Renegade105

Hi, can I ask how often do you get round to changing you’re pre-filters as tbh air flow should not allow dust to settle on the land blades especially due to the vortices on the tips, they are pretty huge and dust wouldn’t have time to settle. what’s your pre-filter rating? who commissioned the unit, I wonder what your intake air flow is at the external vent and maybe there is a leak somewhere? how are your airflows at the supply vents in your home? sorry….loads of questions and haven’t actually answered your question.

Hi, Roof Truss's aren't in yet but will be soon. Spray foam onto a tight vapour barrier would be the easiest option of speed and air tightness, but this whole time I thought it wasn't BBA approved! Turns out I was wrong. Cant see anything wrong with it...its fast, should get good airtightness, negatives are possible toxins (unlikely) and cold bridging via the actual trusses, and unclear what the heat decrement delay is. Apart from that, seems like a whole lot faster than cutting wood fibre boards etc.

Hi Guys, I'm in this exact position.....Can I ask are Mortgage providers ok with this, has anyone got any experience with it? also, any good recommended installers? Thanks

Hi @Russell griffiths, did you find a solution? I literally need the exact same thing for my ICF build too. Thanks

Yeah we do have the land drain under ground so I think youre right, the shingle/pea gravel will be the ideal choice thanks

Thanks, Yeah this is the same detail I have been sent. I think what I will do is backfill up and raise the external ground to at least cover where the plastering stop bead is, that should protect the DPM and keep it below ground. What backfill material is best here? I suspect a pea shingle in order to stop any damage to the DPM.

Hi All, Our Insulated raft is about to go down, and would like to know how you guys protected the exposed above ground parts of the EPS foam upstands? Our ground is fairly level, but as you can imagine not perfect, so in 1 corner of the house, where the external ground level slopes down (300mm lower than the other side) our FFL or top of slab is bascially 450 above the external ground level (it normally would be 150mm above ground level). Where this is lower, we can build up the external ground a bit to raise things. However, our engineer has planned to put the DPM under the insulation and wrap up the sides of the KORE, to finish under the stop-bead for the external silicone. However, part of the DPM will be exposed then to the elements, What can I do to protect it from getting punctured etc? Is it worth paining some TRITON etc to the outside of KORE before we wrap the DPM up over it just incase? Thanks

Hi Conor, Did you ever get a workaround? Cheers

Update…. Went for insulated raft…the only PITA was the land drain as it follows the deepest part of the dig circa 1.1 m deep. site is a tapered dig so we’re moving on full steam

Hi all, please can anyone advice what I should do…. I thought attic truss would be the fastest and cost effective way to get watertight, looks like we will go wood fibre insulation but the biggest problem is going to be trying to get an air tight roof….I mean trying to get in between the trusses etc is going to be a nightmare with OSB… any guys here with experience mind sharing their thoughts? pherhaps steels and cut rafters or I. Exams and posijoist floors might be the way forward? thanks 962306781_PPG-978_300ASectionAABBCopy.pdf

Hi….looks great. How do you plan to make it air tight internally?

Hi, for our KORE insulated raft, the main house is 150mm above external ground level so no problem there, BUT for our garage, the internal floor level is level with the external so a car can drive in. I can’t change this as it’s now designed this way…at the entrance of the garage we will have a ACO linear drain, but what do I do with the rest of the perimeter wall if the garage? ideally would like to avoid more ACO drains as I have a 450mm silt trap in the soak away and I’m worried how filled up it will get already. can I dig a small trench around the garage and have a small step? I can brace the sides of the driveway anyway with steel pegs and some decking/sleeper/etc etc. your ideas are much appreciated.

Hi, So, will have an external kiosk. Temporary are already on site now so will have to just build in for the 3-phase in the future. In the meantime, these are the duct runs that I think we need. Gas will go straight to the kitchen hob. Water and 3-phase electric to the Utility room, and I was thinking of running internal wiring to wherever it needs to go, so 1 phase out to the shed in the garden, and 3 phase out to the EV Point. Will want to have an electric gate so that too will need power, which I assume will need to be laid underground too. Solar PV will run down from attic to the utility room too. I think I know I will ask them to run the 4" ducting for the electric and water to the utility room, and then another to the shed. This would need to be in the sub-base beneath the KORE Foundation? Also, for the gas pipe, how would you recommend getting it to the kitchen? As ever, your help is much appreciated. As you can see, I have not paid for an M&E so I am stuck with making these decisions with the groundworkers for now and I will of course confirm with the builder's electrician and gas safe plumber as soon as I can.

Hi @Iceverge, Sorry to be a pain as you are very clear, it's just that I am left quite confused with all of the options. So, if using blown cellulose, could you please just speel out what you did/would do for a roof made from attic truss's, circa 225 deep timbers, spaced @ 600cc. and a pitch section circa 42 Deg, and a small flat roof section in the centre. I am planning on having slate tiling. Do you specify the attic truss differently to allow sealing the eaves a bit easier? and if so, what did you ask for exactly? Finally, what brand/company for the cellulose did you go for too and did you get any issues getting insurance? I hear some people install the blown cellulose incorrectly and then can't seem to sell their house as the new buyer can't seem to get a mortgage or insurance on the house. Many thanks!

Hi @Nickfromwales, I was planning attic trusses. Bottom cord is just timber about 225 depth. I am a total noob, but what exactly is the most efficient way to build a comfortable passive roof here. It will be habitable and I plan to have my office here too so want it comfortable. I thought about running hvac ducts in the eaves. in any case, if I insulate with cellulose, will the house be mortgageable in the future? What would a typical design look like or where can I get this info from.? thanks

Hi, @PeterW @Thorfun Sorry for the hijack but in need of some insight here. We have the temporary external single-phase supply on the boundary for the build but will eventually change to a 3 phase as I will have an EV, and a very hungry ASHP plus a workshop so I will get close to the 100A easily. We will have an insulated foundation KORE with an ICF house. Can someone please help me in designing the underground services here? we don't have an M&E, we are relying on trades such as CVC for the design of the MVHR, ASHP etc, UFH is Wunda, Plumbing was by architect. I assume you guys would recommend on installing an external floor mounted kiosk somewhere near this temp site, what size would you advise for the 3Phase electric kiosk? I am happy mounting this to the outside of the house too as it will only be a few meters away from the temp site anyway (appx 4m). Does then the Gas meter get installed here in its own external kiosk too? For the house, I suppose everything internally can be run on single phase, but how would you suggest the setup for the ASHP and the garage and the EV. I can see us having 2 in the future (fund allowing). do you need a 100A TP&N isolator in the kiosk after the meter, and then a 5 core cable run underground in conduit and up and into the house at the utility, to another 100A TP&N isolator and then wire up a single phase to the CU? What about getting 3 phase to the garage etc? Here is my site plan and house, ALL of my plant room essentials will be in the Utility room. As ever, many thanks.

@Conor This is why I love this site, awesome reccomendation friend. Only problem is I have already paid for structural engineer to do all of the calcs using posi-joists on the 1st floor with 50mm screed. If i go about changing it to this frankly excellent solution, then Im left with a big redesign fee all over again, and Iv'e had enough of that. I have already wasted money on the Groundbeam engineer, as after I got quotes back for the piled and groundbeam foundation, I had no choice but to explore the Insulated slab option which my engineer said wouldn't work. Luckily got in touch with Tanners who said the opposite and are working on it now as we speak. So, I am left with trying to work out the best solution using UFH and Screed and Posi-Joists on the 1st floor. any tips?

hi @Field_of_Dreams & @PeterW, I am about to start the KORE slab etc in a few weeks and am thinking the same questions. Apologies for the hijack... 1) External supply currently in a temp box. Do we need to run the DNO Service head outside of the building OR can it be inside? 2) If it has to be outside, then unfortunately I need a large distance of circa 25m to reach the main Consumer Unit inside the utility room. How can I run the wiring from the External box to the internal location, under the subbase in a corrugated pipe? I will be running 3 phase so any tips would be great (Yellow 100mm corrugated) 3) So I think I understand I will also need to run under the subbase corrugated long bends for the GAS and the Water, can you confirm what size and for the gas pipe, what is the pipe requirement for this nowadays? 4) I would like to run gas also to the external of the property, a Barbeque. I assume this is a no no and we have to use the Calor gas cylinders? 5) I have a shed which I would like to run power, cold water, what ducting is required, the corrugated type again 450mm below DPC and the outside grass? For the waste, I assume I just need to run it to an inspection chamber (the closest one?)

hi @johnmo and @ Temp Thanks for the heads up So decided now on a KORE insulated ground floor slab, so no problem there for the UFH 1st Floor is a different story I am confused, I want to put screed on the first floor so it feels solid, but what about UFH, insulation etc UFH companies say they only really want a few mm of screed above their pipes, but Screed companies say they want atleast 10mm (so 50 in total) of screed. Plus, where does the insulation go? if directly onto the floorboards, we are talking a very thick floor. If we use the special UFH routed insulation boards, we won't satisfy the Screed guys as they want around 50mm min thickness, so that would be around 25mm on top of the sinulation panel with UFH pipe within the grooves. I am just very confused what is the right thing to do here. Many thanks

Hi @Russell griffiths and @Mr Punter, any advice here? essentially to get to DPC with Beam & Block we’re looking at least another £10k on top of the £62. I have asked KORE and Tannards ( not my current SE) to finally let me know if an insulated raft is feasible or not, even paying SE charges again, if it saves me ££ then it’s worth it. I do have trees nearby so that’s the only thing that concerns me, and a hedge where the stumps are 1.5m away from the outside wall of my house…and I have to fit Inspection Chamber in between here. my current SE reckons a raft is not feasible as might have to excavate 700mm of ground and then backfill with MOT, so that is a huge amount of muck away. will keep you posted but anybody with experience with an insulated raft and associated costs then your help would be much appreciated.

Hi, planning a Nudura build., 260m ground floor area, 600m total. medium volume change potential CLAY. ok guys, so quote for 41 piles to circa 19m are £28k ground beams mix of 600x600 and 450x450 cages is a whopping £62k!! None of this includes Drainage, Soak-away, Beam/block etc. I was thinking if an insulated raft might help. I think I will still need piles due to the close proximity of a tree 7m away and a 3m tall hedge which is 2.5m away. thanks all!!

Hi guys, in need of help! due to clay ground conditions and nearby roots, been informed piled foundation will be more economical then strip (as they will be crazy deep and wide) fair play, but now my ground beam engineer and my ground worker are very very worried at the huge Dead Loads and Live Loads on the external walls and ground worker is basically saying it is going to cost an absolute bomb to put 600wide cages for the ground beams. we have a ground floor foot print of appx 250sqm, so daily big around 22x10 sqm I am going to reduce some of this loading by building an internal load bearing wall to take some of the load of the attic trusses, and thus reduce the load on external walls. can anyone recommend a ground worker in Bucks area or around that won’t try to pull a fast one and is able to work to a reasonable price? I was praying for less then £40k tbh, at this rate it’s going to be far more! thanks,

hi @JohnMo, Regarding the bottom cords. I was just going to plaster board direct onto it to create the ceiling for the 1st floor.... And run all services like MVHR etc in the attic voids and just drop down where I need to. Is that not something that sounds right? What was the need for the counter battons? Thanks again

Hi all, I am trying my best to sort through this mindfield. Were planning an ICF house and want UFH in some of the bedroom and bathrooms on 1st floor (Wife wont budge!), and throughout the ground floor. Porcelain tiles throughout. I need to work out floor heights, so: 1) Ground floor, beam and block, what thickness Insulation is needed on the GF under a screed? or we could use something like WUNDA with their grooved foil boards and tile direct to it. 2) First Floor, Posi-Joists and Chipboard P5 22m. what insulation/boards do you use here? Also we want to use a Screed appx 50mm as want a solid floor feel upstairs. Thanks guys, this will really help as I'm trying to spec the posi-joists. 943291082_PPG-978_300ASectionAABBCopy.pdf

Hi, I am in a dilemma, I need to decide which way the roof will be designed. Either Attic Truss which will mean appx £30k worth of Attic Trusses, or I go Cut Rafters on site using large amount of steel work in the roof. The home will be made in ICF. What would you guys suggest? Thanks team.