Moonshine

that's the one, i hadn't come across it either. umm interesting, and i can see it being flammable, also if its in a wall for decades it seems like it would fall appart.

Has anyone come across this product or used it? https://www.insulation-actis.com/ Seems interesting and gives a thermal conductivity of 0.033 W/mk, which is comparable with mineral / glass wool batts. One concern i have with it is that could polyethylene foam degrade over time, where as mineral / glass wool batts won't.

agree, i wouldn't want to be waving bits of insulation around while up a ladder, holding the insulation and fixing in place is a two hand job, get a tower.

No. What are you trying to do? Could you not rest it against the rafters (90 degress from what it is now) and lash the ladder round the rafters, though i don't know what the angle of the rafters are.

There are a couple of modelling software such as insul and Bastian, though I don't trust them and prefer to make a judgement of similar constructions with test data. I will take a look when I have a bit of time, though how many down lighters are you going to have. Robust details of party floors recommend a max of one per 2 m2 not to undermine the performance. If you are going to use more you could provide acoustic hoods.

I think I like this solution the best, not sure it needs to be welded, but the use of different thicknesses of steel shims ti make the 20mm, at both bearing points to ensure the beam is level.

Mainly yes, but it is mass that reflects the sound, and porous materials that absorb the sound by dissipating sound energy as heat. The amount of reflection and absorption which occurs depends on the physical properties of the materials and the frequency / wavelength of the sound.

Yep, though I did BSc and a MSc in acoustics at a different uni, so I'm a scientist, rather than an engineer ? I know people that went to Southampton and it's a good course, real shame he cant get into the labs at the moment

In my proposed build i have a steel (203 x 102 UB) built into a blockwork wall on a pad stone, this supports a cavity masonry wall The steel rests straight onto the padstone, and leaves a 32mm gap above when the blocks tie in, as below. The question is, what is the 32mm filled with, i would have thought a 32mm mortar bed would be too thick, and the gap is too small for a slip.

Also is the the Pain In The Arse (PITA) premium, that you don't have to subconstruct to more trades and coordinate them. Its a question of if you are o.k with a timber frame product and want to / can pay the premium.

@Dan F why the sacrificial plaster board, just because of down lighters? South bank or southampton?

The thing that worries me is the life span of the systems?

I am in exactly the same boat, it is decision time which way i go. I have been looking at quotes i got in December 2019 for 167m2 of ground and first floor with a flat roof Quote was £38.5k for a wall U-value of 0.17, cost not including block work external skin. I am wonderings what it would be now.

As long as the gas was isolated! ? I 'found' two suspected runs of a gas pipe and elec cable coming into my house. I had the ground investigator go over the area with his CAT scanner and found the same. I would want something more scientific for confirmation of 'finds'. I am a sceptic on these hippy things.

I have actually had good results with dowsing rods (e.g. bent bike spokes / metal coat hanger), fook knows how it works, but in my experience i seem to be able to find pipes with them.

i got quoted by an architectural technician for £2500 + VAT for build regs drawings (he did the planning on ~160m2 house), which i though was pretty fair. Given how protracted my planning permission has been i have ended up drafting my own, which he is checking on an hourly rate basis.

What was the reason for the breathable membrane given?

Also at 400mm you will have to go up to 600mm foundations, with 350mm wall you can just about get away with 450mn foundations. I am personally looking to build 350mm with 150mm fully filled cavity.

Interested in this, what is better / easier to install, glass or mineral? Doesn't glass irritate / scratch the skin, or do both?

Things are beginning to get very real, and getting some builders round to the site to start pricing up for the job. So what what things should i be asking them, especially how things interact with a warranty provider. Also the house has retaining walls and waterproofing so i need to make sure that this is done right.

Cheers, that ups the U-value to 0.22.

i get it calculated to 0.21, you can get it to 0.19 if you use a lightweight block of R value 0.25.

?use the same hatching for it

I not sure if that is correct, my quick calc indicates its more like 0.20, assuming 15% bridging by softwood in the mineral wool and the air cavity service void. I am not sure how they came to 0.13!

How are you going to get ventilation to the floor void, i would show the proposed routing of your telescopic vent. What U-value does those walls give you? it seems a bit on the light side.