Project Week 4 – update VI

alexhunt Bright Green News, New Project, News Leave a Comment

Insummate

a really neat solution for supporting insulation

So the weekend has come around again, and this is my chance to update this blog and let you know where we have got to so far.

img_4068

it became obvious that the best way to fit the Earthwool would be to lift all the joists

At last we begin to actually make things this week (rather than just demolishing them!) 😆

We have lifted the floor as you all know and we have found a really neat product called Insumate which we are going to use in a slightly different way to the way it was designed… as are going to suspend Earthwool (recycled glass bottles) insulation between the sleeper walls on a netting (that we bought from a garden centre up the road) and then also use Earthwool between the joists, we will then use the Insumate to act as the support for the underfloor heating.

So, we have run the netting over the whole stretch, using celotex either side of the sleeper walls to ensure that the netting doesn’t bow in the middle.

underfloor insulation

adding the two layers of Earthwool suspended above the floor gives us a U value of 0.16W/m2K

This way it remains a continuous line of insulation (as much as possible) under the joists and then also between the joists.

support the net

in order to further make sure that the netting does not bow we have used a cable tie to hold the centre of the net to the joist above

This ultimately gives the floor a U value of just 0.16W/m2K (for an explanation of U values click here) which is significantly better than building regulation 2010 standards.

So, Simon and Gaz (seen in the pic on the left) have worked away like busy beavers not only to lift the floor, but then to return it back to an even better state than it was originally. It’s quite difficult to show in these little photos, but it really is a thing of beauty. The credit has to go to Fran for the concept and the fellas for doing such a great job and really taking pride in what they do.

We also insulated the base of all of the exterior walls, used some MVHR ventilation to maintain the ventilation from the air-bricks for under the floor.

This was then fixed to the airbrick with expanding foam – difficult to show in these pictures but it was a great idea… and works really well.

img_4056_0

cutting and gluing a straight piece of ventilation pipe creates a protector to allow air from the airbricks to circulate under the new insulation keeping the floor dry and free from moisture.

Another example of re-using a product not necessarily for its original use, but adapted for a new use. Which reminds me, we were also using particular fixings to hold the celotex to the sleeper walls and then we ran out.

img_4100

then laying the insummate (stapled to the joists) will give us a solid base to put the underfloor heating on.

So I was sent off to find some – and couldn’t anywhere… but Gaz took up the challenge and came up with a great idea – just using some of the offcuts from the Insummate to act as the fixings meant we saved £50 (+vat) from the budget. More environmentally friendly and also cheaper… just what we like.

Just to finish off (basically because i’m a little bored of myself droning on) we also got the plumbing first fix and the electrical first stage sorted out as well…

 

 

 

 

img_4054

the plumbing first fix started this week

img_4093

this shot of the back of Keith’s head shows the first set of pipes and electrics between floors

Keith and Marcus busy setting up all of the services that will ultimately make the building work as a home.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *