Durisol - in administration

[PeterW]

As the title says - administrators appointed 6th April

 

https://www.durisoluk.com

[Ajn]

we have a few spare

[SteamyTea]

About time, think how much grief it will save self builders.

[JohnMo]

14 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

About time, think how much grief it will save self builders.

Bit of a worthless and obnoxious comment.  I certainly had no issues with the product or the company.

[SteamyTea]

2 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

I certainly had no issues with the product or the company.

Many have though.  There is enough negative comments on here (and the predecessor site) about it.

[Indy]

That's a shock. I had recently been on there training day at the NSBRC in Swindon and there was certainly no indication that they were going through such difficulties. 

[JohnMo]

Looks like they continue to trade, hopefully someone will take over.

[Russell griffiths]

11 hours ago, JohnMo said:

Looks like they continue to trade, hopefully someone will take over.

Oh god why, it’s not a product that is needed, far superior products out there. 
let it die. 

[ToughButterCup]

There is a difference between a product and the way a company conducts itself. 

 

Yes @Russell griffiths, there are far superior products out there, yes @SteamyTea many have had difficulties with the product.  But as many traders have found - not least those who post very regularly on BH -  businesses fail for all sorts of reasons.  

 

You may not like a product . Then don't buy it.   Poor products deserve to fail.  Just as poorly administered companies need to be reminded about the realities of the marketplace.  A series of recent international events may or may not have contributed to the current situation.

 

We just don't know. Yet.

 

I am keen on evidence-based  comment and discussion. Thats why I have written (perhaps too much) about Durisol.  But I know nothing at all about the financial conduct of the company .

 

And so, in my view the Schadenfreude above about Dursiol's descent into administration is entirely misplaced. 

 

[SteamyTea]

18 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

I am keen on evidence-based  comment and discussion. Thats why I have written (perhaps too much) about Durisol.  But I know nothing at all about the financial conduct of the company

Rolls Royce failed as a company, as did Rover, Triumph, Austin, Morris, Morris Garages, Vauxhall, Bedford, Alvis, Talbot, TVR, Lotus, Hillman, Metro Cab, and probably a lot I have forgotten about.

Two things they all had in common. Poor, static design (making same product for too long) and dreadful management.

 

[ToughButterCup]

Without evidence, this forum isn't the place to speculate about why Durisol isn't doing well.

 

Lets hope for the sake of all those jobs in South Wales, those in the company, and just as  importantly that  those jobs in the  company's supply chain can be secured. The last thing anyone needs at the moment is the loss of  income  through no fault of their own. 

 

In relation to the point you make above @SteamyTea, lets hope just the right  person  has been waiting  for the chance to lead the company to success. 

[BristolBuild2020]

Having used Durisol on a site for a few days I’ve been planning to use them for my build ever since.

 

Not quite sure where the negativity comes from but I’ll be looking at a Plan B in any case.

[ToughButterCup]

Hello @BristolBuild2020 : you might like to make sure that you order enough blocks to avoid having to re-order - because of breakage.

 

Some users (those on site handling them, but who haven't paid for them)  think of Durisol like they think of bricks: easy to discard go and get some more. And while you are closer to the factory than we are, it's still a right pain to realise that you haven't got enough because people aren't taking care of them while cutting them (for example). In the end I made a simple jig which compensated  for the flexibility of the sabre saw we were using to cut blocks. 

 

Negativity? Some criticism of Durisol is justified; it's how that negativity is expressed that matters. I'd use the product again - because I know what to look for and how to deal with the product. Its a product new to many. I think the negativity has its roots in the steepness of the learning curve that exists with any new process or product. Some just don't want to make the effort. And thats fine.

 

 

[SteamyTea]

6 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

I think the negativity has its roots in the steepness of the learning curve

Mine comes from the amateurish looks of them, and all you wrote about them.

I have seen better formed fake Weetabix and Shredded Wheat.

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

Mine comes from the amateurish looks of them, and all you wrote about them.

I have seen better formed fake Weetabix and Shredded Wheat.

Besides Velox, it's the system I've seen / heard of the most blow-outs during the pour or deformities after the pour.

 

Anyone considering Velox should beware that they will try to supply 20% more than you need. Then leave you with an expensive pile of various blocks worth less than the skips to take them away which they will refuse to refund / recognise as superfluous. 

[ToughButterCup]

Well @SteamyTea, I've yet to see  a build where Durisol is the outer skin. In terms of what I have written about it,  I think its fair to argue that my own incompetence, inexperience and openness should not be taken as a factor in the criticism of a product. I may be wrong, but I think I might be the only person to have written quite as much about Durisol on this board. One person's musing on one discussion board is hardly a good evidence base on which to make fairly large purchase decisions. 

 

I had absolutely no prior experience of building. None.  I appointed a company that was over-trading to help build the house. I sacked them far too late. So I (we) just got on with it.  And now I'm sitting in a warm house that I've built by my (our) selves.  I would have made just as many stupid  errors with any other build method.  Come to think of it, had we chosen brick and block, the errors would have been worse.

 

A combination of opportunity, Durisol, effort, commitment and guts has constructed a house worth about £500k. And nobody knows or cares what the build method was. 

 

But  what I find of most value is the learning experience I've had along the way. That's priceless. 

[Adrian Walker]

2 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Besides Velox, it's the system I've seen / heard of the most blow-outs during the pour or deformities after the pour.

 

Anyone considering Velox should beware that they will try to supply 20% more than you need. Then leave you with an expensive pile of various blocks worth less than the skips to take them away which they will refuse to refund / recognise as superfluous. 

 

All of the Velox blow outs that I have seen is because the incorrect nozzle has been used at the end of the pump and/or the mix incorrect. Your experience is obvious very different which is fine.

[Nickfromwales]

6 hours ago, Adrian Walker said:

 

All of the Velox blow outs that I have seen is because the incorrect nozzle has been used at the end of the pump and/or the mix incorrect. Your experience is obvious very different which is fine.

Sorry, but not my experience directly. Simply what I saw, heard and witnessed directly whilst on a clients build.

The issues with Velox run way further, and the builders who were tasked with this build were some of the most skilled and competent builders and joiners I've had the pleasure of working with for quite some time. They were constantly suffering with, and engineering solutions to the problems with that product / system. Even boards braced down to as little as 400 OC were breaking and blowing out.

Maybe OK for someone building with it time after time, but a one-off would be an expensive baptism....

[ToughButterCup]

22 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

...

Maybe OK for someone building with it time after time, but a one-off would be an expensive baptism....

 

Exactly right. And directly in line with my experience of Durisol.

My inexperience caused an increased build cost. A reasonable guess at the additional cost of the blowouts (7 in all) - less than £1000 - one pour roughly (?). By the 3rd blowout, I'd put together a blowout kit, and had  shallow pits ready for that pour's  spillage + 3 clean wheel-barrows and half a dozen shovels, couple of concrete rakes and a smoothing-thing. Everyone was briefed on what to do when (not if) one occurred.

Needed a team of 4 to manage well. 5 better still. Just doable with 2

 

One guy had nothing else to do but to look for leaks. (Johnners) or me.

 

And as a result of the spillages, I now have 3 nice super- flat concrete work-surfaces around the garden - one for the pizza oven and bbq area, one for SWMBO's shed and greenhouse and one outside the front of the house: that's a mess because I got it wrong - left it too long before smoothing off.

 

There's always a way to turn a WhatDaFukMoment into something positive. Always.

You just have to get it as wrong as I have as often as I have.

[Mako]

On 02/05/2022 at 22:22, Nickfromwales said:

Sorry, but not my experience directly. Simply what I saw, heard and witnessed directly whilst on a clients build.

The issues with Velox run way further, and the builders who were tasked with this build were some of the most skilled and competent builders and joiners I've had the pleasure of working with for quite some time. They were constantly suffering with, and engineering solutions to the problems with that product / system. Even boards braced down to as little as 400 OC were breaking and blowing out.

Maybe OK for someone building with it time after time, but a one-off would be an expensive baptism....

I’m planning to build using Velox, could you be more specific, what the problems were? I visited several sites during concreting

without a problem. Interested to learn more

[ToughButterCup]

Yes, @Mako, I am too.

Its easy to conflate two problems: builders' inexperience and product- related issues. If a builder who only ever does Velox installations were to experience  'constant ... problems '  then the builder would either go out of business, or use some other build system. And presumably the manufacturer would value feedback from that builder.

 

Feedback such as described above of boards braced breaking and blowing out as frequently as indicated would mean - if the issue were to become generalised - the end for the product. 

 

Where many factors are in a problem description, it's important to control for all variables before drawing a valid conclusion. 

So, let's see what the size of the evidence-base is please.

[ToughButterCup]

30 minutes ago, FM2015 said:

... ICF is a piece of p1ss, anyone can do it.

 

... badly.  For a self-builder, it takes a lot of courage and attention to detail to do well. The Devil is always in the detail.

 

I agree  entirely with the rest of your post.

[FM2015]

4 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

... badly.  For a self-builder, it takes a lot of courage and attention to detail to do well. The Devil is always in the detail.

 

I agree  entirely with the rest of your post.

I was being as facetious.  We get called every week.  I get a sore neck shaking my head 🤣

[Russell griffiths]

13 hours ago, Mako said:

I’m planning to build using Velox, could you be more specific, what the problems were? I visited several sites during concreting

without a problem. Interested to learn more

What I would ask yourself is why have you chosen velox. 
what does it bring to the party that other Icf products don’t. 
if you cannot think of one then why did you choose it. Do the same with all the other blocks. 
price is not a consideration. 
I was offered a substantial amount of blocks free, all I had to do was transport them, I declined and left them on the pallets. 
 

[Mako]

On 14/05/2022 at 11:19, ToughButterCup said:

Yes, @Mako, I am too.

Its easy to conflate two problems: builders' inexperience and product- related issues. If a builder who only ever does Velox installations were to experience  'constant ... problems '  then the builder would either go out of business, or use some other build system. And presumably the manufacturer would value feedback from that builder.

 

Feedback such as described above of boards braced breaking and blowing out as frequently as indicated would mean - if the issue were to become generalised - the end for the product. 

 

Where many factors are in a problem description, it's important to control for all variables before drawing a valid conclusion. 

So, let's see what the size of the evidence-base is please.