willbish

Let us know how you get on, I'd be interested to see

I'm not familiar with the compressive limits of PIR but here is XPS with pedestals on top without a plywood layer. This detail may also be of use, which I am broadly following.

Time to move on to the next job I reckon. Sounds like you've got it well covered

You're not thinking about taking all the fixings out so you can replace or tape the damaged VCL are you?! I'd leave as is if it's only a few holes or tape from the underside if you are concerned.

Having windows (where it allows) that are non opening should totally fix the problem

Yes, from 0 to 4

Looking for air permeability class 4 tested to EN12207 that should guarantee you the best results... I'm still tempted by windows that are only class 3 but not sure to what extent this will affect my airtightness score.

Nope, protek here

I have layed a temporary OSB deck on my posi-joists. The ICF bracing was screwed down with 4 6x40mm screws and worked well. You could put down the permanent 22mm chipboard deck but I chose not to as I thought it would be exposed for too long before the roof went on.

Do you have a way of reviewing the state of charge of the Sunamp and automatically controlling if it needs overnight E7 grid charging? If you had at least two days DHW storage you could allow the Sunamp to remain partly discharged overnight in the hope that the PV will generate enough excess the following day

I ended up buying a full sheet of 10mm Purenit for some door threshold detailing. With plenty left over, and a desire to separate steel from warm concrete core, could I use some as a packer under steel ridge? The compressive strength is 5.5-7.5MPa which I believe is approximately equal to brick.

What supplier did you get from? Best price online before picking up the phone seems to be £7.38

Yes definitely. Laying down the EPS raft is the easy bit though and comes at the end of a lot of ground work and preparation. The trickiest bits I found were the setting out and making sure soil pipes and utilities were coming up through the raft in exactly the right place. Are you considering constructing your own EPS raft like @Triassic or purchasing in kit form Isoquick etc? There is a financial saving to be made constructing your own but for me it was a just another unknown and added risk. I would certainly do it that way next time.

Thanks for that suggestion. Slope adjustable hangers are £13 a pop so will use regular. Only (slight) concern is missing out vertical nail fixing up from bottom of the hanger. But out of sight out of mind?!

Reviving this thread as there now appears to be several passive house level loft ladders on the market ranging from £370 to £1435 with others in between All seem to come with a class 4 air tightness rating and various different levels of insulation. Im drawn to this mid range model (still over £800 smackers ?) with selection of sizes and what appears decent sized springs. Will also go with the 'PIR plug' as mentioned above to bump up the insulation value. Will be installing in JJI joists Anyone have recommendations or steers?

A slight angle probably make won't much difference or improvement to a level chase. Imagine lead flashing going into a mortar joint between brick. That would be level and works just fine.

I mainly see squashed ones, three in the last month. In a way it's reassuring to know they are still about, especially as two of the dead were in urban areas of South Bristol

Thanks @nod thought the render bead would probably do most of the work @Russell griffiths yes ive' seen them, got a packet ready for the chimney lead work. I reckon banging them into EPS will just squash the foam and not create a good wedge but Ill give it a try.

Ive never contemplated 2 high but yours looks safe as houses!

Has anyone found a neat way of holding lead flashing when placing into EPS? Ill have a render drip bead hanging over that will provide some support, but I wont fix through the lead. I suspect I'm probably looking at some grab adhesive or more low ex foam.

How did you clad the gable? Was it 3 trestles high!

Unlikely I think I probably fell for the sales pitch from the PIV, which claimed lower heating bills because the humidity would be lower. I hadn't considered any difference between heating water or heating water vapour. The specific heat capacity figures you mention show nearly twice as much energy required to heat water vapour as completely dry air?

Positive Input Ventilation. They are a great quick fix for older poorly insulated properties that suffer from condensation. I think it will have a negative effect the majority of the time. Warm air is pushed out of the building and is continually replaced with ambient cold air. Although the incoming cool air is drier and therefore requires less energy to heat I don't think it would balance. Of course it depends on the difference in humidity between inside and outside air and the difference in temperature.

I fall in to that category and Im not sure how I do it either. I'm lucky with my employment in that I work 7 days of shifts, up to 84 hours but more usually ~60ish, followed by 7 days off. There are some things I prioritise over the house build. I make sure I eat dinner with my partner and read to my son everyday. My hobbies are a distant memory, I don't see my mates often enough or my extended family. So I reckon I'm probably averaging 30 hours a week on site. In 18 months Ive demolished the existing house and rebuilt the shell of the new one. Last ICF pour on Friday. Ive paid for about 20 days of labour so far. We will be moving in at the end of August next year. Once watertight I will take stock and reconsider the budget, I think there will be cash to start getting trades in to speed things up. This is probably the opposite way its usually done on Grand Designs etc. I know Ive saved a load of cash by doing all the work myself so far.

I had a GRP box made up for my front door sill. It's got a ply spine and filled with PIR. Haven't fitted yet so can't be sure it's going to work. But if it does I'll use the same method for the other doors