Happy Valley

It's 50mm EPS

I am endeavouring to source some 150mm radius insulated corners for our 16mm underfloor heating pipework between the joists. Wunda provided the insulated straight sections but the corners were no longer available through them. Does anyone know a supplier please?

There's an old adage - "never let to friends and relatives" ....almost guaranteed they will not be friends or will be estranged relatives afterwards

Excellent news as shall be buying lots of these this Spring. Thanks for sharing.

Yikes!! 😬 Looks like a West Country estuary.

Surely the landlord that you mention should be sorting this out and ASAP as has a statutory obligation to provide space heating and hot water. A good landlord will provide a few plug in oil radiators temporarily.

We have a 200mm waterproof concrete raft with a waterbar where the ICF is. The first pour into the ICF was also waterproof concrete. As with many ICF's it was almost impossible to poker the concrete inside the ICF so we used hammer drills on a thick ply board 6 inch square and vibrated the sides of the ICF. Worked superbly as you could see the concrete dropping when looking from above.

I remember the rather ambitious project and iirc the concrete bridge to the bigger house cost them dearly. He was in the music industry and it was fairly clear from the start that he had bitten off way more than he could chew. Not surprised that it broke up his marriage.

We have 3 steel uprights that require an insulated cavity closer. I can find the different widths but are there ones that better insulated than others? They appear to be foam backed but none mention anything about insulation performance.

I am unsure if this is still the case but you used to be able to nominate your PPR or Principle Private Residence to HMRC. This was of particular use for the rich who owned more than one home in the UK and usually stopped any ambiguity between the properties for tax purposes. As above actual proof that you have lived there from bills may also be required.

We used Polysteels Warmerwall ICF - a polystyrene block not that dissimilar to Nudura. 200mm core on a back filled wall and 150mm core elsewhere. Have finished the ICF but we are about 5 months from moving in. Requires bracing which the company provide but it is useful as doubles of internal scaffolding to build the next floor. Should not need rebar reinforcement up to 4 storeys high but our structural engineer clearly did not read their information so lots of rebar in there also. There are useful metal strips inside the polystyrene to attach cladding or wall ties to. The ICF company and support have been excellent.

We had the same conversation with our concrete provider - 2 slabs and 3 ICF pours. They consulted their accountant who agreed it should be zero rated for VAT as the pump was used on all of the deliveries.

Looks great. We used waterproof concrete with our polystyrene ICF walls - not Nudura. This is on top of the waterproof concrete raft coupled with a water bar placed into the raft. We backfilled part of our ground floor (built into a slope) but clad the ICF walls using heavy concrete blocks which were then coated in a tanking slurry. Seemed like overkill to me but that's structural engineers for you.

Superfoil have come back with the following with regards to condensation: "The condensation risk analysis does show a miniscule risk between the OSB and EPDM layer, this is unlikely a cause for much concern and down to assuming a worst case for the EPDM layers vapour resistance."

I include absolutely every cost such as professional fees to demolition. Just over half way through our build and it is currently estimated to come out at £1775m2 including the garage. Had hoped for £1400 to £1500/m2 but material costs have pushed things north post covid. We already owned the land as are building in the garden so no cost attributed for this. If we would have to have bought the land would be looking at around £3000/m2. North West build and fairly complex design in ICF built into a hill. Not hands on other than project managing.