Just started a self-build in Dorset. Exciting times!

[Carly Lawson]

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.

 

  
 

[Kelvin]

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. 

[joe90]

With my fairly thick walls (400mm) I created angled reveals which allow more light and look really nice.

[Kelvin]

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. 
 

 

 

[TerryE]

We also set our reveals at 60° see 

 

[NailBiter]

@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.

[Thorfun]

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.

[saveasteading]

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.

[Iceverge]

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

[Thorfun]

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. 👍

[SteamyTea]

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)