had to inform their water company when installing baths with a capacity over 230 litres or bidets with pop up sprays heads or flexible spray attachments. You learn something every day.

The new graph suggests to me that we are due an up spike on co2 levels very soon, probably timed to conicide with a major movement on the San Andreas fault ! The other thing miss g from the mix is a major apocalyptic event resulting in a correction in the number of humans on the planet

I must have missed that requirement in the small print !

The ICF blocks come shrink wrapped in large cubes, I just stacked mine on the slab and cut the packs open as I needed them. Which ICF system are you using? I used Amvik myself, I have a few left over, I must get round to selling them on!

I see that you can buy second hand concrete sectional garages,complete with doors, for 99p on eBay, buyer to dismantle and remove!

i only paid £1200 for each of our shipping containers and that included delivery, you’ll need it for longer than four weeks! We’ve had ours for three years so far! We painted ours Army Olive Green Drab and hid then in some bushes. People park in front of them and don’t notice them until we point them out!

We used one at work to move a large safe, the stairs had a half landing just to make it more interesting. It all went very smoothly. The biggest hassle was carrying out the job method statement, the risk assessment and the structural engineers calculations on the safe working load of the stairs.

Me - you have my address, so write to me.

At what stage will you exit stage left? You could simply do all the leg work in gaining planning permission for the site, or you could go the whole hog and build each house for sale. If it were me I’d probably take the easy option and sell self Build plots, in that way you get out sooner, Gravenhill style ! You didn’t say where these plots are?

Got some screws from Plumbfix, whilst there I notice that Spax screws are very very expensive in comparison with other screws can’t see why?

We live in a wooded area and we had a woodland fire last year, as a result, I'll be using fibre cement Cedral cladding rather than Larch cladding.

I'd just assumed thee would be somewhere cheaper online?

I've just about used up my stock of nails and screws accumulated over many years. My local independent builders merchant stock a wide selection, but their prices look very high to me. The other builder's merchant in town (TP) are ridiculously expensive! I assume most builders don't bother about price, as the customer pays!. Can anyone suggest the best place to buy reasonably priced nails and screws?

I've removed our white painted gates recently and will at some point replace them with something new and different. I just did it !!