crispy_wafer

Updating this more as a bit of a progress milestone. Windows and doors are starting to be fitted this week. Not as exotic as some, but with a limited budget, and money not going as far these days, we found some windows we could quite happily live with.

Yeah, airtightness is one of those ongoing jobs we are working on as we progress, windows and doors have started going in this week so this will help us hunt out air leakages.

I've been pondering over whether boarding internally with insulated PB is worth doing and paying for on my build, looking for advice from the knowledgeable folk of BH. The build up is Fibolite Block, 90mm PIR, Brick. The guys did a decent job with the install of the PIR from what I could tell but reading the odd tale of woe here and there has made me think on a bit. If I had a time capsule I'd have built with a wider cavity, but he who goes along with drawing and basic regs without knowledge repents! So to improve and build a more comfortable house with lower running costs to live in, is it worth the outlay now. No issue with the capital spend now, I'll just have to suck it up and push the finish date back a month or 3. I'm not clever enough to work out running costs and ROI time against the cost of insulation so I'm sticking my finger in the air and gauging some opinion. I was thinking of 37.5 or 42.5 boards. Any thoughts

Good logical approach, allows us to get the job done and materials into the fabric of the building instead of sitting on the floor getting in the way.

What product did you use @joe90 , We built in slightly angled brick cills (i think like yours?) and was thinking of protecting these as they may have more moisture than normal running onto and off

I like timber, as at least if/when I get it wrong then it's going to keep me warm...

Is there a reason for the polythene being ripped out and presumably not reinstated? I guess we all want to stop rising vapour from getting to the timbers and being trapped, as well as the airtightness aspect. If you wouldn't put a vcl in yours, is that cost saving and just don't see it as necessary or have you seen issues where it's been used in the past. - Genuinely interested in your viewpoint as you've been in the game a long time.

ICF is a good shout and well worth considering, however going back to services have a think about the MVHR placement and ducting runs at this design stage, (if you are planning MVHR that is) - again something I didn't do and has required a bit of extra thinking on my part with regards to location of the unit and the ducting runs. Ours is traditional brick and block with full fill PIR in the cavity. No idea how well this will work in reality, PIR in the cavity really does depend on it being done right and to be honest there aren't many brickies out there thinking about installing it right, as per manufacturers instructions - too much like hard work for them. if/When I do this again then wider cavity will be the order of the day, then get the cavity pumped with beads afterwards. With ASHP all quotes we've had have been based on the SAP, but this is/was all theoretical at that point, and I've no idea how the house will perform yet, in terms of energy efficiency... One supplier quoted me a smallish unit, another quoted me a bigger unit. I think most of the stuff for an ASHP is outside, you'll then have the HW cylinder and the plumbing to UFH manifolds etc indoors. Something else to consider, with the roofspace think about specifying attic trusses, they wont cost you much extra, but they will give you a usable space without needing to be a contortionist to access.

No expert in design, but one oversight I made on mine which then lead to a bit of a redesign when we started building was provisioning for a plant room, somewhere for the UFH heating gubbins, HW cylinder, MVHR, home networking equip etc to be placed. Doesn't need to be a huge space, but maybe something to consider.

Yep, same group

Quick question, regarding placement of a stud wall that joins in line with a block wall. The block walls will be wet plastered, PB on the stud wall. How far back should I set the stud wall from the block wall instinct tells me about the thickness of a piece of plasterboard? I've attached a diagram. I've been told to double the PB on bathroom walls aswell so, is that then double PB on both sides of the wall. Whilst I'm at it, I've beefed up the perpendicular stud wall to 5*2, so I can run some MVHR ducting up/down. Should be no issue running MVHR ducts in studs should there?

Timely thread, thanks for starting @SBMS , I'm waiting to see what they come out with with regard future incentives for Heat pumps, however I'm in a similar boat with a choice to make, I'm bricking it over electrickery prices, and whilst I'm doing my best to insulate, and make airtight, I ultimately don't know how good a job I've done or not until I'm living in it.

Is this a dormer roof type construction? If so then stick to your guns - the k7 kooltherm or equivalent is what you want for a proper job (the Pink stuff) or PIR minimum (white/yellow stuff), Actis Hybris wont be enough to satisfy your drawing and your SAP calcs .033 wmk vs k7 @ .018wmk (not that I know what that means... Lower the better?) Standard PIR is at .022 ish I think. @Russell griffiths has got it spot on. Gapotape is ok I bought some but in then didnt bother using all of it as I was having great results cutting the PIR to fit (Straight edge/clamps and a festool isc) Sorry edit... 360mm rafters does give a bit of wiggle room to alter from PIR to something a little easier to handle and install correctly. Playing with UBAKUS may help.

How does the plastic piping interface with the metal silencers, any issues? I'm planning on doing similar but without getting my hands on stuff it's hard to know about how interchange the plastic is with metal fittings. Could I ask what sealant you have used on the pipe joins please?

Morning all, I'm struggling to get the dimensions I want with the number of outlets required., I'm looking at a space of 330mm between joists and about 300mm from underside of floor to ceiling... Has anyone made up their own manifolds? What materials did you use to construct, how can you connect the ducts to the box... If you have documented your construction, it'd be great if you could point me in the right direction. Many thanks.

It would have been nice, but ultimately I had a budget, and the big european brands were too expensive for me, maybe if I had less glass, doors whatever, the product offerings were very nice though. In the end I settled on a nice uk manufactured ali product, which suited my budget and the mrs approval, not only that, it was one that multiple companies can offer so there was a good amount of competition to secure my business. Still waiting on fitment so this chapter like many others isnt finished yet.

Good questions, MVHR for extract, the ducts will attach to the vent from above and be insulated. To be honest, maybe I was overthinking it, and had gone down the route of thinking I needed a void, when in reality I probably don't. I can easily mange the penetrations for what is essentially just over a 5m*5m area with a bedroom and bathroom. I just need to have a look at some pictures of modern bathrooms with nice slim LED light fittings (panels/strips), Design and looks is not my bag at all.

when I said downlights, I meant LED downlights. Insulation above will be mineral wool between and over. So maybe no need for a service cavity then, just some detailing around and above any penetrations for cabling, light fittings and MVHR. I need to do some looking up on light fittings I think.

I've got a small bit of roof that spans a bedroom and small bathroom, the bedroom will have a standard light fitting, bathroom I think at this stage will have downlights of some description. I'm planning to fit a vapour barrier on the underside, then batten out for services. What sort of depth to make the void? Floor to bottom of wall plate is about 2350. For the barrier, poly sheet ok, or is there a better way, I think I'm likely to put holes in the poly sheet...

Ok, so the ridgebeam, supporting a cut roof over a high pitched ceiling. Pic below is probably better than my wording. I've got insulation between the rafters, cut to the top flange of the steel, but not over.

Just an update to this, made up some simple brackets out of 18mm ply and notched out the end. Screwed to the rafters to hold lower part of the OSB in place. Managed to get 8 boards trimmed, lifted and fitted this weekend, slow going but pleased.

Morning, I've got a steel ridge beam and two angled supports for a gable. I've got a fair pile of PIR offcuts, can I just cut them to shape and fill the steel, then insulate over before boxing in? Or would I need to leave an air gap.

It's been a few years (10), but I purchased about 200 ish laurels from beechwood, via ebay at the time, all bare rooted. No problems whatsoever. I just heeled them into the vege patch in bundles when they arrived, and transplanted them when time allowed.

I've been following a flowscreed company on facebook, they regularly post pictures of work they do, nearly all of the pictures are new build and the screed is getting pumped in with the stud wall framework already in place.

I like these idea's, simple but effective way of supporting and holding the board in place. I've got some scaffold towers set up in there at the moment so I'll see how easy it is to manhandle the OSB.