jen and mark

Hi, after some advice.... We have 70 boards of Kingspan Kooltherm Duct Insulation https://www.kingspan.com/gb/en-gb/products/technical-insulation/duct-insulation/kooltherm-duct-insulation that we bought (very cheaply) to use with our MVHR. We have since found out that it is not needed as it’s only the ducts to and from atmosphere that require lagging and the company we are getting our MVHR system have allowed to supply us with Isover sleeve type insulation. The question is .... have we cheaply 'overspent' on a product that we cannot use or does anyone have any suggestions on where we could use it elsewhere in our steel barn conversion? Save a penny to spend a pound springs to mind ?

We are a good bit behind you so very interested! Have a great Christmas ?. Hopefully material prices will start to come down ?

What has happened to Septembers Blog? - reading with interest so please post more!

Had a good look at your ideas. For the 2 timber extensions - not sure how removing the lower blocks would work with the drainage we have already put in? Not having the inner stud wall in the main barn would save us a lorry load of timber and time. We would have no cavity - but does this matter? With regards to the composite steel roof - it was our plan to have vaulted ceilings showing the purlins. By having the composite panels, then the white underside of the panel would become our ceiling finish - no further work needed and the roof/ceiling would be finished in 1 go saving time and money. I did ask the question on here to see if anyone had ever done the same but no one replied. Don't mind a steel ceiling as a good nod to the barns heritage.

Cheers @Iceverge ?. Will have a good look tonight with a beer! - sounds totally doable - will building control like it? Many thanks again

Sorry forgot to add - the only thing we are committed to is the roof. Everything else is whatever we can pick up at a good price!

You are so right in that we are doing all of the work ourselves and cost is more of an issue now than ever. When we costed the work (May 2020) we hoped for more of a downward trend on material prices post Covid - and how wrong where we! Also, to top it all off, our designer was diagnosed with cancer (really sad as lovely bloke) so we are now building through a building notice rather than full building plans. We need to meet building regs. We have 0.15 for roof (using Kingspan composite steel panels) and would like to achieve a minimum of 0.21 for walls. We are a class Q steel barn conversion with no nail gun ?. We have moved into a caravan on site and don't really have a time limit. The total build is approx. 366m2 (internal 354m2). Thanks for you advice - greatly appreciated ?

Inside main barn showing outer block and stud wall and 25mm cavity then inner stud wall just being built. 100mm Ravatherm insulation below 1st sole plate and 2nd sole plate on top

Inside stud wall for services

sorry, 100 - 110mm

Cavity ranges from 100mm - 120mm and outer stud would be 2x4

I'll try one at a time!

Tried that - it says 'you are only allowed to upload 5.86MB'?

How do I upload more photos?

Yes - full hardcore drive and large pad under van so covered with that one. Like this idea - Cheers for the info

Major delays @ProDave - only got in in summer! Don't even go there - the 'static arrived and the neighbour had hysterics. Then there was a delay with the road closure for the sewers etc. We hadn't planned on the issues we came up against before we even started building! Not to mention material shortages and price increases. Cheers for the advice though - we are very rural and the field mice are often showing up on our wildlife cams. Did you take any further mouse action after your pipe lagging incident?

If the build doesn't kill us first ?. We will leave the vents and hope to be in here for no more than 2 winters - best intentions and all that! Sheepskin blanket on order and a good roll of DPM to cover the underside of the 'statique'! I will try and encourage Mr W to take time off the barn and box in the van - strange question but we have enough room to put a row of straw bales around the underside of the van - would this be a mistake? Hopefully the wet winters we have would mitigate fire risk and may provide a good nesting site for mice instead of the utility shed? Seriously, are mice an issue in statics? I love animals but dont want to live with anymore animals than the kids!

Great advice! We are on the flight path for RAF Brize Norton and they have been very active (not sure if we should be worried?!?) One flew past the other day and I thought the barn had collapsed ?. We have been living in the caravan for a few weeks now and my rose tinted glasses are starting to fog over now the weather is changing - it will be our luck we will have a winter like 2010 and several 'beasts from the east' to follow. Steamy tea, have you used a cheap A2AHP? At that price I may ask Mr W. for this for Christmas!

As we have an empty cavity (should have been double block wall) we thought we should fill it with something cheaper than PIR and there would be no thermal bridging at all as the insulation would go below the sole plate of both stud walls and all around the middle of the 2 stud walls. It would only be the outer stud wall that would have PIR between the studs - limited to 95mm max. Do you think filling the cavity with PIR would be better? We are trying to keep costs down. Although it feels like we are building 2 walls and probably should have gone for a single 6 x 2 single stud instead! The inner stud will carry the services and vapour barrier. Insurance will always be at a premium for anything other than the norm! We are a double steel agricultural barn conversion. We have a real mish mash of a build due to the limitations of class Q barn conversion. Our main walls are 4ft high block with timber studs above, 25mm cavity and then a 2x4 inner stud wall with PIR between studs ( no noggins to minimise thermal breaks) faced in a further layer of insulation with no thermal breaks. Outside Clad in house wrap, batten and steel sheeting. We had to enclose all the steel stanchions with insulation to prevent condensation - a new build seems a dream compared to a steel barn conversion ?

Just had a walk round the 'statique' and noticed all the floor vents - what do we do? Cover them up in winter and run a dehumidifier? Its blowing a gale through them and its not even too cold yet ? Any advice would be appreciated!

Cheers Jack - good idea. The thing is, do we spend the money on the static or the build - materials are a nightmare! - But stopping the wind maybe more important come winter. Maybe pick up some cheap (??) seconds PIR to stick underneath maybe a better option? We have lagged all the pipes everywhere we could think of so fingers crossed we have ticked that box! Thanks for the advice ?

Wow - something we hadn't thought of. We currently have double glazing and central heating plus a fan heater in the lounge so hoping we will be warm enough - lots of requests for onesies and fleece PJs for Christmas just in case! Luckily there are plenty of sloes in the hedges around the field so Sloe gin may help with the cold come January ?

Thanks guys, great advice. We set up a utility shed for the washing machine and TD - better insulated than the static! Just praying for a mild winter ?

I wonder if someone familiar with stick build construction could help me out with a bit of design. Originally, we were going to build a twin concrete block wall to two extensions on a steel barn conversion. Due to lack of brickies, I have decided to stick build my two single story extensions. The build up is 450mm x 1m deep trench fill and two courses of block with 100mm cavity. I am now building a double stud wall (each wall off each block) in 95mm x 45mm C24 timber with 600 centres. The outside of the inner stud (weight bearing) is sheathed 11mm OSB. The outside of the outer stud wall will also have OSB and then Tyvek house wrap, batten and steel cladding. The inner stud wall (warm side) will have services running through, vapour control layer, plaster board. My questions are: 1. Do I need to add Tyvek House wrap to the cold side of the inner stud wall or just leave the OSB as it is? 2. Insulation - my thinking is something like Kingspan 80mm K112 between the studs and also full fill the cavity between the studs with something like Rockwool so there would be no thermal break. Any advice would be appreciated