Live self-Builds - mod warning in post no. 1

Villain · 14-03-2013 2:37pm

Well after weeks of insulating and taping windows etc Plastering inside is well under way with upstairs almost done in 5 days!

I used 160 normal slabs and 40 insulated slabs so more than I thought and budget is getting really tight now but great to see things progressing.

ShiverinEskimo · 14-03-2013 5:47pm

Had my first of two or three planned air-tightness tests today expecting my 'bad' result.

It was very bad. 6.2 air changes per hour. Smoke found some 'large' and hopefully easily remedied holes which aren't a major problem but I was hoping for much better than that for a first run. I expected to get more time to seal certain things up but I got out of work late so couldn't devote more time to things like waste pipes, chimneys and that. Have the weekend to put better seals in place for them while we figure out how to seal up some of the obvious holes. A major one is air getting into the hollow core where holes were blown to bring plumbing pipes down.

Floors going in should improve it no end - most of the gaps were where the DPC was hanging out under doors and that. Going to seal them up temporarily after we permanently fix some of the other holes before testing again. And hopefully getting a much-improved result.

Still though. A little disheartening to see such a poor result from the off. Fingers crossed sorting all the above and the other small holes we find next time will pay off.

john_eire · 15-03-2013 12:14am

A major one is air getting into the hollow core where holes were blown to bring plumbing pipes down.

Just wondering did u get the hollow core ends wrapped

ShiverinEskimo · 15-03-2013 9:58am

No I didn't. I only came across the concept on here well after the hollow core was in. Bit sickening.

Met with the builder last night and went through many of the major problems. He's going to take the weekend to have a think (as am I) and we'll meet again Tuesday to come up with some solutions. He's confident the floor going in will automatically fix a lot of the major problems but I want solutions in place before hand to make sure.

sydthebeat · 15-03-2013 5:57pm

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

It was very bad. 6.2 air changes per hour. .

jaysus!!!!

are you sure with was air changes per hour and not the Q50 (m3/hr/m2)?

because if its air changes that puts your Q50 at 124... its supposed to be max 10 for 2008 regs, and 7 for 2011 regs.

Did the machine even make 50 pascals pressure?

Is it worthwhile do you think, having a test at that stage of the build... in that did you discover areas of sever leakage which you can now tackle, that you wouldnt have considered before?

ShiverinEskimo · 15-03-2013 6:02pm

I must have heard wrong then because he said the regs were 7 and I got 6 so I'm covered regulations wise. Defo got to 50 pascal's.

sydthebeat · 15-03-2013 6:11pm

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

I must have heard wrong then because he said the regs were 7 and I got 6 so I'm covered regulations wise. Defo got to 50 pascal's.

It was your q50 so .... phew

ShiverinEskimo · 15-03-2013 8:25pm

Is it possible to work out the air changes from that?

sydthebeat · 15-03-2013 10:34pm

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Is it possible to work out the air changes from that?

yeah

6.2 / 20 = 0.31 ac/hr

ShiverinEskimo · 15-03-2013 10:38pm

Thanks a million. Still work to be done but at least I know my HRV won't be Pissing in the wind.

sydthebeat · 15-03-2013 11:15pm

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Thanks a million. Still work to be done but at least I know my HRV won't be Pissing in the wind.

if you end up with a q50 of 3 or below, without having done any major taping or 'membraneing' youll be doing ok ;0

just do it · 15-03-2013 11:49pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

yeah

6.2 / 20 = 0.31 ac/hr

Is 0.31ACH not very good?

sydthebeat · 15-03-2013 11:57pm

just do it wrote: »

Is 0.31ACH not very good?

Well seeing that 7 is the max allowed, 6.2 its only slightly under the break line.

Whether you consider that ' good' is subjective.

just do it · 16-03-2013 12:11am

sydthebeat wrote: »

Well seeing that 7 is the max allowed, 6.2 its only slightly under the break line.

Whether you consider that ' good' is subjective.

Appreciate that but the reason I'm asking is given the passivhaus airtightness benchmark is <0.6ACH and this house has achieved 0.31ACH that is a great result.

sydthebeat · 16-03-2013 12:46am

just do it wrote: »

Appreciate that but the reason I'm asking is given the passivhaus airtightness benchmark is <0.6ACH and this house has achieved 0.31ACH that is a great result.

no.

the 0.6 refers to the N50 result.... for ease of understanding lets just accept the N50 as being the same as the Q50 figure in the regulations.

Therefore the 0.6 is actually 0.03 ac/hr

the regs require a max figure of 7, passive standard requires this figure to be 0.6

now you can see how onerous it is.

just do it · 16-03-2013 12:56am

sydthebeat wrote: »

no.

the 0.6 refers to the N50 result.... for ease of understanding lets just accept the N50 as being the same as the Q50 figure in the regulations.

Therefore the 0.6 is actually 0.03 ac/hr

the regs require a max figure of 7, passive standard requires this figure to be 0.6

now you can see how onerous it is.

Yeah it was hard to see such a good result considering the big holes present. Pity there isn't one standard ACH figure to help avoid confusion. Another reason to have your building professional on board

sydthebeat · 16-03-2013 1:10am

just do it wrote: »

Yeah it was hard to see such a good result considering the big holes present. Pity there isn't one standard ACH figure to help avoid confusion. Another reason to have your building professional on board

the permeability result is divided by 20 to give you the air changes per hour. This is an approximation figure, so it's not a good idea to focus on this.

The permeability figure it's the important one.

New build in sight · 18-03-2013 10:40am

Build started 7th of July 2012

Internal door frames & windows boards complete, insulated slabs now all completed, a few small finishes needed this week downstairs.

PLasterers starting tomorrow on internal walls.

All external stonework complete now too.

Getting very exciting!

Paudi04 · 19-03-2013 3:29pm

Concrete slabs on site today at 08:30, crane lifted into place! Roofing the garage at mo. slabs really changed the house, really impressed with it!

about2build · 28-03-2013 7:39pm

Alright guys been a while since ive been on as been caught up in managing the build....today was a big day.....airtightness test produced a Q50 of 1.01m3/(h*m2) Delighted with result and that is without foot paths which will improve it still further though i will not be re testing. Thanks for advice received on here! Hope to be in by end of april- 12 months from when build started

fclauson · 28-03-2013 8:31pm

about2build wrote: »

Alright guys been a while since ive been on as been caught up in managing the build....today was a big day.....airtightness test produced a Q50 of 1.01m3/(h*m2) Delighted with result and that is without foot paths which will improve it still further though i will not be re testing. Thanks for advice received on here! Hope to be in by end of april- 12 months from when build started

Come on - how do foot paths imporve airtightness - thats a new on on me

ShiverinEskimo · 28-03-2013 9:03pm

Posted this in the wrong thread earlier so here goes again:

After some detailing under doors and floor-to-ceiling windows I got the q50 down to 5.1 before any plastering or floors going in. These areas were still a big problem and will be until the floors go in because the DPC is loose and air is being lost between it and the wall. The good news is that the smoke test didn't yield any major problems outside of the above doors and windows - rest of the house seems fairly well sealed.

With a bit of care and attention to those areas as the floors are poured I should hopefully see a decent chunk off that 5.1. Plastering has started upstairs while I figure out a more permanent solution for the DPC. Someone mentioned a sort of industrial double-sided sticky-tape that will form a strong, sealed bond the whole way along the underside of the windows/doors.

about2build · 28-03-2013 11:48pm

FcClauson...im basing that on the fact that I am getting air movement up, however slight, between the screed floor and the external block walls. Thinking of putting a layer of dpc in against the external wall outside and then pouring paths into that. BTW thanks fcclauson for your help throughout the process

Villain · 29-03-2013 11:03am

Plastering finishes today, house looks big, too big but sher we have what we have now.

ESB were on-site to identify Pole location, very easy to deal with nice easy going people happy to help.

Villain · 29-03-2013 10:34pm

Some photos of plastering now it's complete

New build in sight · 14-04-2013 5:27pm

July 7th 2012 build started.....(almost there now...)

So internal plastering finished last week, there was a slow down due to the weather we had with the ice/frost at night, so that held us up a week. But its all stations go now to try and get anything we can get done while we wait for plastering to dry. Unfortunately i dont think we have the luxury of waiting for the plaster to dry before laying the floors and tiling. So were just going to go ahead and get floors down and cover them well when we are painting. Also second fix is going ahead this week too.

Fingers crossed we have no further delays and were in very soon.....

AntrimGlens · 15-04-2013 10:47am

Update as of today - insulation and plasterboard finished on friday, internal plasterers start now as i had to wait ages on the guys sealing the deck area to ensure no damp was getting into the rooms below. Three weeks will see them out then plumbing and ufh starts and floors poured. Walls pumped next monday, Kitchen is picked and getting a local guy to do it has saved approx £5k compared to the showroom people for the exact same kitchen.
My only fear is that everyones now saying ah this is when the big bills will start rolling in or the expense is only starting. I know everyones gonna shout at me and say did you not get a bill of quantities done at the start or employ a QS, well the brothers a QS and i did get three quotes from contractors to do the whole build and i think i'm fairly covered budget wise as i have prices for the plumbing, sanitary ware, floor screeds, doors and skirting etc. Only thing i haven't got price for is tiles yet although i have a price for tiling per metre.
Starting to get excited now and hoping for decent weather to get the outside rendered - elected for a weber finish after months of debating and viewing k-rend, STO rend and weber. Initially just wanted a sand cement floated finish on the exterior but my plasterer wouldn't do it as he says it will only crack and show up all the cracks and really didn;t want that.

just do it · 15-04-2013 2:12pm

AG

Cool stairs. I take it the brother had a look at your figures so hard to see what a formal bill of quantities would have added.

Rushy Fields · 16-04-2013 10:18am

Plasterers finished outside, and first floor almost completely skimmed inside. Insulated slabs will be finished today, just the kitchen left to complete downstairs. Stone masons getting on well considering the weather over the last few days. Pricing the kitchen and stairs at the moment. Buget getting tight me thinks! Watste water system and rainwater system in just working on the pipework around the house the last couple of days. Busy busy busy!

dos30 · 16-04-2013 10:27am

The stone looks great, is that sandstone?

Live self-Builds - mod warning in post no. 1

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