Carly Lawson Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Hi, yep totally agree about AI but from a newbie perspective it was certainly interesting looking at all the other information it pulled in. It seems that based on historical data, the information is correct is regards to ecobrix/durisol being more eco friendly and that the over all costs are reduced using woodcrete as apposed any of the EPS or polystyrene ICF systems. From the looks of it, there really is not much in it as afar a coats go, maybe only £5 or £6 better off per square meter with woodcrete, but that's only if it's like our house with render and no cladding. I guess it really comes down to if you want to save a little money, be eco-friendly and support British manufacturing. I have a bit of a soft sort for that because my mother had a terrible time and lost her job 6 year before retirement when the company she worked for closed down and moved all it manufacturing out of the UK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvin Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Thick walls look nicer too in my opinion. Our walls are 490mm thick from outside face of the cladding to inside face of the painted wall. It’s given us deep reveals internally which is partly why we chose this build method. Everything has a more substantial solid feel about it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 With my fairly thick walls (400mm) I created angled reveals which allow more light and look really nice. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvin Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Great idea. Lots of old stone buildings do that. There are lots of little details I love about our house this view of the wall inside to outside is one of them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 We also set our reveals at 60° see 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NailBiter Posted April 8 Author Share Posted April 8 @Carly Lawson I have no desire to talk you into (or out of) any particular building material but please seek as much advice as you can before making your decision. Also if you do go the ecobrix route make sure to put some sort of financial protection in place. Both Durisol (now Ecobrix) and Isotex (another mineralised block ICF provider) went bust on separate occasions. I know in the latter case at least some people here were left out of pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 52 minutes ago, NailBiter said: @Carly Lawson I have no desire to talk you into (or out of) any particular building material but please seek as much advice as you can before making your decision. Also if you do go the ecobrix route make sure to put some sort of financial protection in place. Both Durisol (now Ecobrix) and Isotex (another mineralised block ICF provider) went bust on separate occasions. I know in the latter case at least some people here were left out of pocket. +1 but i would say that goes for any build method. our TF company built us a great structure and then went bust a year later and some on here also lost money. so you can never be 100% certain of a company. there have been a few threads about this on here and i'm sure quick search will yield some results. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 8 minutes ago, Thorfun said: that goes for any build method Only for offsite systems or kits. Stick build is a load of timber from the BM and will come on account or with credit card guarantee. Plus it is from stock so can be bought just in time. ditto masonry. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceverge Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 (edited) There's lots of things going on with house construction. Unfortunately there are loads of snake oil salesmen and manufacturers sales claims being treated as science. Most people rely completely on gut feeling. Amusingly this covers the entire spectrum of building types. Starting with the guy with the reflective wrap around sunglasses. " It was first used by NASA don't you know, ,researched in zero gravity, AI and smart watch connected. It will predict the hot water demand using quantum computing" In the middle there is the trusty local builder, "my dad did it this way like his father before him, hammer a 2 X in there and an bit of mortar and she'll be right." "Stick with what you know" At the other end is the hairshirt hippy. "Straw bales and reclaimed beachwood, gotta let it breath MAN" "Align the floorboards to the energy lines MAN". "WiFi gives you cancer MAN". Of course they're all right........and they're all wrong. It's a roll of the dice really........ They rely on belief and faith and it if works for them, I've no objection. However I would be wary about spending my cash on what someone else "believes". @Carly Lawson if you believe that durisol is the most environmentally friendly choice (I don't know BTW) and having that feeling is enough for you, then go for it. However, if you want to actually build the lowest environmentally impactful house then that's a different thing. Edited April 8 by Iceverge 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 2 hours ago, saveasteading said: Only for offsite systems or kits. Stick build is a load of timber from the BM and will come on account or with credit card guarantee. Plus it is from stock so can be bought just in time. ditto masonry. Very good point well made. 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 42 minutes ago, Iceverge said: They rely on belief and faith "Our assessment of the quality of new evidence is biased by our previous beliefs." Dr Ben Goldacre, Bad Science, 2008. (His mother, Noosha Fox, is interesting as well) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carly Lawson Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 Hi, thank you for all the information. I took your points to Ecobrix and the Ecobrix technical director and inhouse Architect (Andy) kindly showed me how they got intouch with all the former durisol clients and offered some free blocks to finish their projects. They also took me to meet a client that had been let down by Durisol but Ecobrix stepped in to help the client. The build was really impressive. Right in the middle of Brimingham. I had a private conversation with the owner and he was nothing but thankful for everthing the new owners of Ecobrix did for him. We also went and met David from Isotex but he said they would have to connect us with the head office in Italy and we had to prvide all the quantitiies needed or if we gave them the quote from Ecobrix they would match it. TBH, we did not feel comfortable with the poeple from Isotex as they only seemed interested in getting us to put down a non refundable deposit to some poeple in Italy that we'd never even spoken to! It all seemed a bit rushed and all they wanted was to see what Ecobrix had done for us. One thing that we thought was nice, was that Andy from Ecobrix never said a bad word about Timber frame or Isotex. The same could not be said for Isotex. They spent at least 15 minutes tell us how bad Timber frame moved and shrank and how terrible the Ecobrix people where! Having been to the Ecobrix factory in Wales for a free training day and after meeting the team and the lovely Welsh man that runs the factory, I think we are feeling confident to use the Ecobrix blcoks for all our walls and then timber frame for the floors and roofs. We are due to go to Carephilly In July as Ecobrix arranged for us to meet with A1 timber and Celtic offsite to discuss the Roof and floors. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallowfields Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 On 08/04/2024 at 14:21, joe90 said: With my fairly thick walls (400mm) I created angled reveals which allow more light and look really nice. I just picked up on this, trawling blocks. I like the sound of the reveal to make it brighter and more cottagey. Are there any technical issues involved or is it purely decorative. I mean is any more support required in order to angle the reveals? FF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 1 hour ago, Fallowfields said: I just picked up on this, trawling blocks. I like the sound of the reveal to make it brighter and more cottagey. Are there any technical issues involved or is it purely decorative. I mean is any more support required in order to angle the reveals? FF The inner skin needs a longer lintel (I used concrete lintels in the inner block work and brick arches in the outer. ) I also mounted the windows and doors on the back of the brickwork (check reveals) and the fact the inner “hole” was bigger meant it was easier to do this. I cut the block work at an angle and mounted plasterboard across the reveal. Being check reveals also means the windows are fully in the insulation zone. Yes everyone who visited remarked how good it looked. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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