Air tightness testing

[Mike_scotland]

So we have just had our air tightness test carried out and i believe it was about 4 which is not too much under the 5 we were giving to aim for at BW stage.... i know a pass is a pass but i was hoping for lower.... 

anyone else had a 4 to begin with and managed to get it down or am i just being awkward lol?

[Thorfun]

24 minutes ago, Mike_scotland said:

So we have just had our air tightness test carried out and i believe it was about 4 which is not too much under the 5 we were giving to aim for at BW stage.... i know a pass is a pass but i was hoping for lower.... 

anyone else had a 4 to begin with and managed to get it down or am i just being awkward lol?

are you having MVHR? if so, you probably don't want to go much lower than 4!

[Mike_scotland]

6 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

are you having MVHR? if so, you probably don't want to go much lower than 4!

no MVHR mate, is 4 pretty good without MVHR then? i thought you had to get MVHR if you were below 3

[nod]

We built traditionally and when asked I said 2 and guess what we scored 2 

In reality we where supposed to get bellow 5 

Either I’d done a great job with the airtightness 

Or the tests are a complete waste of money 

 

[Ralph]

@Mike_scotlandI'm just about to organise my test, do you mind telling me who you used and how much it was?

[Mr Punter]

2 minutes ago, nod said:

We built traditionally and when asked I said 2 and guess what we scored 2 

In reality we where supposed to get bellow 5 

Either I’d done a great job with the airtightness 

Or the tests are a complete waste of money 

 

As @Thorfun commented, a result of less than 4 and you should be asked to fit MVHR.  Of course, BC won't bother even looking, as long as the as built SAP complies.

[Mike_scotland]

13 minutes ago, nod said:

We built traditionally and when asked I said 2 and guess what we scored 2 

In reality we where supposed to get bellow 5 

Either I’d done a great job with the airtightness 

Or the tests are a complete waste of money 

 

haha yeah seems a bit unregulated for me m8

[Mike_scotland]

8 minutes ago, Ralph said:

@Mike_scotlandI'm just about to organise my test, do you mind telling me who you used and how much it was?

Hi Ralph,

I am unsure but i will ask my builder for you.

[ProDave]

39 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

 

As @Thorfun commented, a result of less than 4 and you should be asked to fit MVHR.  Of course, BC won't bother even looking, as long as the as built SAP complies.

We had to provide the air test result as well as the as built SAP

[Mike_scotland]

is 4 ok then or pretty poor?

[Mike_scotland]

1 hour ago, Ralph said:

@Mike_scotlandI'm just about to organise my test, do you mind telling me who you used and how much it was?

Just noticed you are Angus too, where abouts are you building bud? you on instagram doing a build blog?

[nod]

2 hours ago, Mike_scotland said:

haha yeah seems a bit unregulated for me m8

The problem is

theres so many private companies at it 

If they where to fail major house builders The house builders would simply use someone else 

As I’ve stated previously 

Most seam to be done as a desktop test 
The commercial building that I work on always tested But after 40 years of fireproofing and soundproofing I still don’t understand how most score under three 

[Ralph]

2 hours ago, Mike_scotland said:

Just noticed you are Angus too, where abouts are you building bud? you on instagram doing a build blog?

No blog but my missus does instagram @blackfoxbarn we're outside Edzell.

[Thorfun]

2 hours ago, Mike_scotland said:

is 4 ok then or pretty poor?

it all depends on what you want! 4 is ok if you're not having MVHR and it is substantially better than building regs at 10!

[JohnMo]

You be worth having a read of the regs, to make sure you have the required ventilation strategy in place

 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/building-standards-2017-domestic/3-environment/314-ventilation/

[Mike_scotland]

17 hours ago, Ralph said:

No blog but my missus does instagram @blackfoxbarn we're outside Edzell.

we might have you guys already we are ourangushome  

[ProDave]

20 hours ago, Mike_scotland said:

is 4 ok then or pretty poor?

That depends what you are hoping for.  I was disappointed with 1.4, I was hoping for less than 1, but in practical terms our house is very low energy.

[Mike_scotland]

2 minutes ago, ProDave said:

That depends what you are hoping for.  I was disappointed with 1.4, I was hoping for less than 1, but in practical terms our house is very low energy.

i think likely a 3 or less but hey ho i think 4 isnt too bad! 

[Iceverge]

Do you have the report, was it 4 ACH, 4m3/m3 floor area or envelope area?

 

 

[Mike_scotland]

On 17/03/2022 at 13:55, Iceverge said:

Do you have the report, was it 4 ACH, 4m3/m3 floor area or envelope area?

 

 

 

It was 4.46  Envelope area of building is m2 468 it says.

to be fair though there is still services coming through the floor and you can feel a draft so thats being sealed up today! so it could of maybe been better if it was all completed however we are rushing for the RHI so needed the AT test.

[Iceverge]

Ah, I would encourage rigging a diy blower door to try source as many of the holes as you can. It'll be a real pain once you're moved in to do anything about it. Its about your house being as comfortable as possible at the end of the day, not a test result. Even patching up  a hole the size of a credit card reduced our test by 0.1 ACH.

[Russell griffiths]

On 16/03/2022 at 16:42, Mike_scotland said:

is 4 ok then or pretty poor?

On this forum it’s poor, on a housing estate full of Barrett homes it’s pretty good. 

[Iceverge]

Whats your building volume? Floor area X ceiling height will do.  ACH is more universally used outside SAP world!! 

[Mike_scotland]

1 hour ago, Iceverge said:

Whats your building volume? Floor area X ceiling height will do.  ACH is more universally used outside SAP world!! 

how do i find that?

[Iceverge]

Fairly simple. Take your total floor area and multiply it by the ceilings height. Vaulted spaces can make it a small bit more complex.