Anybody using Velox ?

[Tim Alsop]

I am on start of a self-build journey. I have never built a house before and like Velox ICF. Has anybody else used this product ? What do you think of it ?

[jack]

Welcome to Buildhub Tim. 

 

I can't help you with this question but hopefully there'll be someone who has some info they can share.

 

Roughly what part of the country are you building in, and what's your project?

[Mr Punter]

Hi Tim

 

You have never self built before but have posted twice on the leading self build website promoting the same company, who I can only assume you have never used.  It looks like spam and smells like spam.

[ToughButterCup]

Rumbled. 

[newhome]

Welcome to BuildHub @Tim Alsop. Have you started your build yet or just at the planning stages? 

[Tim Alsop]

9 hours ago, jack said:

Welcome to Buildhub Tim. 

 

I can't help you with this question but hopefully there'll be someone who has some info they can share.

 

Roughly what part of the country are you building in, and what's your project?

I am in Hampshire and I got planning permission in July this year so now I am doing research to find trades/products to build my house. I know Velox is one of the less known ICF products and I have come across other self builders who didn't know about it when they were choosing a build system. I spent over 12 months looking at different products and I found Velox to be the best for me. I like the fact you have a finished wood internal wall for fixing to, whereas the ICF systems that use polystyrene don't have this ability without special fixing points. I spoke with a fewf builders and they said they prefer Velox to other ICF products. I also like the fact that Velox have their own floor system which can span upto 12m gaps which will be useful for my project.

[Tim Alsop]

4 minutes ago, newhome said:

Welcome to BuildHub @Tim Alsop. Have you started your build yet or just at the planning stages? 

I got planning in July. I am now doing research and making decisions on products/trades to use. 

[Tim Alsop]

8 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

Hi Tim

 

You have never self built before but have posted twice on the leading self build website promoting the same company, who I can only assume you have never used.  It looks like spam and smells like spam.

This is most definitely not spam. It is a genuine question since I know the number of builders who know about Velox is limited and I wanted to find those that do know about it and have used it to share their experiences. I might find something I wasn't aware of.

[Tim Alsop]

9 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

Hi Tim

 

You have never self built before but have posted twice on the leading self build website promoting the same company, who I can only assume you have never used.  It looks like spam and smells like spam.

Also, I posted in two places on this forum because I wanted to get some help with using Velox as a build system and thought that starting this thread would be good and also I posted on an ICF comparison thread which I found didn't mention Velox so wondered if the person who created it was aware of Velox. No hidden agenda - sorry for posting twice if that concerns you.

[newhome]

1 minute ago, Tim Alsop said:

This is most definitely not spam. It is a genuine question since I know the number of builders who know about Velox is limited and I wanted to find those that do know about it and have used it to share their experiences. I might find something I wasn't aware of.

 

We’ve had a few spammers on here hence the nervousness if someone mentions a company in their first post. If you’re legit then all good ?. 

 

Any plans? We all love a good plan on here to bring it to life. We have a few ICF builders on here although I’m not sure if any have used or considered Velox. 

[Tim Alsop]

1 minute ago, newhome said:

 

We’ve had a few spammers on here hence the nervousness if someone mentions a company in their first post. If you’re legit then all good ?. 

 

Any plans? We all love a good plan on here to bring it to life. We have a few ICF builders on here although I’m not sure if any have used or considered Velox. 

You can find my plans on https://publicaccess.hart.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=P3GZVBHZH1Z00

[Tim Alsop]

 

1 minute ago, newhome said:

Any plans? We all love a good plan on here to bring it to life. We have a few ICF builders on here although I’m not sure if any have used or considered Velox. 

The fact that some builders who use ICF and didn't know about Velox and it's advantages over the other products does concern me especially as I am planning to use it for my build. This is why I wanted to make this post on here to get some real world experiences shared.

[newhome]

Thanks! There is a thread on here that mentions Velox once but the member who posted the comment doesn’t appear to have been on for a while @JimG. 

 

 

[Tim Alsop]

1 minute ago, newhome said:

Thanks! There is a thread on here that mentions Velox once but the member who posted the comment doesn’t appear to have been on for a while @JimG. 

 

 

Yes, the first thing I did when I found this forum was to search for velox so I found that thread and since it was old I decided to start my own thread asking about Velox.

[newhome]

When you say you spoke to a few builders what type of houses have they been building with it? It doesn’t sound like something that mainstream builders would be using so building for individual clients maybe? Being an early adopter of a technology or product is always a bit of a gamble so I can understand the need to do full due diligence especially when there’s a house involved! Where do you stand with the product in terms of getting a mortgage, warranty, insurance? Not necessarily for you but if you decide to sell? 

 

 

[Tim Alsop]

1 hour ago, newhome said:

When you say you spoke to a few builders what type of houses have they been building with it? It doesn’t sound like something that mainstream builders would be using so building for individual clients maybe? Being an early adopter of a technology or product is always a bit of a gamble so I can understand the need to do full due diligence especially when there’s a house involved! Where do you stand with the product in terms of getting a mortgage, warranty, insurance? Not necessarily for you but if you decide to sell? 

 

 

I talked to 2 builders who specialise in ICF and who have both used many ICF products (including Durisol) but they prefer Velox. I also spoke with a family who has built their house using Velox and their builder wasn't initially familiar with it, so got trained and then said they liked it very much and would consider using it again instead of some other ICF product. This gave me the confidence in the product that I was looking for.

No problem with warranty or insurance - it is ETA certified which I understand is EU specific and accepted in UK. BBA is UK specific so product doesn't need to be BBA and ETA approved (at least before Brexit). The product also has LABC and Registered Detail with Local Building Control. Disclaimer: I recently found the thread on here about it not having BBA which concerned me, so I asked Velox to comment, and I have shared what they told me. So, I am not concerned about insurance or warranty. Also, people I have talked with who have a finished house that was using Velox said insurance, mortgage, warranty etc. were not any issue for them.

[Alexphd1]

I have had a gòod look at the sales patter on this velox stuff and it's not for me but that's only my opinion.

But I question why someone would choose a product that's is not bba certified when there is other at least  equal products that is certified? 

[Tim Alsop]

1 hour ago, Alexphd1 said:

I have had a gòod look at the sales patter on this velox stuff and it's not for me but that's only my opinion.

But I question why someone would choose a product that's is not bba certified when there is other at least  equal products that is certified? 

As I already mentioned in my last post, BBA certification is not required. Anyway, other products don't have some of the advantages that Velox has. Each product is not equal in terms of features/benefits. I don't want this to get into a fight over which product is best as I recognise that some people will prefer other products and some people (like myself) will prefer Velox.

[D Walter]

Hi, I am new to the forum and one lift away (approx. 1.5 metres) from roof plate in the construction of a 2 storey 220 m2 new build using Velox walls and floor modules.  The house has a glazed frontage facing SSW (exposed position near the coast at the top of a river valley) and will be clad in a mix of standing seam metal and Siberian larch and have a standing seam metal roof.  Heating will be by conventional gas boiler with underfloor heating and mechanical ventilation (MVHR) via spiral wound galvanised ducting.  Although the location is largely rural there is road noise at night from traffic about a mile away in the valley.  I chose Velox as the ICF system guided by the factors referenced above:

- all insulation is outside the thermal mass and therefore able to best utilise the solar gain;

- Velox offers excellent fixability both externally and internally across the entire envelope for the cladding on the outside and fixtures inside, without having to fix through layers of insulation;

- continuous envelope of concrete in walls and floors (openings excepted) and therefore minimal reliance on membranes for airtightness for the MVHR system;

- good structural and sound insulating credentials of concrete.

 

So far I am very pleased with the system however, as with every system, it has its peculiarities which need to be taken into consideration in the design/structural engineering stage and in the build itself.  As with other ICF systems, care needs to be taken in the choice of concrete pump as blow-outs can be a real headache!

 

 

 

[Mr Punter]

Hi @D Walter and welcome.

 

You are obviously a fair way into the build now.  How did you hear about the ICF system?  Is this your first self build?  Did you use Surrey Home to do the build or just supply the ICF?  It is a bit odd that I have never heard of the system before and it seems to be a one man band operating from a serviced office.

 

Interesting to hear about the blow-out.  I had similar with another ICF brand on a basement.  I think my men had left out a tie.  Fortunately it was on the outside and we were able to shore it between the wall and the excavation and we only lost about a metre of concrete and the bulge in the wall was hidden once back-filled..  It happens frequently but it is a bit nerve-wracking.

 

[D Walter]

Hi, I found the system by research on the internet using the criteria I mentioned, and yes, it is my first build.  I rejected some ICF systems on the "fixability" issue with cladding and some on airtightness (I did not want to have to render for airtightness when I would be cladding anyway).  I have talked to a few builders (professionals and self-builders) who have used the system and the feedback has been positive.  My builder had some independent feedback from his own enquiries and the advice he got was regarding getting everything right first time, which would apply to any concrete system.  It is very important to get the walls plumb and braced before each pour as, despite what all the blurb on ICF says, there is so much going on during a pour that correcting after the after pouring may not be an option (we used RC35 and it was hard within a couple of hours in the heatwave).  Thankfully, my builder is V careful and there has never been a need to correct after pouring but we braced everything  as much as we could in advance.  I did not use Surrey Homes for the build - local traditional brick and block builder.  

 

The supplier has been very helpful throughout and it is well worth visiting a few sites before you make your decision.  I am not sure the "one man band/serviced office" comment is entirely fair.  You can visit the warehouse in Guildford and get some basic training, as I did with my builder, and get some site visits in.  You can also talk to Structural Engineers who have good experience of the system.

 

I worked on the basis that movement and blow-outs are less likely with cement board systems than systems relying on EPS formers though I have no data on this.  In my location we did not have access to concrete pumps of the recommended flow rates/nozzle diameters so had to be particularly careful.  No major problems experienced but … but for the grace of God...

 

It is difficult/expensive to alter or correct in concrete so planning to the n'th detail is essential.  There is a degree of flexibility, for example around openings as the reveal strips are 50mm and there is always the option of packing out but nothing like the flexibility of traditional builds.  

[Grendel]

We are considering velox  and trying to balance it against timberframe and porotherm. Just got planning. We have a semibasement so need something durable for that. Then we have a curved section above , several build methods won't manage curves well

[Grendel]

8 hours ago, D Walter said:

Hi, I am new to the forum and one lift away (approx. 1.5 metres) from roof plate in the construction of a 2 storey 220 m2 new build using Velox walls and floor modules.  The house has a glazed frontage facing SSW (exposed position near the coast at the top of a river valley) and will be clad in a mix of standing seam metal and Siberian larch and have a standing seam metal roof.  Heating will be by conventional gas boiler with underfloor heating and mechanical ventilation (MVHR) via spiral wound galvanised ducting.  Although the location is largely rural there is road noise at night from traffic about a mile away in the valley.  I chose Velox as the ICF system guided by the factors referenced above:

- all insulation is outside the thermal mass and therefore able to best utilise the solar gain;

- Velox offers excellent fixability both externally and internally across the entire envelope for the cladding on the outside and fixtures inside, without having to fix through layers of insulation;

- continuous envelope of concrete in walls and floors (openings excepted) and therefore minimal reliance on membranes for airtightness for the MVHR system;

- good structural and sound insulating credentials of concrete.

 

So far I am very pleased with the system however, as with every system, it has its peculiarities which need to be taken into consideration in the design/structural engineering stage and in the build itself.  As with other ICF systems, care needs to be taken in the choice of concrete pump as blow-outs can be a real headache!

 

 

 

Hello, what sort of roof system are you putting onto the velox? How did you choose your builder? Are you doing the velox  yourself?

Thanks

[D Walter]

Hi Grendel,

 

We are using EasiJoists with a Tata Colorcoat Urban standing seam roof.  We struggled for ages on roof lay-up design due to a number of factors, primarily the impact of the MVHR ducting which was originally designed to go through the rafters, and finally decided on a cold roof with sarking under the joists, soft batt insulation between rafters and solid PIR insulation under the rafters and a 185mm service zone for the ducting.  The MVHR ducting has to be on the warm side of the insulation so the original plan of the ducting going through the rafters had to be ditched once we decided that we could not live with 230mm of PIR insulation above the rafters on a warm roof lay-up to reach a U value of 0.11.

 

I waited over a year for a builder who I knew through cycling to come free.  Very thoughtful, careful builder which has been essential on this build.  We have done the Velox ourselves and the only real problem we have experienced is not being able to get a suitable concrete pump configuration and therefore having to be extra careful on concrete pours for the walls.

[Alexphd1]

Hi and welcome. 

I think you can't underestimate bracing in a ICF build, what type did you use? Is Velox system ok for consolidate concrete ie poker?