Chablais

Hi, I had quotes from Weru in Blackpool when I was sourcing my windows, they were almost double Internorm prices, and that takes some doing. Great specs available, but at a price. I have a friend self building who used them and he is very happy with the quality and spec. The fitters taped inside and out and did a good job. I believe he dealt with the head office in Blackpool

Fantastic, thank you for such an informative, detailed and useful blog post. I hope I can achieve such a good outcome!

I think it is more important that the outer matches, as this is how it seals, with a flexiring around the grooves into a socket.

Hi Folks So i am about halfway through my MVHR install, using 92mm semi rigid ducts from Hybalans. Does anyone know if the Ubbink ducting usually listed as 90mm is actually the same? The fiitings all look very similar, and I would have thought that there are not that many actual manufactures of the ducting. I purchased tow50m rolls and thought it would be enough, wrong! I need approx 40m more, and the Ubbink stuff is circa £160.00 per 50m roll, versus the HB+ at circa 275.00 so quite a saving. Anyone any tips on using EPP 180mm dia ducst for the initial input and exhaust from the unit/ Thanks Andy

Have a look at Renson, a Belgium company, not sure if they use a third parties valves, but they do loads of options, including ones designed to be painted. Also floor and wall options. List attached for examples. Renson wentylacja 2018.pdf

I looked at them at the last Build show at the NEC, the examples on the stand where very good, almost impossible to see where the butt joins had been made. I guess only someone that has had them installed a while will know how they perform. So far it is the only panel system I have seen that does not require the somewhat unsightly inside corner beads.

Thanks BMcn that is excatly what I am trying to achieve, my view is not as good though! Have screwed all the trays in position now, so will have to sort the slating when I get there.

Hi Just attempting to fix our GSE integrated landscape trays onto the roof, we have a traditional diminishing slate roof at a 30 deg pitch. The provided aluminium side flashings for the tray are 150mm wide, and come in lengths that match the side length of the GSE tray. Which begs the question, how do you nail the slates on without puncturing the wide flashing? Most images I have found show the slates going within about 20-30-mm of the tray edge. To keep the bonding of the slates means using a slate then a half slate, but that would mean nailing through the aluminium flashing. Before I go ahead and fix all fourteen trays I thought it prudent to ask those with more experience than me! First dry day in a few and thwarted....

Hi Peter I have more info, the unit was installed in 2013 and removed this March, all the manuals etc. are present. It looks to me though that the Stanton cylinder is not optimized for a heat pump input, from what I can work out it appears to be electric immersion only. But I could be wrong! So maybe not the bargain buy, problem is new kit is about 6-8k which as we have gas is a non starter really.

Thanks Peter, I am awaiting a reply on the age, what are your thoughts on the tanks suitability? It is a three hour drive each way to go and see the goods, and check the condition. Thanks

Hi Folks Looking for some guidance before leaping into E bay. Have spotted a used Samsung 9KW ASHP complete with tank and buffer tank and all expansion tanks and controls etc. Following from the listing:- 250ltr Santon Premier Tank Plus Pre-Plumbed Unvented Mains Pressure Water Heater with wiring. 120ltr Gledhill SL Plus Multi Buffer EE Tank plus pump. Expansion Tanks. Samsung and Siemans Controller Units including wall mounted controller and room stat. Fernox TF1 Total Filter Unit. All Instruction Manuals. However from the limited research I have done on the tanks, they do not seem optimized for ASHP IE larger coil, although I am not certain. Also what is the real world expected service life of the heat pump and compresser. I am planning on using it to run underfloor heating and also domestic hot water, planning on fitting a 3KW PV array. Currently have gas, so new ASHP kit + PV seems expensive/long payback time, however I like being less grid dependant, but need to buy secondhand to justify the costs. No plans to register for RHI. Here is the E bay link https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/193017668167?ul_noapp=true The 9KW seems about right when comparing the results from the excellent JS Harris heat loss spreadsheet, it is posibly larger than required, but seems they run better a little oversized. thanks

The SE we used was adamant, that every steel sat on a padstone, we are using either cut down lintels or casting insitu. Speaking to the blocklayer helping me, he has seen many a cracked block when a padstone has not been used.

has anyone used the Franke stainless steel worktops? Been available in mainleand Europe for some years, only launched in the Uk last year. Can be various thicknesses, and can be ceramic coated, so does not really look like stainless steel. Big benefit is sink is welded in position so no joints and no hygeine issues in that area. Price is up with Dekton though.

Hi Thanks for the replies/advice, have ordered the Marmox blocks. Do I need to tie the wall to the beam? Also the Marmox block is only 65mm high, so I still need to come up with a solution for the floor edge, as the underfloor screed will be above the height of the Marmox block. Using 25mm of PIR as edge insulation seems like not enough. What do people do? Every day is a learning day at the moment, seem to spend as long in friont of the computer trying to learn as actually doing the build!

Hi After closing our site up in December due to the weather, we are trying to get back up and running. We have poured the raft foundation and built the retaining walls which also form the basement. There is a beam and block floor sat on top of the retaining walls. This forms a new kitchen floor, and also an outside terrace. Between them I need to start building a cavity wall with 150mm cavity off a pair of UC beams, which have carried some of the B+B concrete beams. How can i reduce the thermal bridging, and also close the cavity? Could I bridge the cavity with some PIR and build off that, or is it likely to compress too much. The basement room below is a store/workshop. The block wall is only two courses high to form an opening for a 2.6m wide sliding door onto the terrace.

Hi Folks Have been working away on extension and have the basement up to first floor level, floor is bison beams with block infill. The existing house has beam and block floors and has always suffered from air ingress around the edges. So I was thinking of taking Tony's idea, thathe used with timber joists and applying it to the concrete beams. This was to use airtight membrane sat on the bearing wall, then wrapped around the end infill and lapped up to the VCL in the new floor. One issue is it creates a slip plane along the whole length of the wall that is build off the top, but then is any different to a DPC? Are there any other solutions? The problem is the mortar dryig out and cracking over time on all the cut blocks that fill in the ends Or is it easier to address the airtightness when the screed goes in? Has any one used the Soudal liquid membrane, which is spray applied, as this may also be a potential solution. Been so busy on site not had time to post anything up, or even read the site recently. How do you all build houses and find time to be online...... I must be too slow. Andy

Hi Triassic Thanks for the info. I have emailed Hilliard Tanner and will try calling tomorrow. I really cannot understand not wanting to insulate the foundation and basement. Did you use Ian PArker for the concrete pump? Are you waterproofing the inside or outside of your basement Hope I can make some progress, as you correct, only one chance. I was hoping to have a roof on by the time the clocks change! Thanks

Hi Russell We are effectively in a hole, hacked out of solid rock, I find it unlikely that it would move. I also thought crushed stone was the answer to levelling the substrate. Will have to see what headway I can make tomorrow. Will also phone around some SE and see if anyone would take it on just this element as a one off. Thanks again for the positive support. I thought I had a bad day when we hit rock on the first day of digging! I guess it will get a lot worse before it gets better.

Thanks all Going to try again tomorrow and furnish JSHarris report, thanks. It seems like trying to push a river upstream, everybody in the construction trades I have spoken with regarding the build shakes their heads when I mention insulation, airtightness or U values. Done it this way for 30yrs and it will be good enough for you! Except it isn't, and it will be me doing any extra detailing and labour, not them.

Hi All His major concern is giving support to the existing foundations, he has said that he thinks the EPS will deform under loading. He also said he thinks the whole raft could slip. I said i thought the reinforced slab would spread the load, and had suggested using EPS300. There appears to be plenty of steelwork both in the slab, which has A393 and A252 mesh, and the walls which have 12 and 16mm rebar and A393 mesh. My concern is that he may be saying this as he may not have any experience of using EPS. He is even against me using it on the exterior of the basement walls. He is suggesting a 50mm concrete blinding to level the site and 200mm concrete on top. As it stands I will need much more material to level the site, circa 150-200mm in places. Double whammy on finding another SE, as all very busy with at least a month wait, plus the extra costs of paying two. As a layman it seems at odds to argue with the proffessionals, but I was hoping to be much more thermally efficient with slab on EPS method Not sure which way forward, architect has sided with the SE as expected.

So I have had a ten ton digger pecking rock out to make way for a basement and extension. Was planning on 200mm EPS under the slab, and 200mm EPS around the exterior of the basement walls. I do have two walls against the existing house to retain the house founds, as well as creating the basement walls. SE has categorically stated he will not entertain EPS300 under the slab. We are on solid rock for almost the whole slab. It is supporting three stories above. Some pics showing existing founds etc. Was going to use Jackodur system as it also creates the former to pour the concrete too. I was initially concerned when we exposed the existing house founds and the SE had a fit and demanded all work stop, until the house was underpinned. However I elected to continue and pecker out the rock, wether through luck or judgement the house is still standing. So now I either accept the SE proposals or find another one for a second opinion. Rebar sched2 (1).pdf SE version2.pdf

Hi Triassic I am also in Cumbria, Ambleside. We are currently peckering out very, very hard rock to create a basement workshop, as part of an extension and renovation of an existing house. Can I ask who you used for the concrete pump and power floating? For your retaining walls, did you compare a block built wall with ICF on costs? Our SE has specced a 140 block 175 conc filled cavity and a 100mm block, with steel reinforcing in the cavity linked to the slab. Our slab is specced at 200mm. How are you waterproofing the basement? I have looked at Newton 400 if we fit to the exterior, and also the Sovereign Hey Di system that is applied on the inside, but have not yet chosen. We are up against the exposed foundations of the existing house on one side. Your pics have inspired me to try and do our own slab and also place our own steelwork and UFH pipes Is EPS or XPS best for under the slab, as get conflicting advice when speaking to suppliers, and need to make a decison soon. Looking forward to the day the rock pecking stops!!

I am hoping to install UFH on an existing beam and block floor, but am struggling with the heat loss calcs to work out if it will work, or if I will lose too much heat downwards. The largest space is an open plan, living, dining and kitchen with a floor area of 64m2, half of the space is open to the pitched roof. I calculated a heat loss of 2995W for the combined space I have limited scope in making the floor build up deeper My proposal is:- Remove the existing 50mm screed and replace with 40mm PIR and 40mm liquid screed with pipes embedded. I have access underneath the floor, so proposing to fill the void between the beams with 50mm rockwool as easy to compression fit, then board over with 100mm Kingspan Kooltherm bonded to the concrete beams, taped at joints and foamed at all edges as best I can. To try to mitigate losses from the floor edges, where they are at external walls, I am fitting 75mm EWI from foundation level to DPC and then 100mm up to eaves. The P/E is .38 using external walls only Or should I not bother with the 40mm PIR on top as I will end up heating the Beam and Block floor anyway, and concentrate on sealing up the crawl space. It tapers from 1600 to 600mm too large a volume to fill with beads I think. So am laying DPM and lapping and sealing to walls. If it is worthwhile how do I work out the pipe spacing required to produce enough heat? Heat will be supplied via a gas combi, but looking at ASHP for future. Hope someone can help Thanks 5918-02A Detail floor plans.pdf 5918-03A Detail sections.pdf