Thorfun

our house isn't finished yet and we have no ventilation apart from where I've yet to membrane and tape! but we're already seeing the benefits of our external blinds. earlier this week with all the blinds open it got to 31° while working on the FF. I went around and closed the blinds and angled them to allow light in but not sun left windows open over night and the next day we closed the windows and, even though some openings in the house were open as we were working and going in and out, that same room only got to 27°. once we can completely airtight the house and get the MVHR working I've no doubt that the external blinds will do a 'blinding' job of keeping temperatures down.

90mm ring nails for our 2x2 battens and counter battens for timber cladding. they're not going anywhere!

yeah, it is, but it's not THAT flexible. anyway, I was just being silly, it's trivial to cut a chunk out of the mineral to allow the timbers through. just wish I'd thought of it myself before I started.

that's actually a very good idea! where were you when I started the job this morning. 😂 would save me doing 55° cuts. but would mean I'd have to cut the insulation around the pieces.

I think I know what you mean and I tried something like that and managed to cut one end at 55° but then couldn't do the other end as I'd have to cut to length and then cut the angle as the wood wouldn't feed through to the other end. the skill saw is a pain but it's working so will do for now.

thanks. the angle cuts are a bit of a pain as it's 55° and I've not got a chop saw that does those angles, so I'm measuring and cutting with a circular saw. it's not perfect but it's pretty darn close! that's a good idea. I just happen to have a bottle of Gorilla wood glue lying around waiting to be used. 🙂

thanks. will do just that and then will probably add another nail or two for good luck. 🙂 I was thinking of swinging off each one but it's about 3.5m to the ground so quite a long way down!

cheers. was hoping to not have to purchase more timber! got a load of 2x2 left over from the cladding battening. if folk on here say that 2x2 isn't enough then I'll get some 4x2. how about 2x2 with nails, screws AND some of these https://www.toolstation.com/tooth-plate-connector/p44246?

or is there a better way to fix these battens that will be stronger?

I am adding 2" x 2" battens across a vaulted ceiling to 'box in' the steel as shown in the photos below: I will be attaching 100mm PIR below these battens and then AVCL, service cavity and plasterboard. I will also be filling the void above the battens with off-cuts of mineral wool, so there will be quite a weight down on them. so, will ring nails be strong enough or should I screw the battens? or should I just belt and braces it and do both?

if you're worried then I would consult a structural engineer to perform the calculations for you. even if it costs £500 surely that's worth the peace of mind?

honestly don't know. I did look at that membrane and I know others on here have used Gerband tapes and membranes. in the end I decided that, for the small uplift and tiny percentage of the total build cost, I didn't want to risk it and bought the Intello Plus membrane. my decision was not based on anything but gut feeling though.

Super expensive Intello Plus for me but I’m a sucker for marketing! 😂 figured I only want to do this once so why skimp in the fabric of the building. do a search on here, there are many threads on the subject.

that sounds very promising indeed and good research! 🙂

indeed and the solution I've gone with albeit not Pylontech. I got these (which are similar to the Pylontech ones) with a Squirrel Pod (I've posted on other threads about my solution but I've added the info here for reference) Greenlinx.pdf.pdf

when you're investigating bamboo for external use check with your chippie as ours said he'd fitted it before and it was really soft and warped/twisted easily.

me too (given up on Powerwall that is) and I have my Squirrel Pod and 6.4kWh batteries in the garage waiting to be installed. I just thought that someone might be interested in the news.

I've done as planned and I'm very happy with the results. I can see a continuous layer of foam from top to bottom of the cord and it's spread quite wide so I'm very confident that it's airtight! great solution from the hive mind. thanks again.

our burnt larch and non-burnt larch combo. we're letting our standard larch age naturally so it will go silver with the OP doesn't want but it can be treated to stay the same colour. in the second photo the larch nearest the camera has just been put up and the larch furthest away was done a couple of months ago so you can see that it's already started to change colour. we didn't want any ongoing maintenance with our cladding so decided to go for the weathered look.

https://apple.news/A46nta_nuQha62O9NW43pYQ In 2022, we are heavily investing in Tesla products. I can’t say exactly what is coming we want to maintain confidentiality but across the board on PVs, on Solar Roof, on Powerwall look forward to greatly improved installation efficiency, aesthetic, and product performance.

Yep. It’s what I meant but obviously didn’t word it well! That’s why I thought the document would do the talking for me. 😉 for me it’s perfect as I can start small as funds are rapidly running out and then if I find I need more storage or higher discharge I can add batteries and another Pod to suit. when I finally get this ******* house finished and the batteries all hooked up I’ll report back as to what it’s like and how it all performs. But that could be a while! 😂

it's both with the Squirrel POD. a single POD has a max discharge rate of 3.5kW which increases with the number of batteries, but add another POD and you can increase that to 7kW with enough batteries. details below:

0.55ACH isn't fantastic? wtf! that's passive house standards, right? I'd say that was pretty darn rooting tooting good. 🤠

yeah, I can't see how they could push tape between those all the way up! regardless, I guess your airtightness score was pretty darn good anyway so maybe the airloss through those double trusses is not as bad as I think it will be.

so, basically, stuff tape up there and hope for the best!? 😉 those cords seem quite shallow compared to ours though which is why that might've worked. ours are 197mm deep so would be really hard to try and force tape up there.