Thorfun

these are wise words. at the start I wanted everything perfect like it was on the drawings. it didn't take long to realise that reality is completely different to CAD drawings and building is just not a precise science. our Groundworker summed it up when he said 'building is basically a bodge'. by that he means that things will go wrong and so you find a solution to get over that and so on. then at the end of it all it's all covered up and forgotten about!

and then the groundworkers come along and ignore it all. ?

@GaryM looks great! we were originally planning to do as @GaryM did and had the black Tyvek UV Facade membrane put on so we didn't see the usual silver through the open cladding but after much deliberation and the thought of painting over 1km of battens black so they wouldn't be visible behind the charred timber cladding we decided to simply go for a tongue-and-groove type shadow gap profile like this. that way we didn't have to worry about a load of insect mesh as well as all the other stuff!

yep, agreed. but I can't do it all on my own and have to pick and choose my battles. these were one I was happy to get someone else to coordinate.

it was a very impressive display. I walked straight past it to the Festool section. ?

well, is it @pocster?

maybe, but I am having one company do the ASHP, MVHR and Solar PV/Battery so it's all under one roof. less hassle for, probably, more cost.

ok. then I'm not really losing anything so no need to bust a gut to get finished by end of march!

A98

welcome. I can highly recommend Mark Brinkley's Housebuilder's Bible as a great book to start with. he covers a lot of stuff from beginning to end and is a great reference to refer back to during the build. oh....and spend the next 3 months reading the forums on here! Although 3 months might not be enough. ?

going through this with our build but with the ASHP. there's no way we'll get the house finished by end of march in order to the EPC to get the RHI payments. it's a shame but there's not a lot I can do now. I guess I could throw money at the build and try and get it done quicker but then that'll end up costing more than any RHI payments I would get back!

if anyone is looking to get a laser level I just received this email from Huepar.

we've all had this conversation many times before and for some, me included, it's not about economics at all. it's about a warm fuzzy feeling that I will be generating my own electricity and I won't be as reliant on the grid. but everyone's situation is different.

welcome. loads of good tips and advice on here! the search function is your friend and your source for hours of reading. ?

please check with building control but I got rid of this 50mm requirement by having battens and counter battens on the rafters. this gives me 50mm of space between our fully filled rafters and the breathable membrane. I used Roofshield but it also seems that the Cromar Vent 3 Pro is breathable for warm roofs, and I'm sure there are other options as well. but please don't take my word as gospel and get it checked by professionals.

does this help?

hmmm....I wonder if one of those intelligent AVCLs would help here as it would let moisture back in to the house in the summer months, right?

Hi @ADLIan, in my situation we have the following buildup from inside to out: VCL Joists 70mm PIR between joists Firrings to 1:60 fall 18mm OSB 100mm PIR 11mm OSB fully adhesive single-ply membrane This has passed all of the condensation risk analysis and the VCL (will be an AVCL actually as it'll be the same membrane I choose as the airtight layer for the rest of the house) will stop moisture from the house get in to the joists. What happens to any moisture that does get in to the joists though? it can't go up as surely the single-ply waterproof membrane will stop it escaping above? I trust the condensation risk analysis but I'm just confused as to what will happen to any moisture that get's between the joists?

if I can add my limited experience to this subject... We have a balcony that is a 'link' between the main house and a flat roof room. like this: the intensive wile meadow green roof if a warm roof with 190mm of PIR above the joists. The balcony was designed as a warm roof with vacuum insulation panels (think Optim-R from Kingspan) but due to the exorbitant cost of those and also a mistake in the design we ended up with not having enough room for a warm roof. We are now having a hybrid roof for the balcony section with 70mm PIR between the joists and 100mm PIR above the joists. This has been through a condensation analysis by Xtratherm and it has passed. The important detail is, as has been said above, the VCL layer which is below the joists and any penetrations need to be sealed properly to reduce the risk of condensation. So, a hybrid roof is a faff but it's definitely possible if the relevant calculations have been done and you have a document to prove it. hope this different perspective helps.

I get the feeling you'll be disappointed when the timber cladding goes on. ?

good luck!!

Greetings! Apologies for the crass title but I am still a kid at heart. ? After a brief delay due to Covid-19 the carpenters were able to attend site and erect our timber frame. Thanks to the accuracy I insisted on and ensured for the coursing blocks the sole plates were a doddle and were done in no time at all although we did have a bit of rain and I had to get the puddle pump out! We used Flight Timber for our timber frame and they have their own lorries with cranes built in and so each stage of the build was delivered by the lorry and then craned in to place. Here’s the ground floor panels arriving. It took them just 2 days to finish all the ground floor external and internal wall panels. The speed of it all is very impressive. Then the posi-joists arrived These took a few days to do but thanks to the 8mm designed deflection and 300mm centres they are rock solid even across the 6.2m spans. It’ll be a bit of a nightmare trying to run MVHR, electrics and plumbing but we won’t have any bounce on the floors! Plus when the sun shines through it creates some lovely lighting effects Next we had a weeks delay as Flight didn’t have any chipboard flooring in stock as they were let down by their suppliers. This was a frustrating delay but with the current material shortages not one that I should really grumble about too much. It was eventually delivered and the chippies got on with laying it and the first floor panel starter plates. And then it was on to the first floor wall panels. These took 2 days to do as well and so within a couple of weeks of starting we had both floors done ready for the attic trusses They were also a couple of days delayed due to Covid-19 but arrive they did They didn’t take long at all to go up and I love the symmetry of them Then it was another week or so getting the roof finished and building the vaulted ceiling in our entrance hall etc and then they were done! It was 18 days on-site from start to finish. Amazing to see. I took some time-lapse footage and you can see the video below: And so we have a superstructure! The roofer is not far behind so my next blog will be about the roof slates and Solar PV array. Thanks for reading and until next time…

sorry @BotusBuild I missed this question. I'm not sure to be honest as they were applied by the basement contractors. I recall them mentioning having their training on the product and I can only presume that FIS were happy with that as I have a 25yr warranty for the waterproofing and my warranty company haven't requested any other information on the subject.

thanks Dave. our pipe will be behind a wall that runs through the larder and then goes in to the plant room in the basement and then out underground so I could actually do with that pipe cooling down those rooms! ? thanks for the study link and the summary. I'll be putting some Rockwool in between the studs of internal walls so I'm hoping that it won't make a difference for me, but if it does I will just accept the extra 20W of heating load. any particular reason for this? is it due to water ingress or some other factor?

How big of an impact in reality will it have? Is there any data or have there been studies done? It all sounds so very doom and gloom!! What if the pipe that’s vented is insulated or boxed in and the boxing in insulated? Will the cold from the pipe move through the connected pipes and affect all other soil pipes? I’m struggling to fathom how it’s possible that one vented pipe can cause such an issue! we did speak about venting sideways as well but that’s still a penetration and will surely have the same effect? one of our soil pipes is near the garage so maybe venting that one will have less of an overall impact?