Tony L

Yes, but not me. I saved this screenshot from a thread on here (probably over a year ago). I think the top picture is just a marketing picture - it doesn't look very stable to me. @Russdl's work looks better.

I expect so. The difference in thermal resistance is not small, & the Thermoblocks aren't going to crack, either.

Maybe have a pump to hand too - a proper one that's designed for filthy, gritty water.

Perhaps it may be OK if your ground type drains quickly, your water table is low & your foundations are not so deep as mine, but having had experience of problems digging foundations after wet weather, I definitely wouldn't be doing it in my locality this week or next. Here's a picture from just after we started pulling the foundations. Shuttering was required to prevent the trenches from collapsing. 2nd picture is the same trench, with the picture taken from the other end. it didn't rain in between - it took the water 2 days to come up to water table level. Perhaps you should dig a test hole, then wait two days to see what happens.

I need about 75 x 100mm wide Thermoblocks & 18 x 215mm wide Thermoblocks to deal with the perimeter (inner leaf) & internal block walls on my design. Based on the very first website I looked at, these will cost no more than £1200, allowing for overs. I haven't worked in the cost of the special glue, but neither have I deducted the cost of whatever might have gone where the Thermoblocks will go. Given the anticipated value of the completed house, & more importantly, the added comfort & other benefits, I'm happy to spend the £1200.

It is a bit. Yes, although, we're steering it back on track with our discussion of Aircrete blocks. Very good point - thank you. I amended the drawing with the Marmox & then thought, "I probably should have put the brick & the block that goes on top of the Marmox the other way round.", even though I didn't have the reasoning you have provided in my mind. I think keeping the change of materials below skirting level (or as low as possible) is another point in favour of a run of Marmox (65mm high vs 215mm for Aircrete). Blown beads. Thanks, @Gus Potter. When I think about it, I agree with you. I had only been thinking about water coming down from above, but I see there's the possibility for moist air to come up off the trench blocks. I think I need to find time for a new drawing & some more questions - I'll start a new thread.

I can't help you, Russell, but I'd guess different BCOs/LAs will have different views on this. I suppose once you have your completion cert, you won't be getting the VAT back on anything else you buy to finish these two rooms.

I don’t know how either, but it happens. This wasn’t a thought experiment. It was a real experiment, with different brands of dryer running in a lab with clever chaps & machines measuring the particles that came out of them. I suppose it happens because the dryers leak. These particles are very small & they don’t need much of a gap to find their way out.

I think this is the best strategy if it works for you. I bought a heat pump TD for my mum. We installed it in her garage. I heard a reputable source explaining on the radio, TDs fill the air with microplastics & other pollution. I’m not having one in my house, although I plan to have one in an outbuilding, so I won’t have to breathe all the crap that comes out of it; also, my MVHR filters will go longer between changes & my utility/plant room (they’re the same room) won’t overheat so much in the summer.

Sorry, I can't help with this, but I must congratulate you on moving in, having completed your build so quickly. You're an inspiration to us all. & thanks for documenting your progress on here too - it's a real help to those of us who are not there yet.

Yes. Dura Composites, who sell very nice, expensive cladding, will sell you some special aluminium batten bars.

Aircrete version: When I did a cost analysis some time ago, the Marmox Thermoblocks didn't seem too pricey, for the perceived benefit. When I find time, I'll dig out my figures.

I have a very high water table, so I think this will likely make the ground colder than if the trench blocks were sat in dry ground. My trench blocks are going to be almost permanently damp, & I note @Iceverge's point about Aircrete blocks having to be kept dry, which is another reason I can’t copy the @Iceverge detail. I’d be grateful to hear comments on these two ideas, below. Could I wrap the DMP around the outside of the bottom of the inner leaf construction, as shown in blue? & sorry for the thread drift, @flanagaj. I hope you find my problem interesting & helpful, as you consider your build.

Thanks for your input @Gus Potter. When I say, “I designed the house.”, I mean, I did all the planning permission drawings & passed these over to an architectural technician, together with some notes about materials & build method (the Thermoblocks were part of my spec’). The AT has done the drawings my detail drawing was taken from, above. I expected him to do a lot better than this. Now I am spending hours & hours teaching him how to do his job properly so he can improve the drawings before they go to building control. My intention was to have EPS beads filling the cavity, with these going all the way down to the trench blocks. I imagined the EPS installer would drill through the inside leaf near the floor to fill the area below the tray. If I don’t need a tray & I can have two separate DPCs that would seem to me to be a better solution. This was suggested to me on an earlier thread, but I thought the 2 separate DPCs suggestion was just for below my windows. If we can use 2 separate DPCs the whole way round the house, that would be great. Are you sure omitting the Marmox blocks is a good idea? This is going to mean all my walls will be sucking heat out of the house straight into the ground. I can’t follow @Iceverge’s detail above (thanks for putting this up, @Iceverge) because I’m building my inner leaf off the top of the B&B, which has already been built. Here’s a picture of it during construction. As discussed here previously, the cowboy builder sat the B&B on trench blocks, instead of on dense blocks (which were on the drawing), so there’s no cavity beneath the level of the B&B, & although he put the beam ends on DPC, he then bridged the DPC with mortar - see below. The bit on the right of the picture, with the light coloured slips, is where the air brick periscope feeds air into the B&B void.